arXiv subjects

Masaaki Tanaka

Publications and source records attributed to Masaaki Tanaka.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

Structural and transport properties of highly Ru-deficient SrRu0.7O3 thin films prepared by molecular beam epitaxy: comparison with stoichiometric SrRuO3

We investigate structural and transport properties of highly Ru-deficient SrRu0.7O3 thin films prepared by molecular beam epitaxy on (001) SrTiO3 substrates. To distinguish the influence of the two types of disorders in the films, Ru vacancies within lattices and disorders near the interface, SrRu0.7O3 thin films with various thicknesses (t = 1-60 nm) were prepared. It was found that the influence of the former dominates the electrical and magnetic properties when t > 5-10 nm, while that of the latter does when t < 5-10 nm. Structural characterizations revealed that the crystallinity, in terms of the Sr and O sublattices, of SrRu0.7O3 thin films, is as high as that of the ultrahigh-quality SrRuO3 ones. The Curie temperature (TC) analysis elucidated that SrRu0.7O3 (TC = 140 K) is a material distinct from SrRuO3 (TC = 150 K). Despite the large Ru deficiency (30%), the SrRu0.7O3 films showed metallic conduction when t > 5 nm. In high-field magnetoresistance measurements, the fascinating phenomenon of Weyl fermion transport was not observed for the SrRu0.7O3 thin films irrespective of thickness, which is in contrast to the stoichiometric SrRuO3 films. The (magneto)transport properties suggest that a picture of carrier scattering due to the Ru vacancies is appropriate for SrRu0.7O3, and also that proper stoichiometry control is a prerequisite to utilizing the full potential of SrRuO3 as a magnetic Weyl semimetal and two-dimensional spin-polarized system. Nevertheless, the large tolerance in Ru composition (30 %) to metallic conduction is advantageous for some practical applications where SrRu1-xO3 is exploited as an epitaxial conducting layer.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Alternation of Magnetic Anisotropy Accompanied by Metal-Insulator Transition in Strained Ultrathin Manganite Heterostructures

Fundamental understanding of interfacial magnetic properties in ferromagnetic heterostructures is essential to utilize ferromagnetic materials for spintronic device applications. In this paper, we investigate the interfacial magnetic and electronic structures of epitaxial single-crystalline LaAlO$_3$ (LAO)/La$_{0.6}$Sr$_{0.4}$MnO$_3$ (LSMO)/Nb:SrTiO$_3$ (Nb:STO) heterostructures with varying LSMO-layer thickness, in which the magnetic anisotropy strongly changes depending on the LSMO thickness due to the delicate balance between the strains originating from both the Nb:STO and LAO layers, using x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) and photoemission spectroscopy (PES). We successfully detect the clear change of the magnetic behavior of the Mn ions concomitant with the thickness-dependent metal-insulator transition (MIT). Our results suggest that double-exchange interaction induces the ferromagnetism in the metallic LSMO film under tensile strain caused by the SrTiO$_3$ substrate, while superexchange interaction determines the magnetic behavior in the insulating LSMO film under compressive strain originating from the top LAO layer. Based on those findings, the formation of a magnetic dead layer near the LAO/LSMO interface is attributed to competition between the superexchange interaction via Mn 3$d_{3z^2-r^2}$ orbitals under compressive strain and the double-exchange interaction via the 3$d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbitals.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Thickness-dependent quantum transport of Weyl fermions in ultra-high-quality SrRuO3 films

The recent observation of Weyl fermions in the itinerant 4d ferromagnetic perovskite SrRuO3 points to this material being a good platform for exploring novel physics related to a pair of Weyl nodes in epitaxial heterostructures. In this letter, we report the thickness-dependent magnetotransport properties of ultra-high-quality epitaxial SrRuO3 films grown under optimized conditions on SrTiO3 substrates. Signatures of Weyl fermion transport, i.e., unsaturated linear positive magnetoresistance accompanied by a quantum oscillation having a π Berry phase, were observed in films with thicknesses as small as 10 nm. Residual resistivity increased with decreasing film thickness, indicating disorder near the interface between SrRuO3 and the SrTiO3 substrate. Since this disorder affects the magnetic and electrical properties of the films, the Curie temperature decreases and the coercive field increases with decreasing thickness. Thickness-dependent magnetotransport measurements revealed that the threshold residual resistivity ratio (RRR) to observe Weyl fermion transport is 21. These results provide guidelines for realizing quantum transport of Weyl fermions in SrRuO3 near heterointerfaces.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Minority-Spin Impurity Band in n-Type (In,Fe)As: A Materials Perspective for Ferromagnetic Semiconductors

Fully understanding the properties of n-type ferromagnetic semiconductors (FMSs), complementary to the mainstream p-type ones, is a challenging goal in semiconductor spintronics because ferromagnetism in n-type FMSs is theoretically non-trivial. Soft-x-ray angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (SX-ARPES) is a powerful approach to examine the mechanism of carrier-induced ferromagnetism in FMSs. Here our SX-ARPES study on the prototypical n-type FMS (In,Fe)As reveals the entire band structure including the Fe-3d impurity bands (IBs) and the host InAs ones, and provides direct evidence for electron occupation of the InAs-derived conduction band (CB). A minority-spin Fe-3d IB is found to be located just below the conduction-band minimum (CBM). The IB is formed by the hybridization of the unoccupied Fe-3d states with the occupied CBM of InAs in a spin-dependent way, resulting in the large spin polarization of CB. The band structure with the IB is varied with band filling, which cannot be explained by the rigid-band picture, suggesting a unified picture for realization of carrier-induced ferromagnetism in FMS materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Evolution of the Fe-3$d$ impurity band state as the origin of high Curie temperature in p-type ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Fe)Sb

(Ga$_{1-x}$,Fe$_x$)Sb is one of the promising ferromagnetic semiconductors for spintronic device applications because its Curie temperature ($T_{\rm C}$) is above 300 K when the Fe concentration $x$ is equal to or higher than ~0.20. However, the origin of the high $T_{\rm C}$ in (Ga,Fe)Sb remains to be elucidated. To address this issue, we use resonant photoemission spectroscopy (RPES) and first-principles calculations to investigate the $x$ dependence of the Fe 3$d$ states in (Ga$_{1-x}$,Fe$_x$)Sb ($x$ = 0.05, 0.15, and 0.25) thin films. The observed Fe 2$p$-3$d$ RPES spectra reveal that the Fe-3$d$ impurity band (IB) crossing the Fermi level becomes broader with increasing $x$, which is qualitatively consistent with the picture of double-exchange interaction. Comparison between the obtained Fe-3$d$ partial density of states and the first-principles calculations suggests that the Fe-3$d$ IB originates from the minority-spin ($\downarrow$) $e$ states. The results indicate that enhancement of the interaction between $e_\downarrow$ electrons with increasing $x$ is the origin of the high $T_{\rm C}$ in (Ga,Fe)Sb.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Quantum transport evidence of Weyl fermions in an epitaxial ferromagnetic oxide

Magnetic Weyl fermions, which occur in magnets, have novel transport phenomena related to pairs of Weyl nodes, and they are, of both, scientific and technological interest, with the potential for use in high-performance electronics, spintronics and quantum computing. Although magnetic Weyl fermions have been predicted to exist in various oxides, evidence for their existence in oxide materials remains elusive. SrRuO3, a 4d ferromagnetic metal often used as an epitaxial conducting layer in oxide heterostructures, provides a promising opportunity to seek for the existence of magnetic Weyl fermions. Advanced oxide thin film preparation techniques, driven by machine learning technologies, may allow access to such topological matter. Here we show direct quantum transport evidence of magnetic Weyl fermions in an epitaxial ferromagnetic oxide SrRuO3: unsaturated linear positive magnetoresistance (MR), chiral-anomaly-induced negative MR, Pi Berry phase accumulated along cyclotron orbits, light cyclotron masses and high quantum mobility of about 10000 cm2/Vs. We employed machine-learning-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) to synthesize SrRuO3 films whose quality is sufficiently high to probe their intrinsic quantum transport properties. We also clarified the disorder dependence of the transport of the magnetic Weyl fermions, and provided a brand-new diagram for the Weyl transport, which gives a clear guideline for accessing the topologically nontrivial transport phenomena. Our results establish SrRuO3 as a magnetic Weyl semimetal and topological oxide electronics as a new research field.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Current-in-plane spin-valve magnetoresistance in ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Fe)Sb heterostructures with high Curie temperature

We demonstrate spin-valve magnetoresistance with a current-in-plane (CIP) configuration in (Ga,Fe)Sb / InAs (thickness $t_\mathrm{InAs}$ nm) / (Ga,Fe)Sb trilayer heterostructures, where (Ga,Fe)Sb is a ferromagnetic semiconductor (FMS) with high Curie temperature ($T_\mathrm{C}$). An MR curve with an open minor loop is clearly observed at 3.7 K in a sample with $t_\mathrm{InAs}$ = 3 nm, which originates from the parallel - antiparallel magnetization switching of the (Ga,Fe)Sb layers and spin-dependent scattering at the (Ga,Fe)Sb / InAs interfaces. The MR ratio increases (from 0.03 to 1.6%) with decreasing $t_\mathrm{InAs}$ (from 9 to 3 nm) due to the enhancement of the interface scattering. This is the first demonstration of the spin-valve effect in Fe-doped FMS heterostructures, paving the way for device applications of these high- $T_\mathrm{C}$ FMSs.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Spin transport in Si-based spin metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors: Spin drift effect in the inversion channel and spin relaxation in the n+-Si source/drain regions

We have experimentally and theoretically investigated the electron spin transport and spin distribution at room temperature in a Si two-dimensional (2D) inversion channel of back-gate-type spin metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (spin MOSFETs). The magnetoresistance ratio of the spin MOSFET with a channel length of 0.4$μ$m was increased by a factor of 6 from that in our previous paper [Phys. Rev. B 99, 165301 (2019)] by lowering the parasitic resistances at the source/drain junctions with highly-phosphorus-doped n+-Si regions and by increasing the lateral electric field in the channel along the electron transport, called "spin drift". Clear Hanle signals with some oscillation peaks were observed for the spin MOSFET with a channel length of 10 $μ$ m under the lateral electric field, indicating that the effective spin diffusion length is dramatically enhanced by the spin drift. By taking into account the n+-Si regions and the spin drift in the channel, one-dimensional analytic functions were derived for analyzing the effect of the spin drift on the spin transport through the channel and these functions were found to explain almost all the experimental results. From the calculated spin current and spin distribution, it was revealed that almost all the spins are unflipped during the spin-drift-assisted transport through the 0.4-$μ$m-long inversion channel, but the most part of the injected spins from the source electrode are relaxed in the n+-Si regions of both the source and drain junctions. This means that the spin drift is useful and precise design of the device structure is essential to obtain a higher magnetoresistance ratio. Furthermore, we showed that the effective spin resistances that are introduced in this study are very helpful to understand how to improve the magnetoresistance ratio of spin MOSFETs for practical use.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2020

Hybridization between the ligand $p$ band and Fe-3$d$ orbitals in the p-type ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Fe)Sb

(Ga,Fe)Sb is a promising ferromagnetic semiconductor for practical spintronic device applications because its Curie temperature ($T_{\rm C}$) is above room temperature. However, the origin of ferromagnetism with high $T_{\rm C}$ remains to be elucidated. Here, we use soft x-ray angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (SX-ARPES) to investigate the valence-band (VB) structure of (Ga$_{0.95}$,Fe$_{0.05}$)Sb including the Fe-3$d$ impurity band (IB), to unveil the mechanism of ferromagnetism in (Ga,Fe)Sb. We find that the VB dispersion in (Ga$_{0.95}$,Fe$_{0.05}$)Sb observed by SX-ARPES is similar to that of GaSb, indicating that the doped Fe atoms hardly affect the band dispersion. The Fe-3$d$ resonant ARPES spectra demonstrate that the Fe-3$d$ IB crosses the Fermi level ($E_{\rm F}$) and hybridizes with the VB of GaSb. These observations indicate that the VB structure of (Ga$_{0.95}$,Fe$_{0.05}$)Sb is consistent with that of the IB model which is based on double-exchange interaction between the localized 3$d$ electrons of the magnetic impurities. The results indicate that the ferromagnetism in (Ga,Fe)Sb is formed by the hybridization of the Fe-3$d$ IB with the ligand $p$ band of GaSb.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

Large magnetoresistance and spin-dependent output voltage in a lateral MnGa/GaAs/MnGa spin-valve device

We investigated the spin-dependent transport properties of a lateral spin-valve device with a 600 nm-long GaAs channel and ferromagnetic MnGa electrodes with perpendicular magnetization. Its current-voltage characteristics show nonlinear behavior below 50 K, indicating that tunnel transport through the MnGa/GaAs Schottky barrier is dominant at low temperatures. We observed clear magnetoresistance (MR) ratio up to 12% at 4 K when applying a magnetic field perpendicular to the film plane. Furthermore, a large spin-dependent output voltage of 33 mV is obtained. These values are the highest in lateral ferromagnetic metal / semiconductor / ferromagnetic metal spin-valve devices reported so far.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Characterization of in-gap states in epitaxial CoFe2O4(111) layers grown on Al2O3(111)/Si(111) by resonant inelastic x-ray scattering

We have studied in-gap states in epitaxial CoFe2O4(111), which potentially acts as a perfect spin filter, grown on a Al2O3(111)/Si(111) structure by using ellipsometry, Fe L2,3-edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), and Fe L2,3-edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS), and revealed the relation between the in-gap states and chemical defects due to the Fe2+ cations at the octahedral sites (Fe2+ (Oh) cations). The ellipsometry measurements showed the indirect band gap of 1.24 eV for the CoFe2O4 layer and the Fe L2,3-edge XAS confirmed the characteristic photon energy for the preferential excitation of the Fe2+ (Oh) cations. In the Fe L3-edge RIXS spectra, a band-gap excitation and an excitation whose energy is smaller than the band-gap energy (Eg = 1.24 eV) of CoF2O4, which we refer to as "below-band-gap excitation (BBGE)" hereafter, were observed. The intensity of the BBGE was strengthened at the preferential excitation energy of the Fe2+ (Oh) cations. In addition, the intensity of the BBGE was significantly increased when the thickness of the CoFe2O4 layer was decreased from 11 to 1.4 nm, which coincides with the increase in the site occupancy of the Fe2+ (Oh) cations with decreasing the thickness. These results indicate that the BBGE comes from the in-gap states of the Fe2+ (Oh) cations whose density increases near the heterointerface on the bottom Al2O3 layer. We have demonstrated that RIXS measurements and analyses in combination with ellipsometry and XAS are effective to provide an insight into in-gap states in thin-film oxide heterostructures.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

In-plane to perpendicular magnetic anisotropy switching in heavily-Fe-doped ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Fe)Sb with high Curie temperature

We report switching of magnetic anisotropy (MA) from in-plane to perpendicular with increasing the thickness d of a (001)-oriented ferromagnetic-semiconductor (FMS) (Ga0.7,Fe0.3)Sb layer with a high Curie temperature (Tc > 320 K), using ferromagnetic resonance at room temperature. We show that the total MA energy (E) along the [001] direction changes its sign from positive (in-plane) to negative (perpendicular) with increasing d above an effective critical value \mathrm{d}_\mathrm{C}^\mathrm{*}\ ~ 42 nm. We reveal that (Ga,Fe)Sb has two-fold symmetry in the film plane. Meanwhile, in the plane perpendicular to the film including the in-plane [110] axis, the two-fold symmetry with the easy magnetization axis along [110] changes to four-fold symmetry with easy magnetization axis along <001> with increasing d. This peculiar behavior is different from that of (Ga,Mn)As, in which only the in-plane MA depends on the film thickness and has four-fold symmetry due to its dominant cubic anisotropy along the <100> axes. This work provides an important guide for controlling the easy magnetization axis of high-Tc FMS (Ga,Fe)Sb for room-temperature device applications.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

Efficient intrinsic spin-to-charge current conversion in an all-epitaxial single-crystal perovskite-oxide heterostructure of La0.67Sr0.33MnO3/LaAlO3/SrTiO3

We demonstrate efficient intrinsic spin-to-charge current conversion in a two-dimensional electron gas using an all-epitaxial single-crystal heterostructure of LaSrMnO3/ LaAlO3 (LAO)/ SrTiO3 (STO), which can suppress spin scattering and give us an ideal environment to investigate intrinsic spin-charge conversion. With decreasing temperature to 20 K, the spin-to-charge conversion efficiency is drastically enhanced to +3.9 nm, which is the largest positive value ever reported for LAO/STO. Our band-structure calculation well reproduces this behavior and predicts further enhancement by controlling the density and relaxation time of the carriers.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

Ultra-low-power orbital-controlled magnetization switching using a ferromagnetic oxide interface

A major challenge in spin-based electronics is reducing power consumption for magnetization switching of ferromagnets, which is being implemented by injecting a large spin-polarized current. The alternative approach is to control the magnetic anisotropy (MA) of the ferromagnet by an electric field. However, the voltage-induced MA is too weak to deterministically switch the magnetization without an assisting magnetic field, and the strategy towards this goal remains elusive. Here, we demonstrate a new scheme of orbital-controlled magnetization switching (OCMS): A sharp change in the MA is induced when the Fermi level is moved between energy bands with different orbital symmetries. Using a ferromagnetic oxide interface, we show that OCMS can be used to achieve a deterministic and magnetic-field-free 90 degree-magnetization switching solely by applying an extremely small electric field of 0.05 V/nm with a negligibly small current density of 10^-2 A/cm^2. Our results highlight the huge potential of band engineering in ferromagnetic materials for efficient magnetization control.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

Magnetization process of the insulating ferromagnetic semiconductor (Al,Fe)Sb

We have studied the magnetization process of the new insulating ferromagnetic semiconductor (Al,Fe)Sb by means of x-ray magnetic circular dichroism. For an optimally doped sample with 10% Fe, a magnetization was found to rapidly increase at low magnetic fields and to saturate at high magnetic fields at room temperature, well above the Curie temperature of 40 K. We attribute this behavior to the existence of nanoscale Fe-rich ferromagnetic domains acting as superparamagnets. By fitting the magnetization curves using the Langevin function representing superparamagnetism plus the paramagnetic linear function, we estimated the average magnetic moment of the nanoscale ferromagnetic domain to be 300-400 $μ_{B}$, and the fraction of Fe atoms participating in the nano-scale ferromagnetism to be $\sim$50%. Such behavior was also reported for (In,Fe)As:Be and Ge:Fe, and seems to be a universal characteristic of the Fe-doped ferromagnetic semiconductors. Further Fe doping up to 14% led to the weakening of the ferromagnetism probably because antiferromagnetic superexchange interaction between nearest-neighbor Fe-Fe pairs becomes dominant.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2019

Heavily Fe-doped n-type ferromagnetic semiconductor (In,Fe)Sb with high Curie temperature and large magnetic anisotropy

We present high-temperature ferromagnetism and large magnetic anisotropy in heavily Fe-doped n-type ferromagnetic semiconductor (In1-x,Fex)Sb (x = 20 - 35%) thin films grown by low-temperature molecular beam epitaxy. The (In1-x,Fex)Sb thin films with x = 20 - 35% maintain the zinc-blende crystal and band structure with single-phase ferromagnetism. The Curie temperature (TC) of (In1-x,Fex)Sb reaches 390 K at x = 35%, which is significantly higher than room temperature and the highest value so far reported in III-V based ferromagnetic semiconductors. Moreover, large coercive force (HC = 160 Oe) and large remanent magnetization (Mr/MS = 71%) have been observed for a (In1-x,Fex)Sb thin film with x = 35%. Our results indicate that the n-type ferromagnetic semiconductor (In1-x,Fex)Sb is very promising for spintronics devices operating at room temperature.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2018

Giant gate-controlled proximity magnetoresistance in semiconductor-based ferromagnetic/nonmagnetic bilayers

The evolution of information technology has been driven by the discovery of new forms of large magnetoresistance (MR), such as giant magnetoresistance (GMR) and tunnelling magnetoresistance (TMR) in magnetic multilayers. Recently, new types of MR have been observed in much simpler bilayers consisting of ferromagnetic (FM)/nonmagnetic (NM) thin films; however, the magnitude of MR in these materials is very small (0.01 ~ 1%). Here, we demonstrate that NM/FM bilayers consisting of a NM InAs quantum well conductive channel and an insulating FM (Ga,Fe)Sb layer exhibit giant proximity magnetoresistance (PMR) (~80% at 14 T). This PMR is two orders of magnitude larger than the MR observed in NM/FM bilayers reported to date, and its magnitude can be controlled by a gate voltage. These results are explained by the penetration of the InAs two-dimensional-electron wavefunction into (Ga,Fe)Sb. The ability to strongly modulate the NM channel current by both electrical and magnetic gating represents a new concept of magnetic-gating spin transistors.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2018

Spin-valve Effect in Nanoscale Si-based Devices

The silicon (Si) based spin-MOSFET (metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor) is considered to be the building block of low-power-consumption electronics, utilizing spin-degrees of freedom in semiconductor devices. In this paper, we review the latest results on the spin transport in nanoscale Si-based spin-valve devices, which is important to realize the nanoscale spin-MOSFET. Our results demonstrate the importance of ballistic transport in obtaining high spin-dependent output voltage in nanoscale Si spin-valve devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗