Spin and symmetry electronic properties of spintronics interfaces with Heusler compounds

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Mirko Cinchetti
• Subject Area: Experimental Condensed Matter Physics
• Term: from 2010 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 164481210

This project addresses the fundamental issues connected to the realization of advanced pure Heusler-based room temperature spintronics devices. Focus will be put on the basic building block of every such device, namely the heterojunction between a spin injector (SI) and a spin conductor (SC) material. The specific functionality of SI/SC building blocks will be characterized in terms of two fundamental properties: (i) the spin-injection efficiency at the SI-SC interface; and (ii) the spin diffusion length in the SC itself. Experimentally, the quantities (i) and (ii) will be accessible by implementing an established experimental strategy based on the spin-and time-resolved two-photon photoemission (STR-2PPE). It allows to correlate the efficiency of spin-injection with the static spin-dependent properties of the considered interface as well as to distinguish unambiguously between interface and bulk spin-dependent properties of the considered SI/SC heterojunction. The provided experimental evidence will allow identifying the best suited SI/SC building blocks for developing the foundations of future advanced spintronics devices.

• DFG Programme: Research Units
• Subproject of: FOR 1464: ASPIMATT: Advanced Spintronic Materials and Transport Phenomena
• Major Instrumentation: Cryostat
• Instrumentation Group: 8550 Spezielle Kryostaten (für tiefste Temperaturen)
• Participating Person: Professor Dr. Martin Aeschlimann