IRG I: Dynamics and Transport in Nanostructured Magnetic Materials @ University of Alabama

Thrust 1 of IRG1 investigates the physics of spin transport through confined geometries and plans to exploit this understanding to make ultrasensitive magnetic field sensors and magnetic memory and logic devices. During the past year important progress was made in understanding how to optimize the switching of MRAM devices. Thrust 2 explores a fundamentally new approach to controlling nanoscale magnetism using spin-polarized currents. Important recent progress includes the rigorous treatment of spin-transfer switching at finite temperature through solution of the Fokker-Plank equation. Thrust 3 prepares, characterizes and models novel magnetic oxides, and investigates them as candidates for spintronic devices. This thrust also investigates spin-dependent transport through organic interlayers separating magnetic oxide electrodes. During the past year it was established that spin polarized currents can be maintained over distances exceeding 100nm in a large number of organic molecules. It was also demonstrated that rutile structure materials including half-metallic CrO2, metallic RuO2, insulating TiO2 and semiconducting SnO2 can be fabricated as fully epitaxial multilayer films. IRG-1 Faculty William H. Butler (PH) Hideo Fujiwara (PH) Arunava Gupta (Thrust Leader - CH/CHE) Tonya M. Klein (CHE) Gary J. Mankey (PH) Rainer Schad (PH) Pieter B. Visscher (PH)