Quantum spin polarization effect in multi-nanolayer structures

- Development of a new nanodevices used for preparation of selected spin states.
- Development of spintronic devices.
- Development of theory of quantum spin filters.

We studied the spin-polarized state transport in Fe-SnO2-Ag and Fe-BeO-Ag three-nanolayer sandwich structures. The exchange-resonance spectra of these sandwich structures are quite specific and different from those observed earlier in other three-nanolayer structures. The presently recorded spectra comprise a set of discrete lines, their width increasing with the sample temperature and also with the Ag layer thickness, for both samples. The linewidth dependences on temperature and Ag layer thickness were studied in detail. The effect of thickness of the intermediate nanolayers of SnO2 and BeO on the linewidth was also explored. To explain the observed line broadening effects, we proposed and developed the spin-orbit (SO) coupling mechanism of the electron spin relaxation. In the frameworks of this mechanism, we assumed that the electron spin of a bonding electron in one of the layers of the sandwich system is coupled by SO interaction with the other layers. We found that the change in phonon densities affects the linewidths of the exchange resonance spectra. We estimated the values of the model parameters from the analysis of the experimental data. To that end, we continue further development of our earlier theoretical model, using it to interpret the current experimental results, including ab initio calculations of the electronic structure. The exchange resonance spectra were simulated using phenomenological model, where the anisotropy of the g-factor was introduced. We performed ab initio simulations of the exchange resonance spectra and their linewidths, using Gaussian-2000 and a homemade FORTRAN code.

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