Enhanced tunneling electroresistance in multiferroic tunnel junctions due to the reversible modulation of orbitals overlap

We report a first-principles study of theferroelectricity and spin-dependent transport through Co/BaTiO3/CoO/Co multiferroictunnel junctions (MFTJs). We find the coexistence of largetunneling magnetoresistance(TMR) ratio and largetunneling electroresistance (TER) ratio in the MFTJs. The largeTMReffect originates from the spin-filtertunneling through the BaTiO3 barrier, while the TEReffect is due to the modulation of orbitals overlap bypolarization reversal. The microscopic physics of TER are identified and understood through the analysis of metal-oxygen relative displacements, localpolarization magnitude, transmission in momentum space and real space scattering states. Our results provide a practical way to achieve the coexistence of large TER andTMReffects in MFTJs.

Source: Applied Physics Letters - November 7, 2016 Category: Physics Authors: Leina Jiang, L. L. Tao, B. S. Yang, J. Wang and X. F. Han Source Type: research