Zhang, L., Zhou, J., Yang, J., Ghosh, S., Zhao, Y.-M., Feng, Y. P., & Shen, L. (2025). Lifting Spin Degeneracy in Rhombohedral Trilayer Graphene for High Magnetoresistance Applications. The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 11933–11938. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.5c02712
Abstract:
Many exotic properties in rhombohedral (or ABC-stacked) multilayer graphene have recently been reported experimentally. In this Letter, we first reveal the underlying mechanism of spin degeneracy lifting in rhombohedral trilayer graphene. Then, we propose a design concept for all-rhombohedral graphene-based magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) by utilizing pristine, back-gated, and top-gated ABC-stacked trilayer graphene, which exhibit semimetallic (conducting), semiconducting (insulating), and half-metallic (ferromagnetic) behavior, respectively. This enables the realization of an “all-in-one” magnetic tunnel junction based entirely on trilayer graphene. This design enables voltage-controlled spintronics (lower power than conventional MTJs) with perfect interfacial matching and subnanometer thickness uniformity across 4-in. wafers. Using first-principles calculations and the nonequilibrium Green’s function, we comprehensively study electronic structures and transport properties of these all-graphene MTJs. Furthermore, we demonstrate that their characteristics can be tuned via a perpendicular electric field and electron doping. Our findings offer a new concept for the development of fully graphene-based spintronic devices utilizing the three distinct electronic phases of rhombohedral trilayer graphene.
License type:
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
Funding Info:
This research / project is supported by the Ministry of Education, Singapore - Grant No. A-8001194-00-00 and Grant No. A-8001872-00-00
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