News & Events

Half-Metallic Manganites, Magnetic Domain Walls and Carbon Nanotubes

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Date: 11-16-2005
Start Time: 4:00pm
End Time: 5:00pm
Speaker: Luis E. Hueso
From: University of Cambridge, UK
Location: Interschool Lab, 7th floor, Schapiro/CEPSR
Hosted by: Center for Integrated Science

Abstract:

I will discuss electrical transport between half-metallic manganite electrodes connected by native domain walls and, more exotically, carbon nanotubes. Manganites are mixed-valent oxides of manganese that display interesting physical properties such as “electronic” phase separation, and metallic phases with almost fully spin polarised conduction electrons.

Native domain walls. In a phase separated thin film manganite device, magnetic domain walls can be created in ferromagnetic percolating pathways. The magnetoresistance of these devices was tested in different geometries, yielding qualitatively different results. Moreover, the changes in resistance-area product are large enough to suggest that the domain walls display mesoscopic phase separation at the wall centres.

Manganite-carbon nanotube-manganite devices. Ferromagnetic metallic manganite electrodes connected by a carbon nanotube also display magnetoresistance. This demonstrates micron-scale spin coherence in the nanotube, and spin injection between an inorganic half-metallic crystal and the organic molecule.