The inorganic/molecular spinterface is an ideal platform for generating extraordinary spin effects. Understanding and controlling these spin-related effects is mandatory for the exploitation of such interfaces in devices. For this purpose we have investigated the adsorption of α-sexithiophene (α-6T) on La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 (LSMO) as one of the prototypical material combinations used in organic spintronic devices. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), confocal photoluminescence, X-ray and utraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, and metastable de-excitation spectroscopy unraveled the structure and the electronic configuration of 6T for various surface coverages. This data set allowed the determination of the characteristic features of occupied states: the band diagram and the work function. Finally, density functional theory enabled us to establish that the spin polarization in 6T molecular orbitals critically depends on the termination layer of LSMO, showing a substantial effect on the MnO-terminated one only. We believe that this research provides important hints for a comprehensive understanding of spinterface effects in general and offers key suggestions for the optimization of 6T/LSMO-based spin devices through the engineering of LSMO termination layer.
The orbital hybridization at the Co/C 60 interface has proved to strongly enhance the magnetic anisotropy of the cobalt layer, promoting such hybrid systems as appealing components for sensing and memory devices. Correspondingly, the same hybridization induces substantial variations in the ability of Co/C 60 interface to support spin polarized currents and can bring out spin filtering effect.The knowledge of the effects at both sides shall allow for a better and more complete understanding of interfacial physics. In this paper we investigate the Co/C 60 bilayer in the role of spin polarized electrode in the La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 /SrTiO 3 /C 60 /Co configuration, thus substituting the bare Co electrode in the well-known La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 /SrTiO 3 /Co magnetic tunnel junction. The study revealed that the spin polarization (SP) of the tunneling currents escaping from the Co/C 60 electrode is generally negative, i.e. inverted with respect to the expected SP of the Co electrode. The observed sign of the spin polarization was confirmed via DFT calculations by considering the hybridization between cobalt and molecular orbitals.
Multiferroics, showing the coexistence of two or more ferroic orderings at room temperature, could harness a revolution in multifunctional devices. However, most of the multiferroic compounds known to date are not magnetically and electrically ordered at ambient conditions, so the discovery of new materials is pivotal to allow the development of the field. In this work, we show that BaFe2O4 is a previously unrecognized room temperature multiferroic. X-ray and neutron diffraction allowed to reveal the polar crystal structure of the compound as well as its antiferromagnetic behavior, confirmed by bulk magnetometry characterizations. Piezo force microscopy and electrical measurements show the polarization to be switchable by the application of an external field, while symmetry analysis and calculations based on density functional theory reveal the improper nature of the ferroelectric component. Considering the present findings, we propose BaFe2O4 as a Bi- and Pb-free model for the search of new advanced multiferroic materials.
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