Gate control of interlayer exchange coupling in ferromagnetic semiconductor trilayers with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy

• Main Authors: Chongthanaphisut, P. (Author), Dobrowolska, M. (Author), Furdyna, J.K (Author), Lee, K.J (Author), Lee, S. (Author), Liu, X. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Institute of Physics Inc. 2022
• Subjects: Carrier concentration; Device application; Energy efficiency; Ferromagnetic materials; Ferromagnetic semiconductor; Ferromagnetism; Gate control; Gate voltages; Interlayer exchange coupling; Ionic liquids; Logic devices; Magnetic anisotropy; Magnetic logic; Magnetic semiconductors; Magnetic storage; Metallics; Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy; Semiconductor quantum wells; Threshold voltage; Trilayer structure; Trilayers
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher
• ISBN: 2166532X (ISSN)
• DOI: 10.1063/5.0079245

Interlayer exchange coupling (IEC) has been intensively investigated in magnetic multilayers, owing to its potential for magnetic memory and logic device applications. Although IEC can be reliably obtained in metallic ferromagnetic multilayer systems by adjusting structural parameters, it is difficult to achieve gate control of IEC in metallic systems due to their large carrier densities. Here, we demonstrate that IEC can be reliably controlled in ferromagnetic semiconductor (FMS) trilayer structures by means of an external gate voltage. We show that, by designing a quantum-well-type trilayer structure based on (Ga,Mn)(As,P) FMSs and adapting the ionic liquid gating technique, the carrier density in the nonmagnetic spacer of the system can be modulated with gate voltages of only a few volts. Due to this capability, we are able to vary the strength of IEC by as much as 49% in the FMS trilayer. These results provide important insights into design of spintronic devices and their energy-efficient operation. © 2022 Author(s).