Electrical Spin Injection into Silicon Using MgO Tunnel Barrier

Abstract

We observed spin injection into silicon through Fe/MgO tunnel barrier by\nusing non-local magnetoresistance measurement technique. Fe/MgO tunnel barrier\ncontacts with a lateral spin valve structure were fabricated on phosphorous\ndoped silicon-on-insulator substrate. Spin injection signals in the non-local\nscheme were observed up to 120K, which is the highest value where band\ntransferred spins in Si have ever been reported, and spin diffusion length was\nestimated to be about 2.25um at 8K. Temperature dependence and injection\ncurrent dependence of the non-local voltage were also investigated. It is\nclarified that MgO tunnel barrier is effective for the spin injection into\nsilicon.\n