Two-dimensional van der Waals spinterfaces and magnetic-interfaces

TLDR

Two-dimensional materials provide unprecedented control over magnetic tunnel junctions, enabling atomically thin barriers, near‑perfect crystallography, and tunable hybridization that generate novel spin‑dependent transport and magnetoresistance effects. The study reviews how spinterface phenomena in ferromagnetic junctions with graphene, h‑BN, and transition metal dichalcogenides influence magnetoresistance, and explores 2D ferromagnets as new van der Waals interfaces for efficient spin transmission and dynamic control.

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have brought fresh prospects for spintronics, as evidenced by the rapid scientific progress made in this frontier over the past decade. In particular, for charge perpendicular to plane vertical magnetic tunnel junctions, the 2D crystals present exclusive features such as atomic-level thickness control, near-perfect crystallography without dangling bonds, and novel electronic structure-guided interfaces with tunable hybridization and proximity effects, which lead to an entirely new group of spinterfaces. Such crystals also present new ways of integration of atomically thin barriers in magnetic tunnel junctions and an unprecedented means for developing composite barriers with atomic precision. All these new aspects have sparked interest for theoretical and experimental efforts, revealing intriguing spin-dependent transport and spin inversion effects. Here, we discuss some of the distinctive effects observed in ferromagnetic junctions with prominent 2D crystals such as graphene, hexagonal boron nitride, and transition metal dichalcogenides and how spinterface phenomena at such junctions affect the observed magnetoresistance in devices. Finally, we discuss how the recently emerged 2D ferromagnets bring upon an entirely novel category of van der Waals interfaces for efficient spin transmission and dynamic control through exotic heterostructures.