Introducing 2D Materials for Magnetic Tunnel Junctions

We will present here experimental results on 2D materials integration in Magnetic Tunnel Junctions. A thin graphene passivation layer, directly integrated by low temperature catalyzed chemical vapor deposition (CVD), can prevent the oxidation of a ferromagnet [1]. This in turn enables the use of novel humide/ambient low-cost processes for spintronics devices. We will illustrate this property by demonstrating the use of ozone based ALD processes to fabricate efficient spin valves protected with graphene [2]. Importantly, the use of graphene on ferromagnets allows to preserve a highly surface sensitive spin current polarizer/analyzer behavior and adds new enhanced spin filtering property [3]. Finally, we will present results concerning the atomically thin insulator hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) [4]. These different experiments unveil promising uses of 2D materials for spintronics. [1] Dlubak ACS Nano 6, 10930 (2012), Weatherup ACS Nano 6, 9996 (2012) ; [2] Martin ACS Nano 8, 7890 (2014) ; [3] Martin APL 107, 012408 (2015) ; [4] Piquemal-Banci APL 108, 102404 (2016)