title: Half-metallic ferromagnetism via the interface electronic reconstruction in LaAlO3/SrMnO3 nanosheet superlattices.
abstract: Spintronic devices are very important for future information technology. Suitable materials for such devices should have half-metallic properties with only one spin channel conducting. Nanostructures have played an important role in this aspect. Here, we report the realization of robust half-metallic ferromagnetism via the interface electronic reconstruction in artificial LaAlO(3)/SrMnO(3) nanosheet supperlattices. On the basis of first-principles density-functional calculations, we reveal an obvious electron transfer from the (LaO)(+) layer to the adjacent (MnO(2))(0) layer. And the partially occupied e(g) orbitals at the Mn sites can mediate a half-metallic state via a Zener double-exchange mechanism. On the other hand, for the superlattices with a (SrO)(0)/(AlO(2))(-) interface, hole transfer at the interface is identified. These transferred holes reside mainly at oxygen sites in SrMnO(3), leading to either the preserved G-type AFM ordering in pp-type superlattices or complex magnetic ordering in np-type superlattices. Interestingly, when these systems transit to ferromagnetic ordering by an external magnetic field, an obvious change of electronic state at the Fermi level is found, suggesting a large magnetoresistive effect therein. Our studies demonstrate the unique electric and magnetic properties arising from a magnetic ordering dependent charge transfer and electronic reconstruction at perovskite heterointerfaces, and their potential applications in spintronic devices.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Thin Films, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, PR China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Tian-Yi
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ju
authors.forename: Ming-Rong
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D004579:Electron Transport; D060526:Magnetic Fields; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008956:Models, Chemical