title: Graphene-passivated nickel as an oxidation-resistant electrode for spintronics.
abstract: We report on graphene-passivated ferromagnetic electrodes (GPFE) for spin devices. GPFE are shown to act as spin-polarized oxidation-resistant electrodes. The direct coating of nickel with few layer graphene through a readily scalable chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process allows the preservation of an unoxidized nickel surface upon air exposure. Fabrication and measurement of complete reference tunneling spin valve structures demonstrate that the GPFE is maintained as a spin polarizer and also that the presence of the graphene coating leads to a specific sign reversal of the magneto-resistance. Hence, this work highlights a novel oxidation-resistant spin source which further unlocks low cost wet chemistry processes for spintronics devices.
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, United Kingdom. bruno.dlubak@eng.cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dlubak
authors.forename: Marie-Blandine
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Weatherup
authors.forename: Heejun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Cyrile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Deranlot
authors.forename: Raoul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Blume
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schloegl
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fert
authors.forename: Abdelmadjid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Anane
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hofmann
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Seneor
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Robertson