title: Interfacial Ion Intermixing Effect on Four-Resistance States in La0.7Sr0.3MnO3/BaTiO3/La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 Multiferroic Tunnel Junctions.
abstract: A multiferroic tunnel junction (MFTJ), employing a ferroelectric barrier layer sandwiched between two ferromagnetic layers, presents at least four resistance states in a single memory cell and therefore opens an avenue for the development of the next generation of high-density nonvolatile memory devices. Here, using the all-perovskite-oxide La0.7Sr0.3MnO3/BaTiO3/La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 as a model MFTJ system, we demonstrate asymmetrical Mn-Ti sublattice intermixing at the La0.7Sr0.3MnO3/BaTiO3 interfaces by direct local measurements of the structure and valence, which reveals the relationship between ferroelectric polarization directions and four-resistance states, and the low temperature anomalous tunneling behavior in the MFTJ. These findings emphasize the crucial role of the interfaces in MFTJs and are quite important for understanding the electric transport of MFTJs as well as designing high-density multistates storage devices.
authors.affiliation: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Weichuan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, P. R. China.|Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University , University Park 16802, United States.
authors.forename: Yuewei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Dalong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Wenbo
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University , University Park 16802, United States.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, P. R. China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures , Nanjing, 210093, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xiaoguang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
keywords: interface; intermixing; multiferroic tunnel junctions; tunneling electroresistance; tunneling magnetoresistance