Spin-dependent giant junction magnetoresistance in simple Fe/p-Si(001) Schottky heretrojunction at low temperature

We report on the giant junction magnetoresistance observed at low temperature in Fe/p-Si Schottky heterojunction. The device shows good rectifying characteristics at room temperature and a dual—Schottky as well as magnetic diode—characteristics at low temperature, below 50 K. Formation of a magnetic field-dependent potential barrier due to electrical injection of spin-polarized carriers from the ferromagnetic electrode into the semiconductor is speculated to result in such large junction resistance. The magnetoresistance value is of the order of 104%\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$10^{4}\%$$\end{document} at 10 K and saturates at ∼0.5kOe\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\sim 0.5\,\hbox {kOe}$$\end{document}, showing dual functionality—working as a magnetic diode as well as a magnetoresistive element.