The unique properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) show a great deal of potential for nanoelectronic devices, spintronic devices, biosensing and chemical sensing applications. Their applicability as interconnects for spintronic devices derives from their one-dimensionality and theoretically predicted preservation of spin current. In this work, we combine an investigation of spin polarization in materials such as half metallic oxides in thin film and bulk form with studies on several aspects of CNTs for sensing and spin transport applications. These two areas of study are intimately related within the umbrella of spin-electronics and nanoscale sensors that are being pursued with great topical interest in recent times. A measurement system has been developed to perform Point-Contact Andreev Reflection (PCAR) in the presence of variable magnetic fields and temperatures. It was designed and built, accepted for patent by the USF, and submitted to the U.S. Patent Office. A study of spin polarization in superconductor-magnet junctions has been performed over a wide range in magnetic fields (0 to 3T) and temperature (2 to 300K)on several systems including copper, strontium ruthenate, and chromium dioxide. Spin transport experiments have been extended to single walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) networks inorder to explore spin transport in nanotube networks for potential sensor applications.Carbon nanotube networks have been used as the electronic material for chemical and biological sensing where capacitance and conductance response to the adsorbtion of a chemical or biological analyte are simultaneously measured and a very fast response and recovery is observed. Chemical specificity has been investigated through different means since a goal of the U.S. Navy is to have an array of these sensors, each chemically specific to a unique analyte. Finally, research is ongoing in the analysis of our PCAR spectra in the strontium ruthenate series and the lanthinum strontiu m manganite series to investigate the square root dependence of the background conductance data and the fundamental aspects of the fitting procedure by using a chi-square statistical model to more accurately determine the spin polarization, P.

With the aggressive scaling of complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) nearing an inevitable physical limit and its well-known power crisis, the quest for an alternative/augmenting technology that surpasses the current semiconductor electronics is needed for further technological progress. Spintronic devices emerge as prime candidates for Beyond CMOS era by utilizing the electron spin as an extra degree of freedom to decrease the power consumption and overcome the velocity limit connected with the charge. By using the nonvolatility nature of magnetization along with its direction to represent a bit of information and then manipulating it by spin-polarized currents, routes are opened for combined memory and logic. This would not have been possible without the recent discoveries in the physics of nanomagnetism such as spin-transfer torque (STT) whereby a spin-polarized current can excite magnetization dynamics through the transfer of spin angular momentum. STT have expanded the available means of switching the magnetization of magnetic layers beyond old classical techniques, promising to fulfill the need for a new generation of dense, fast, and nonvolatile logic and storage devices. All-spin logic (ASL) is among the most promising spintronic logic switches due to its low power consumption, logic-in-memory structure, and operation on pure spin currents. The device is based on a lateral nonlocal spin valve and STT switching. It utilizes two nanomagnets (whereby information is stored) that communicate with pure spin currents through a spin-coherent nonmagnetic channel. By using the well-known spin physics and the recently proposed four-component spin circuit formalism, ASL can be thoroughly studied and simulated. Previous attempts to model ASL in the linear and diffusive regime either neglect the dynamic characteristics of transport or do not provide a scalable and robust platform for full micromagnetic simulations and inclusion of other effects like spin Hall effect and spin-orbit torque. In this thesis, we propose an improved stochastic magnetization dynamics/time-dependent spin transport model based on a finite-difference scheme of both the temporal and spatial derivatives to capture the key features of ASL. The approach yields new finite-difference conductance matrices, which, in addition to recovering the steady-state results, captures the dynamic behavior. The new conductance matrices are general in that the discretization framework can be readily applied and extended to other spintronic devices. Also, we provide a stable algorithm that can be used to simulate a generic ASL switch using the developed model.

The transport properties of zigzag graphene nanoribbons (zGNRs) were studied by density functional theory (DFT) in conjunction with Green’s function analysis. In particular, spin transport through a zGNR (12,0) device was investigated under the constraint of ferromagnetic coordination of the ribbon edges. Several configurations with two vacant sites in the edge and the bulk region of the zGNR device were derived from this system. For all structures, magnetocurrent ratios (MCRs) were recorded as a function of the bias as well as the amount of strain applied longitudinally to the devices. ZGNR devices with vacancies in the edge regime turn out to exhibit perfect spin-filter activity for well-defined choices of the strain and the bias, carrying completely polarized minority spin currents. In the alternative structure, characterized by vacancies in the bulk regime, spin currents with majority orientation prevail. With respect to both the sign and the size, the MCR is seen to depend sensitively on the device parameters, i.e., the vacancy locations, the bias, and the amount of strain. These results are interpreted in terms of density-of-states distributions, transmission spectra, and transmission operator eigenstates.

The spin filter capability of a (0,8) armchair graphene nanoribbon with Fe atoms at substitutional sites is investigated by density functional theory in combination with the non-equilibrium Green's function technique. For specific arrangements, a high degree of spin polarisation is achieved. These include a single substitution at an edge position or double substitution in the central sector of the transmission element. The possibility of switching between majority and minority spin polarisation by changing the double substitution geometry is predicted. Including the bias dependence of the transmission function proves to be essential for correct representation of the spin-resolved current-voltage profiles.

The spin-dependent transmission properties of (0,8) graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) with two substitutional Fe atom impurities (2Fe-aGNRs) have been studied by the non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF) method in conjunction with density functional theory (DFT). Emphasis is placed on the spin-filtering activity of current transmission elements derived from these structures. In particular, it is shown that devices based on 2Fe-aGNR approach the limit of half-metallicity, where the magnitude and the sign of the current spin polarization is controlled by the bias across the device as well as the spin state of the 2Fe subsystem. This effect is rationalized by electronic structure and partial-density-of-states (PDOS) analysis of the transmission element. An occupied spin minority state, induced by the Fe-atom moiety and close to the Fermi energy of 2Fe-aGNR, accounts for the predominance of minority spin polarization. Comparison with nanosystems obtained from 2Fe-aGNR, involving vacancies rather than impurities, or both types of defects, reveals that substantial degrees of current spin polarization prevail across a wide variety of device types.

No description available.

Spintronics or electronics that utilizes the spin degree of freedom of a single charge carrier (or an ensemble of charge carriers) to store, process, sense or communicate data and information is a rapidly burgeoning field in electronics. In spintronic devices, information is encoded in the spin polarization of a single carrier (or multiple carriers) and the spin(s) of these carrier(s) are manipulated for device operation. This strategy could lead to devices with low power consumption. This dissertation investigates spin transport in one dimensional and two dimensional semiconductors, with a view to applications in spintronic devices.

Im Mittelpunkt dieser Arbeit stehen der Transport und die Manipulation optisch angeregter Elektronen-Spins in (110) Quantenfilmen (quantum wells, QWs) mittels akustischer Oberflächenwellen (surface acoustic waves, SAWs). Der starke räumliche Einschluss der Ladungsträger im akustisch erzeugten Potenzial erlaubt spinerhaltenden Ladungsträgertransport mit der akustischen Geschwindigkeit. Auf diese Weise wird langreichweitiger Spintransport über Distanzen > 60 microns demonstriert, welche Spinlebenszeiten von mehr als 20 ns entsprechen. Erreicht werden diese extrem langen Spinlebenszeiten durch drei Effekte: (i) Der D''yakonov-Perel''-Mechanismus ist für Spins in Wachstumsrichtung von (110)-QWs in III-V-Halbleitern unterdrückt. (ii) Aufgrund des Typ-II piezoelektrischen Potenzials der akustischen Oberflächenwelle ist der Bir-Aronov-Pikus Spinrelaxations-Mechanismus sehr schwach. (iii) Der starke Einschluss der Ladungsträger in mesoskopische Bereiche stabilisiert den Spin zusätzlich. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird erstmals eine Anisotropie des Spintransports in einem externen Magnetfeld (Bext) nachgewiesen. Hierzu wurde die elektronische Spindynamik während des akustischen Transports entlang der [001]- bzw. [1-10]-Richtung untersucht. Während des Transports entlang der [001]-Richtung führt die Präzession der Elektronenspins um das fluktuierende interne Magnetfeld (Bint), das vom Fehlen eines Inversionszentrums im GaAs-Kristallgitter herrührt, zu Spinkohärenzzeiten von etwa 2 ns. Im Gegensatz hierzu ist beim Transport entlang der [1-10]-Richtung die Spinrelaxation für Spins in Wachstumsrichtung um eine Größenordnung langsamer. Grund hierfür ist die endliche mittlere Größe des internen effektiven Magnetfeldes Bint für Transport entlang dieser Richtung. Die beobachtete Anisotropie in der Spindynamik für die beiden Transportrichtungen wird vollständig im Rahmen der Spin-Bahn-Kopplung und des D''yakonov-Perel''-Mechanismus beschrieben und quantitativ erklärt. / In this work, we employ surface acoustic waves (SAWs) to transport and manipulate optically generated spin ensembles in (110) GaAs quantum wells (QWs). The strong carrier confinement into the SAW piezoelectric potential allows for the transport of spin-polarized carrier packets along well-defined channels with the propagation velocity of the acoustic wave. In this way, spin transport over distances exceeding 60 microns is achieved, corresponding to spin lifetimes longer than 20 ns. The demonstration of such extremely long spin lifetimes is enabled by three main factors: (i) Suppression of the D''yakonov-Perel'' spin relaxation mechanism for z-oriented spins in (110) III-V QWs; (ii) Suppression of the Bir-Aronov-Pikus spin relaxation mechanism caused by the type-II SAW piezoelectric potential; (iii) Suppression of spin relaxation induced by the mesoscopic carrier confinement into narrow stripes along the SAW wave front direction. A spin transport anisotropy under external magnetic fields (Bext) is demonstrated for the first time. Employing the well-defined average carrier momentum impinged by the SAW, we analyze the spin dephasing dynamics during transport along the [001] and [1-10] in-plane directions. For transport along [001], fluctuations of the internal magnetic field (Bint), which arises from the spin-orbit interaction associated with the bulk inversion asymmetry of the crystal, lead to decoherence within 2 ns as the spins precess around Bext. In contrast, for transport along the [1-10] direction, the z-component of the spin polarization is maintained for times one order of magnitude longer due to the non-zero average value of Bint. The dephasing anisotropy between the two directions is fully understood in terms of the dependence of the spin-orbit coupling on carrier momentum direction, as predicted by the D''yakonov-Perel'' mechanism for the (110) system.

The existence of bulk magnetism in matter can be attributed to the magnetic properties of the sub-atomic particles that constitute the former. The fact that the origin of these microscopic magnetic moments cannot be related to the existence of microscopic currents became apparent when this assumption predicted completely featureless bulk magnetic properties in contradiction to the observation of various bulk magnetic properties [1]. This microscopic magnetic moment, independent of other motions, hints at the existence of a hitherto unknown degree of freedom that a particle can possess. This property has come to be known as the "spin" of the particle. The atomic nucleus is comprised of the protons and the neutrons which possess a spin each. The composite object- the atomic nucleus is therefore a tiny magnet itself. In the presence of an external bias like a magnetic field, the nucleus therefore evolves like a magnetic moment and attains a characteristic frequency in its evolution called the Larmor frequency given by, (formula) where η is the magnetogyric ratio of the particle and B is the applied magnetic field. The existence of a natural frequency presents the possibility of a resonance behaviour in the response of the system when probed with a driving field. This is the basic principle of magnetic resonance, which in the context of the atomic nucleus, was discovered independently by Purcell [2] and Bloch [3]. From its conception, the technique and the associated understanding of the involved phenomena have come a long way. In its original form the technique involved the study of the steady-state response of the nuclear magnetic moment to a driving field. This continuous wave NMR had the basic limitation of exciting resonances in a given sample, serially. In due course of time, this technique was replaced by the Fourier transform NMR (FTNMR) [4]. This technique differed from the continuous wave NMR in its study of the transient response of the system in contrast to the steady-state response in the former. The advantage of this method is the parallel observation of all the resonances present in the system ( within the band-width of the excitation). In addition to the bias created by the external field, other internal molecular fields produce additional bias which in turn produce interesting signatures on the spectrum of the system, which are potential carriers of information about the molecular state. The fact that the spins are not isolated from the molecular environment, produces a striking effect on the ideal spectrum of the system. These effects contain in them, the signatures of the molecular local environment and are hence of immense interest to physicists, chemists and biologists.

No description available.