Large tunneling magnetoresistance and its high bias stability in Weyl half-semimetal based lateral magnetic tunnel junctions

Abstract

Magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) based on novel states of two-dimensional (2D) magnetic materials will significantly improve the value of the tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio. However, most 2D magnetic materials exhibit low critical temperatures, limiting their functionality to lower temperatures rather than room temperature. Moreover, most MTJs experience the decay of TMR ratio at large bias voltages within a low spin injection efficiency (SIE). Here, we construct a series of MTJs with Weyl half-semimetal (WHSM, e.g., MnSiS3, MnSiSe3, and MnGeSe3 monolayers) as the electrodes and investigate the spin-dependent transport properties in these kind of lateral heterojunctions by employing density functional theory combined with non-equilibrium Green’s function method. We find that an ultrahigh TMR (~109%) can be obtained firmly at a small bias voltage and maintains a high SIE even at a large bias voltage, and MnSiSe3 monolayer is predicted to exhibit a high critical temperature. Additionally, we reveal that the same structure allows for the generation of fully spin-polarized photocurrent, irrespective of the polarization angle. These findings underscore the potential of Weyl half-semimetals as candidate materials for high-performance spintronic devices.