Thin Film Heterostructures for Spintronic Applications

Spintronics are a class of electronics that utilize the intrinsic spin of electrons rather than the flow of charge through a circuit. As a result, they are more energy efficient and faster than conventional electronics and are critical in advancing quantum computing, information sciences, and wearable technologies. Current spintronic designs are composed of heterostructures of stacked thin films of ferromagnetic materials in combination with either antiferromagnetic or nonmagnetic materials. This seminar will focus on ferromagnetic, permalloy (Ni₈₀Fe₂₀) thin films in a variety of spintronic systems. Specifically, ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic bilayers deposited at oblique angles illustrate the tuning of the exchange bias without the need of an external magnetic field. Additionally, the seminar will cover findings of high spin pumping conductance at the interface between permalloy and nonmagnetic polymer layers, as well as observations of spintronic performance on flexible substrates using a novel electroless deposition technique. Comparisons of these recent findings will be placed against previous reports that define the state of the art.