Monte Carlo Study of a wide range of Molecular Spintronics Devices

Pawan Tyagi, Christopher D Angelo, Collin Baker

Published 2014-01-15Version 1

Molecular spintronics devices (MSDs) are highly promising candidates for enabling quantum computation and revolutionizing computer logic and memory. An advanced MSD will require the placement of magnetic molecules between the two ferromagnetic (FM) electrodes. Recent experimental studies showed that some magnetic molecules produced unprecedented strong exchange couplings between the two FM electrodes leading to intriguing magnetic and transport properties in a MSD. Future development of MSDs will critically depend on obtaining an in-depth understanding of the molecule induced exchange coupling, and its impact on switchability, functional temperature range, and stability. However, the large size of MSD systems and fragile device fabrication scheme continue to limit the theoretical and experimental studies of magnetic attributes produced by molecules in a MSD. This paper theoretically studies the MSD by performing Monte Carlo simulations (MCS). Our MCS encompasses the full range of MSDs that can be realized by establishing different kinds of magnetic interaction between magnetic molecules and FM electrodes. Our MSDs are represented by a 2D Ising model. We studied the effect of a wide range of molecule-FM electrode couplings on the basic properties of MSDs. This wide range covered (i) molecule possessing ferromagnetic coupling with both FM electrodes, (ii) molecule possessing antiferromagnetic coupling with both FM electrodes, and (iii) molecule possessing ferromagnetic coupling with one electrode and antiferromagnetic coupling with another FM electrode. Our MCS will enable the fundamental understanding and designing of a wide range of novel MSDs utilizing a variety of molecules and FM electrodes; these studies will also benefits nanomaterials based spintronics devices employing nanoclusters and quantum dots as the device elements.