Molecular magnetic tunnel junctions (Dr. O. Cespedes)

Schematic for a molecular magnetic tunnel junction with the black arrows showing the electronic current and the colored arrows the magnetization.

Molecular electronics is an exciting field that has opened new paths for the technological applications of organic compounds. Compared to the commonly used semiconductor materials, molecular structures offer the advantages of recyclability, small intrinsic size and a wide range of transport regimes that can be matched with the contact electrodes to outperform current devices.

In this project, the student will use the atomic-quality, molecular beam epitaxy deposition technique to prepare samples of molecules sandwiched between magnetic electrodes. The molecular film will be characterized via spectroscopy, and cryogenic equipment will be used to measure the electronic transport at temperatures between 2 K and room temperature, with magnetic fields of up to 8 T.

The final goal is a device that outperforms the current giant magnetoresistive (GMR) sensors and standard metal-insulator-metal magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) used for magnetic field sensing in, for example, the read heads of computer hard disks, with the plus of being more environmentally friendly.