New spintronic devices through diluted magnetic semiconductors and magnetic insulators
Our smartphones, computers, game consoles and VR headsets contain smaller and smaller electronics. The ongoing miniaturization of electronic components in integrated circuits has led to issues such as leakage currents and high operating temperatures. Spintronics promises to solve these problems, and to introduce a new generation of devices with functionalities that increase information storage and processing capabilities. In spintronics, the spin of electrons is used to code, transport and manipulate information.
In his thesis, Aaron Mendoza Rodarte focused on two promising materials for spintronic applications: diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS) and magnetic insulators. Mendoza Rodarte dove into the properties of GaN-based DMS, a material with the potential to integrate spintronics with existing semiconductor technologies. He investigated the origin of ferromagnetism in GaN doped with transition metals, finding that specific defects, such as VGa-ON complexes, facilitate a ferromagnetic superexchange mechanism.
Mendoza Rodarte furthermore pioneered the study of spin properties in GaN-based DMS devices, demonstrating significant advancements in interface transparency and spin mixing conductance, comparable to state-of-the-art materials like yttrium iron garnet (YIG). He also explores magnetic insulators, particularly YIG, which is vital for the fields of magnonics and orbitronics. Mendoza Rodarte showcases the use of orbital-related processes to enhance magnon transport in YIG-based devices, achieving a tenfold increase in magnon signal and advancing the understanding of charge-to-orbital interconversion. These findings contribute to the development of more efficient spintronic devices, broadening the scope of materials and technologies in the field.