Novel functionalities at oxide interfaces: magnetism and its electric field control

Special Seminars

Speaker: Jacobo Santamaria, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Date & Time: November 12, 2013 11:00 - 12:00
Location: UBC, Hennings 318
Local Contact: Doug Bonn
Intended Audience: Public

The discoveries of unexpected properties at the interfaces between complex oxides have triggered the launch of a rapidly expanding field of research. Modern thin film growth technologies have evolved to a level which allows atomic control of the interface structure and chemistry. At interfaces electron correlations underlie the nucleation of emerging ground states with exciting responses not appearing in the bulk counterparts of the constituents. This has driven an important effort towards the design of heterostructures with specific functionalities. However, the technological promise relies on being able to tune their electronic groundstates with external stimulii. In this talk I will examine several interface problems in oxide heterostructures with special focus on the possibility of creating novel interfacial magnetic states. They originate at the modification of the orbital occupancy resulting from the modified bonding at the interface. I will discuss the effect of these low dimensional magnetic states in determining the magnetic response of practical magnetic tunnel junctions. I will demonstrate the possibility of designing specific functionalities such as spin filtering or electric field control of interface magnetization. I will conclude with an outline of interesting future directions.