Giant tunneling magnetoresistance in atomically thin VSi2N4/MoSi2N4/VSi2N4 magnetic tunnel junction

With rich electrical and magnetic properties and environmental stability, layered MSi2N4 (M = transition metal) has recently attracted much attention. By using a ferromagnetic VSi2N4 monolayer as an electrode and a semiconducting MoSi2N4 monolayer as a tunneling barrier, an atomically thin VSi2N4/MoSi2N4/VSi2N4 magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) is theoretically proposed. Our calculated results suggest that the MTJ has a giant tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) as large as 1010% and a near perfect (100%) spin injection efficiency (SIE). Our nonequilibrium Green's functions calculations indicate that the TMR and SIE are robust under a finite bias voltage of similar to 100mV to 100 mV. These results show that layered MSi2N4 can be promising materials for designing atomically thin MTJ with a giant TMR for future spintronic applications. Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.