Large magnetoresistance and temperature-driven spin filter effect in spin valve based on half Heusler alloy

Abstract

High spin-injection-efficiency (SIE) and thermal spin-filter-effect (SFE) from a magnetic material to a barrier material are crucial to the high performance of a spintronic device and a spin caloritronic device, respectively. By performing a nonequilibrium Green’s function combined with first-principles calculations, we study the voltage-driven and temperature-driven spin transport properties of a half Heusler alloy RuCrAs based spin valve with different atom-terminated interfaces. The spin valve with a CrAs-top (or Ru-top) interface structure has an ultrahigh equilibrium magnetoresistance (MR) ratio of ∼1.56 × 109% (or ∼5.14 × 108%), ∼100% SIE, a large MR ratio, and high spin current intensity under bias voltage, suggesting that it has a great potential application in spintronic devices. The spin valve with the CrAs-top (or CrAs-bri) interface structure has a perfect SFE due to its very high spin polarization of temperature-driven currents, and it is useful in spin caloritronic devices.