Scientists from the Research Center for Magnetic Materials Application Technology led by Prof. Academician SHEN Baogen at the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering (NIMTE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in cooperation with scientists from Tianjin University and the Institute of Physics of the CAS, have achieved multilevel spin-based modulation of magnetoresistance in high-performance organic spin valve (OSV) devices.

The study was published in Advanced Materials.

As a new branch of spintronics, organic spintronic devices integrate the advantages of organic molecules with spin modulation, yielding a revolution in the design and development of materials, architectures, and mechanisms.

The outstanding advantages, such as low cost, lightweight, flexibility, solution-processibility, and chemical tailorability, endow organic spintronic devices with great application potential for information storage and processing.

However, the relatively narrow range of tunable magnetoresistance has limited the performance improvement of organic spintronic devices, hindering the theoretical research and practical application of organic spintronics.

For the first time, scientists at NIMTE fabricated a three-terminal OSV device with a gate structure by combining strain electronics with organic spintronics.

Unlike traditional structures, the write unit was separated from the read unit, avoiding signal attenuation and device breakdown.

The developed device achieved an impressive magnetoresistance value of 281%, 10 times higher than the average magnetoresistance value in polymer systems.

By integrating strain control and spin-polarized current control, the OSV devices achieve efficient multi-state modulation, i.e., at least 10 stable spin-dependent working states within a single device. This can significantly enhance the storage density of the OSV devices.

The impressive modulation range originates from the synergistic effects of strain and charge accumulation, which are amplified by the spinterface.

The study shows the great potential of OSV systems for information storage and processing and sheds light on the advancement of multifunctional spintronic devices.

Fig. The spinterface effect facilitates the magnetoresistance modulation of devices (Image by NIMTE)