Observation of Moment-Dependent and Field-Driven Unidirectional Magnetoresistance in CoFeB/InSb/CdTe Heterostructures

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2024 Aug 28;16(34):45687-45694. doi: 10.1021/acsami.4c08159. Epub 2024 Aug 20.

Abstract

Magnetoresistance effects are crucial for understanding the charge-spin transport as well as propelling the advancement of spintronic applications. Here, we report the coexistence of magnetic-moment-dependent (MD) and magnetic-field-driven (FD) unidirectional magnetoresistance (UMR) effects in CoFeB/InSb/CdTe heterostructures. The strong spin-orbital coupling of InSb and the matched impedance at the CoFeB/InSb interface warrant a distinct MD-UMR effect at room temperature, while the interaction between the in-plane magnetic field and the Rashba effect at the InSb/CdTe interface induces the marked FD-UMR signal that dominates the high-field region. Moreover, owning to different spin scattering mechanisms, these two types of non-reciprocal charge transports show opposite polarities with respect to the magnetic field direction, which further enables an effective phase modulation of the angular-dependent magnetoresistance. The demonstration of the tunable UMR response validates our CoFeB/InSb/CdTe system as a suitable integrated building block for multifunctional spintronic memory and sensor designs.

Keywords: Rashba effect; semiconductor heterostructures; spintronic devices; spin−orbit coupling; unidirectional magnetoresistance.