Spontaneous anomalous and spin Hall effects due to spin-orbit scattering of evanescent wave functions in magnetic tunnel junctions.

We theoretically investigated the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) and spin Hall effect (SHE) transversal to the insulating spacer I, in magnetic tunnel junctions of the form F/I/F where the F's are ferromagnetic layers and I represents a tunnel barrier. We considered the case of purely ballistic (quantum mechanical) transport. These effects arise because of the asymmetric scattering of evanescent wave functions due to the spin-orbit interaction in the tunnel barrier. The AHE and SHE we investigated have a surface nature due to the proximity effect. Their amplitude is of first order in the scattering potential. This contrasts with ferromagnetic metals wherein these effects are of second (side-jump scattering) and third (skew scattering) order in these potentials. The value of the AHE current in the insulating spacer may be much larger than that in metallic ferromagnetic electrodes. For the antiparallel orientation of the magnetizations in the two F electrodes, a spontaneous Hall current exists even at zero applied voltage.

Interlayer exchange coupling across a ferroelectric barrier.

A new magnetoelectric effect is predicted originating from the interlayer exchange coupling between two ferromagnetic layers separated by an ultrathin ferroelectric barrier. It is demonstrated that ferroelectric polarization switching driven by an external electric field leads to a sizable change in the interlayer exchange coupling. The effect occurs in asymmetric ferromagnet/ferroelectric/ferromagnet junctions due to a change in the electrostatic potential profile across the junction affecting the interlayer coupling. The predicted phenomenon indicates the possibility of switching the magnetic configuration by reversing the polarization of the ferroelectric barrier layer.

Impurity-assisted interlayer exchange coupling across a tunnel barrier.

Localized impurity or defect states in the insulating barrier layer separating two ferromagnetic films affect dramatically the interlayer exchange coupling (IEC), making it significantly stronger compared to perfect barriers. We demonstrate that the impurity-assisted IEC becomes antiferromagnetic if the energy of the impurity states matches the Fermi energy and that the coupling strength decreases with temperature. These results explain available experimental data on the IEC across tunnel barriers.