Proposal for reconfigurable magnetic tunnel diode and transistor

We propose a reconfigurable magnetic tunnel diode and transistor based on half metallic magnets (HMMs) and spin gapless semiconductors (SGSs). The two-terminal tunnel diode is comprised of a HMM electrode and a SGS electrode separated by a thin insulating (I) tunnel barrier. Depending of the relative orientation of the magnetization of the electrodes the magnetic tunnel diode allows the electrical current to pass either in one or the other direction. The three-terminal magnetic tunnel transistor consists of a HMM-I-SGS-I-HMM (emitter-base-collector) structure and can be switched on and off by application of a voltage to the base electrode and conducts current in both directions similar to conventional field-effect transistors. The unique energy band structure of the SGS-I-HMM junction prevents base-collector leakage currents and allows dual-mode operation of the transistor. Both devices can be configured by an external magnetic field or by the spin transfer torque switching. By employing the nonequilibriu...