Nanowires of Fe/MgO/Fe Encapsulated in Carbon Nanotubes

Nanowires of tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) were synthesized using magnetron DC/RF sputtering by filling Fe/MgO/Fe inside vertically grown and substrate-supported carbon nanotubes. Nanocolumns of Fe/MgO/Fe TMR were synthesized using glancing angle deposition. The magnetic properties of nanowires, nanocolumns and planar nanometric thin films of Fe/MgO/Fe showed similarities including twofold magnetic symmetry. Nanowires of Fe/MgO/Fe showed improved magnetic properties, in particular its coercive field, which is 754% higher than planar thin films of Fe/MgO/Fe. A macroscopic phenomenon that can be explained only by quantum mechanics is TMR, where electrical current can flow across a nanometric thin insulator layer between two electrodes when an external magnetic field is applied parallel to the trilayer system. Coherence in the TMR effect is paramount to make spintronic devices. Nanowires possess shape anisotropy, which can play an important role in coherence.