Direct measurement of the electronic spin diffusion length in a fully functional organic spin valve by low-energy muon spin rotation

Abstract

Electronic devices that use the spin degree of freedom hold unique prospects for future technology. The performance of these spintronic devices relies heavily on the efficient transfer of spin polarization across different layers and interfaces. This complex transfer process depends on individual material properties and also, most importantly, on the structural and electronic properties of the interfaces between the different materials and defects that are common to real devices. Knowledge of these factors is especially important for the relatively new field of organic spintronics, where there is a severe lack of suitable experimental techniques that can yield depth-resolved information about the spin polarization of charge carriers within buried layers of real devices. Here, we present a new depth-resolved technique for measuring the spin polarization of current-injected electrons in an organic spin valve and find the temperature dependence of the measured spin diffusion length is correlated with the device magnetoresistance. © 2009 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.