ZHU ZhenGang1,3 & SU Gang2*

1School of Electronics, Eletrical and Communication Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; 2School of Physics, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; 3Institut f¨ur Physik, Martin-Luther-Universit¨at, Halle-Wittenberg Nanotechnikum-Weinberg, Heinrich-Damerow-Strasse 4 D-06120 Halle (Saale), Germany

Received October 10, 2012; accepted November 7, 2012; published online December 26, 2012

Abstract

A brief review is presented, which includes the direct current, alternate current, electrical and thermoelectrical transport as well as spin transfer effect in a variety of spin-based nanostructures such as the magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ), ferromagnet(FM)-quantum dot (QD)/FM-FM, double barrier MTJ, FM-marginal Fermi liquid-FM, FM-unconventional superconductor-FM (FUSF), quantum ring and optical spin-field-effect transistor. The magnetoresistances in those structures, spin accumulation effect in FM-QD-FM and FUSF systems, spin injection and spin filter into semiconductor, spin transfer effect, photon-assisted spin transport, magnonassisted tunneling, electron-electron interaction effect on spin transport, laser-controlled spin dynamics, and thermoelectrical spin transport are discussed.

Keywords: spintronics, magnetic tunnel junction, spin transport, magnetoresistance, spin transfer torque, spin injection, spin filter, spin-valve, spin-orbit

PACS number(s): 72.25.-b, 85.75.-d, 75.76.+j, 72.25.Mk

Citation: Zhu Z G, Su G. Spin manipulations through electrical and thermoelectrical transport in magnetic tunnel junctions. Sci China-Phys Mech Astron, 2013, 56: 166–183, doi: 10.1007/s11433-012-4960-x