Giant tunneling magnetoresistance in atomically thin VSi₂N₄/MoSi₂N₄/VSi₂N₄ magnetic tunnel junction

With rich electrical and magnetic properties and environmental stability, layered MSi₂N₄ (M = transition metal) has recently attracted much attention. By using a ferromagnetic VSi₂N₄ monolayer as an electrode and a semiconducting MoSi₂N₄ monolayer as a tunneling barrier, an atomically thin VSi₂N₄/MoSi₂N₄/VSi₂N₄ magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) is theoretically proposed. Our calculated results suggest that the MTJ has a giant tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) as large as 10¹⁰% and a near perfect (100%) spin injection efficiency (SIE). Our nonequilibrium Green's functions calculations indicate that the TMR and SIE are robust under a finite bias voltage of −100 mV to 100 mV. These results show that layered MSi₂N₄ can be promising materials for designing atomically thin MTJ with a giant TMR for future spintronic applications.