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A novel functionalization of a ferromagnetic electrode employed in spintronic devices is reported. Self-assembling monolayer technique has been used to chemisorb a paramagnetic phosphonate functionalized nitronyl-nitroxide radical (NitPO) on the ferromagnetic La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 (LSMO) manganite surface. This interfacial layer causes clearly detectable modifications of the behavior in prototypical LSMO/NitPO/Gaq3/AlO x/Co vertical spintronic devices at temperatures below the ferromagnetic alignment (estimated by density functional theory) of the magnetic moments of NitPO and LSMO. This behavior can be justified by a significant spin filtering effect at the engineered interface, with a carrier selection (spin-up) opposite to that of the LSMO/Gaq3 interface (spin-down). It is proposed that the engineering of spin injecting interfaces with molecules having magnetic moment enables additional mechanisms to control and manipulate the spin polarization of currents in spintronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction to the affiliation of one of the authors of the article "Low intrinsic carrier density LSMO/Alq3/AlOx/Co organic spintronic devices," originally published online on April 2, 2018 is presented.

The understanding of spin injection and transport in organic spintronic devices is still incomplete, with some experiments showing magnetoresistance and others not detecting it. We have investigated the transport properties of a large number of tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminum-based organic spintronic devices with an electrical resistance greater than 5 MΩ that did not show magnetoresistance. Their transport properties could be described satisfactorily by known models for organic semiconductors. At high voltages (>2 V), the results followed the model of space charge limited current with a Poole-Frenkel mobility. At low voltages (∼0.1 V), that are those at which the spin valve behavior is usually observed, the charge transport was modelled by nearest neighbor hopping in intra-gap impurity levels, with a charge carrier density of n0 = (1.44 ± 0.21) × 1015 cm−3 at room temperature. Such a low carrier density can explain why no magnetoresistance was observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses research on the mechanism of carrier transfer inside an interface consisting of a hard metallic electrode touching a soft organic layer. It references a study by Sabine Steil and colleagues published in a 2013 issue of "Nature Physics." He believes that a snapshot of electrons crossing a metal/organic interface provides implications for spin filtering and spintronic device design.