CARTERAS ÓPTIMAS FORMADAS CON CETES Y LAS ACCIONES “TELMEX A” Y “ALFA A”

Figure 4.9: Electrical characterization of the CNT QD with sputtered Py contacts. a) Backgate VBGsweep of the conductance G. A four-fold periodicity superimposed by a two-fold symmetry is visible. b) The addition energy Eadd as a function of VBG The energy for the second electron (green data points) exceed those for the first and third electron. c) Energy stability diagram. The highlighted package of four Coulomb resonances is chosen for MR measurements.

anisotropy axis [80]. For avoiding this the sample was rotated while sputtering.

The device yield fulfilling the RT criteria of a two terminal resistance be-low 1 MΩ increased slightly in comparison to devices fabricated with e-beam evaporation. A device with 40 kΩ at RT was cooled down to 1.5 K for spin transport measurements. The electrical characterization of the QD is plotted in fig.4.9a. The Coulomb peaks oscillate with a 4-fold periodicity. In contrast to the data from fig.4.2 the four-fold pattern is superimposed by a two-fold periodicity. This means that the four-fold degeneracy of the QD energy lev-els is slightly lifted with an energy separation of ∼ 0.4 meV. This can be read from fig.4.9b where the addition energy is plotted a function of back-gate voltage. This generally observed behavior [81, 74, 82, 83, 84] may be caused by a disorder induced coupling of the K, K⁰ states [82, 85] leading to a splitting by ∆KK⁰ of the energy spectrum into two spin-degenerate orbitals.

Another possibility for lifting the energy degeneracy is the recently observed spin orbit coupling ∆_SO induced by the curvature of the CNT [86, 87]. Both mechanism may be present leading to a total splitting of ∆ =

q

∆²_KK0+ ∆²_SO. However, for MR measurements a package of four resonances indicated in fig.4.2c as red rectangular is chosen. The result for the magnetic field sweep (up and down) mapping these four peaks is shown in fig.4.10. Again, like in the MR data from the previous device (fig.4.3) the measurement is dominated

46

CHAPTER 4. THE ORIGIN OF INSTABILITIES IN MR MEASUREMENTS

Figure 4.10: MR color map for four Coulomb peaks. Like in the MR measurements from section 4.1 the conductance pattern is dominated by random changes.

by random changes of amplitude, peak position and peak width. In addi-tion the significant changes of the conductance pattern take place at magnetic fields which do not correlate with the expected coercive fields for 200 nm and 400 nm wide Py strips [66].

Therefore anisotropy magneto-resistance (AMR) measurements on these two strips were preformed to determine their coercive fields. AMR is an effect which causes a resistance dependence on the orientation of the magnetization of a ferromagnetic material relative to the direction of the current due to the interplay of magnetization and spin orbit interaction [88, 89].

For this the two terminal resistance R of a single Py strip is measured as a func-tion of the magnetic field applied parallel to the strip. This is schematically illustrated in the SEM picture of the device, see fig.4.11a. When sweeping the magnetic field and reaching the coercive field of such a Py strip the magneti-zation of the strip changes abruptly by 180^◦. Since the magnetic field is never perfectly aligned with the strip axis the magnetization of the strip does not change in one 180^◦ step and is usually for a short moment during the switching perpendicular to the current direction resulting in a small resistance change.

Therefore AMR measurements are the perfect tool to state the coercive field of single Py strips. The results of these measurements from the 400 nm wide and 200 nm wide strip are plotted in fig.4.11c and fig.4.11d respectively. The up and down sweep for the 400 nm wide strip results in a resistance change asymmetric around zero magnetic field. This is caused by an 4 mT offset of the magnet. Taking this into account one finds a coercive field of ±10 mT well matched with values obtained in ref.[66] for a 400 nm wide strip. In contrast the 200 nm wide strip switches in a non reproducible manner. Two up/down sweeps are plotted taken one after another with completely different shapes.

A closer look at the SEM picture (fig.4.11a) of the measured device sheds light on this issue.

4.3. MR MEASUREMENTS ON DEVICES WITH SPUTTERED PY

-0.10 -0.05 0.00 0.05 0.10 B / T

-0.10 -0.05 0.00 0.05 0.10 2.746

Figure 4.11: a) SEM image (secondary electrons) of the device with an illustration of the measurement scheme for AMR measurements. In addition large Py flakes are visible lying on top of the narrow strip (white arrows). b) The same SEM picture (backscattered electrons).

AMR measurements of the 400 nm wide c) and the 200 nm wide d) Py strip.

In fig.4.11b the same device is shown but for making the carbon nanotube visible an SEM image of the backscattered electrons is shown instead of an image of the secondary electrons. In both images one can see large flakes consisting of Py (indicated with white arrows) lying on top of the narrow Py strip while the wide Py strip looks much cleaner. Together with the AMR measurements one can conclude that these flakes affect the magnetic properties of the narrow Py strip. In some devices one could also observe flakes lying on top of the nanotube. For tracing back the origin of these flakes a test sample was fabricated, dipped in liquid nitrogen and cleaved after the metal deposition to look at the undercut profile, see fig. 4.12a. Not surprisingly the undercut is due to the less directional sputter deposition completely filled with the deposited Py including a Py deposition on the sidewalls of the resist layer. In fig.4.12b the corresponding Py strip after lift-off is shown. The edges

200 nm 200 nm

Figure 4.12: SEM image for test devices with Py deposited via sputtering a) side view before lift-off. b) The Py strips after lift-off.

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CHAPTER 4. THE ORIGIN OF INSTABILITIES IN MR MEASUREMENTS of the strips are very rough and partly small flakes are visible. The filling of the undercut with the deposited Py makes the lift-off not reproducible. A worst case scenario is shown in fig.4.13. Here massive Py flakes are standing perpendicular to the strip with a height of ≈ 300 nm corresponding to the resist thickness.

In the following section an optimized sputter deposition process is reported.

200 nm Py Pd

Pd

Figure 4.13: SEM image of a worst case scenario of a failed lift-off.