Title: Tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance driven by magnetic phase transition,
Abstract: The independent control of two magnetic electrodes and spin-coherent
transport in magnetic tunnel junctions are strictly required for tunneling
magnetoresistance, while junctions with only one ferromagnetic electrode
exhibit tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance dependent on the anisotropic
density of states with no room temperature performance so far. Here we report
an alternative approach to obtaining tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance in
alfa-FeRh-based junctions driven by the magnetic phase transition of alfa-FeRh
and resultantly large variation of the density of states in the vicinity of MgO
tunneling barrier, referred to as phase transition tunneling anisotropic
magnetoresistance. The junctions with only one alfa-FeRh magnetic electrode
show a magnetoresistance ratio up to 20% at room temperature. Both the polarity
and magnitude of the phase transition tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance
can be modulated by interfacial engineering at the alfa-FeRh/MgO interface.
Besides the fundamental significance, our finding might add a different
dimension to magnetic random access memory and antiferromagnet spintronics.