We measure the spin-wave Doppler shift induced by the transfer of angular momentum from the diffusive spin-polarized electric current onto coherent spin waves in epitaxial MgO/Fe/MgO thin films. We follow this Doppler shift as a function of the temperature and determine that the degree of spin polarization of the current increases from 77 to 86% when cooling the device from 303 to 10 K. Interpreting these measurements within the two-current model, we separate the contributions from electron-surface, electron-phonon, and electron-magnon scatterings to the spin-dependent resistivity of iron.

2D van der Waals materials and their heterostructures are a fantastic playground to explore emergent phenomena arising from electronic quantum hybridization effects. In the last decade, the spin-dependant hybridization effect pushed this frontier further introducing the magnetic proximity effect as a promising tool for spintronic applications. Here the uncharted proximity-controlled magnetoelectric effect in EuO/graphene heterostructure is unveiled. This is obtained while creating a new multiferroic hybrid heterostructure with multifunctional properties. Using a topotactic method magnetic insulating EuO thin films on graphene is grown under high compressive strain, which induces the appearance of an additional ferroelectric order, with an electric polarization that reaches up to 18 µC cm-2 at room temperature. This observation therefore quantitatively confirms the theoretical predictions made 15 years ago of a strain-induced ferroelectric state in EuO. Moreover, the EuO induces a magnetic proximity state into the graphene layer by interfacial hybridization. This new ferroelectric state in the EuO/graphene heterostructure is stable up to room temperature where it coexists with the EuO/graphene magnetic state. Furthermore, intertwined magneto-electric effects are shown in these strained heterostructures which can facilitate the manipulation of magnetization and electric polarization in future memory and neuromorphic devices.

We show that thin layers of EuO, a ferromagnetic insulator, can be achieved by topotactic reduction under titanium of a Eu2O3 film deposited on top of a graphene template. The reduction process leads to the formation of a 7-nm thick EuO smooth layer, without noticeable structural changes in the underlying chemical vapor deposited (CVD) graphene. The obtained EuO films exhibit ferromagnetism, with a Curie temperature that decreases with the initially deposited Eu2O3 layer thickness. By adjusting the thickness of the Eu2O3 layer below 7 nm, we promote the formation of EuO at the very graphene interface: the EuO/graphene heterostructure demonstrates the anomalous Hall effect (AHE), which is a fingerprint of proximity-induced spin polarization in graphene. The AHE signal moreover persists above Tc up to 350K due to a robust super-paramagnetic phase in EuO. This original high-temperature magnetic phase is attributed to magnetic polarons in EuO: we propose that the high strain in our EuO films grown on graphene stabilizes the magnetic polarons up to room temperature. This effect is different from the case of bulk EuO in which polarons vanish in the vicinity of the Curie temperature Tc= 69K.

Epitaxial clusters of chromium and chromium-vanadium oxides are studied by tunnel magneto-resistivity measurements, x-ray absorption spectrometry and circular magnetic circular dichroism. They turn out to carry a small magnetic moment that follows a super-paramagnetic behavior. The chromium ion contribution to this magnetization is mainly due to an original magnetic Cr2O3-like phase, whereas usual Cr2O3is known to be anti-ferromagnetic in the bulk. For mixed clusters, vanadium ions also contribute to the total magnetization and they are coupled to the chromium ion spins. By measuring the dichroic signal at different temperatures, we get insight into the possible spin configurations of vanadium and chromium ions: we propose that the magnetic dipoles observed in the clusters assembly could be related to ionic spins that couple at a very short range, as for instance in short one-dimensional spins chains.

Broadband ferromagnetic resonance is measured in single crystalline Fe films of varying thickness sandwiched between MgO layers. An exhaustive magnetic characterization of the films (exchange constant, cubic, uniaxial and surface anisotropies) is enabled by the study of the uniform and the first perpendicular standing spin wave modes as a function of applied magnetic field and film thickness. Additional measurements of nonreciprocal spin-wave propagation allow us to separate each of the two interface contributions to the total surface anisotropy. The results are consistent with the model of a quasi-bulk film interior and two magnetically different top and bottom interfaces, a difference ascribed to different oxidation states.

The metal-insulator transition and the original magnetic phase that appear in vanadium oxide nanoclusters epitaxially embedded in an MgO matrix are studied via electron transport, magneto-resistance, and X-ray circular dichroism measurements. The metal-insulator transition temperature is observed to be in the range of 1.5–27 K. We observe, from 0.3 K to at least 125 K, a superparamagnetic behavior, whereas vanadium oxide, in its bulk phase, is reported to be anti-ferromagnetic (AF) at low temperatures. This striking feature is consistent with either ferromagnetic spin pairing or spin canting in the AF spin order along the 1D vanadium ion chains of the Magnéli phase or for the VO2(A)-like phase. Finally, the observed magneto-resistive effect, which reached up to 8% at low temperatures, indicates ferromagnetic behavior for some of the nanoparticles. This enables their integration in spintronic devices that could be combined with metal-insulator switching and magneto-resistive effects.

We study electron transport in an assembly of epitaxial Cr2O3 nanoparticles embedded in a MgO tunnel barrier: an unusual variation in the Coulomb blockade charging energy is observed as a function of the size of the clusters. In striking contrast to the expected increase in charging energy when decreasing the cluster size, an almost constant behavior is observed. We argue here that the spontaneous superparaelectric moment carried by the cluster core is the origin of this unusual behavior since it drives the dielectric constant in this cluster assembly. This phenomenon could be exploited to fabricate devices with single valued Coulomb blockade energy despite a statistical dispersion in the cluster size.

We study electron transport in an assembly of epitaxial Cr2O3 nanoparticles embedded in a MgO tunnel barrier: an unusual variation in the Coulomb blockade charging energy is observed as a function of the size of the clusters. In striking contrast to the expected increase in charging energy when decreasing the cluster size, an almost constant behavior is observed. We argue here that the spontaneous superparaelectric moment carried by the cluster core is the origin of this unusual behavior since it drives the dielectric constant in this cluster assembly. This phenomenon could be exploited to fabricate devices with single valued Coulomb blockade energy despite a statistical dispersion in the cluster size.

We report on the fabrication of ferromagnetic thin layers separated by a MgO dielectric barrier from a graphene-covered substrate. The growth of ferromagnetic metal layers\p=m-\Co or Ni0.8Fe0.2\p=m-\is achieved by Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) on a 3 nm MgO(111) epitaxial layer deposited on graphene. In the case of a graphene, grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) over Ni substrates, an annealing at 450 degrees C, under ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) conditions, leads to the dewetting of the ferromagnetic layers, forming well-defined flat facetted clusters whose shape reflects the substrate symmetry. In the case of CVD graphene transferred on SiO2, no dewetting is observed after same annealing. We attribute this difference to the mechanical stress states induced by the substrate, illustrating how it matters for epitaxial construction through graphene. Controlling the growth parameters of such magnetic single objects or networks could benefit to new architectures for catalysis or spintronic applications.

We investigate the second harmonic generation (SHG) signal in strained Cr2O3 clusters. We show that the SHG signal generated by nanometric Cr2O3 clusters embedded in MgO varies under an applied electric field, at room temperature. The variation of the intensity follows a Langevin law as a function of the electric field, which is consistent with a super-paraelectric clusters assembly. This reveals the presence of a weak spontaneous electric dipole in Cr2O3 when in the shape of highly strained epitaxial clusters, whereas this material does not posses any permanent electric dipole in the bulk phase. These results indicate that the multiferroic state recently observed at low temperature in those clusters, which was associated to a giant magneto-electric effect, might still exist at room temperature: this opens the way to new applications based on chromium oxide strained nanoparticles.

The technique of propagating spin wave spectroscopy is applied to a 20 nm thick Fe/MgO (001) film. The magnetic parameters extracted from the position of the resonance peaks are very close to those tabulated for bulk iron. From the propagating waveforms, a group velocity of 4 km/s and an attenuation length of about 6 micrometers are extracted for 1.6 micrometers-wavelength spin-wave at 18 GHz. From the measured current-induced spin-wave Doppler shift, we also extract a surprisingly high degree of spin-polarization of the current of 83%. This set of results makes single-crystalline iron a promising candidate for building devices utilizing high frequency spin-waves and spin-polarized currents.

We observe, as a function of temperature, a second order magnetic phase transition in nanometric Cr2O3 clusters that are epitaxially embedded in an insulating MgO matrix. They are investigated through their tunnel magneto-resistance signature, the MgO layer being used as a tunnel barrier. We infer the small magnetic dipoles carried by the Cr2O3 clusters and provide evidence of a magnetic phase transition at low temperature in those clusters: they evolve from an anti ferromagnetic state, with zero net moment close to 0 K, to a weak ferromagnetic state that saturates above about 10 K. The influence of magneto-electric effects on the weak ferromagnetic phase is also striking: the second order transition temperature turns out to be linearly dependent on the applied electric field.

The conservation of an electron's spin and symmetry as it undergoes solid-state tunnelling within magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) is thought to be best understood using MgO-based MTJs(1). Yet the very large experimental values of tunnelling magnetoresistance (TMR) that justify this perception are often associated with tunnelling barrier heights well below those suggested by the MgO optical band gap. This combination of high TMR and low RA-product, while spawning spin-transfer/spin-orbit torque experiments and considerable industrial interest, cannot be explained by standard theory. Noting the impact of a tunnel barrier's altered stoichiometry on TMR 2, we reconcile this 10+ year-old contradiction between theory and experiment by considering the impact of the MgO barrier's structural defects 3-5. We find that the ground and excited states of oxygen vacancies can promote localized states within the band gap with differing electronic character. By setting symmetry-and temperature-dependent tunnelling barrier heights, they alter symmetry-polarized tunnelling and thus TMR. We will examine how annealing, depending on MgO growth conditions, can alter the nature of these localized states. This oxygen vacancy paradigm of inorganic tunnelling spintronics opens interesting perspectives into endowing the MTJ with additional functionalities, such as optically manipulating the MTJ's spintronic response.

We present an optically induced remanent photostriction in BiFeO_{3}, resulting from the photovoltaic effect, which is used to modify the ferromagnetism of Ni film in a hybrid BiFeO_{3}/Ni structure. The 75% change in coercivity in the Ni film is achieved via optical and nonvolatile control. This photoferromagnetic effect can be reversed by static or ac electric depolarization of BiFeO_{3}. Hence, the strain dependent changes in magnetic properties are written optically, and erased electrically. Light-mediated straintronics is therefore a possible approach for low-power multistate control of magnetic elements relevant for memory and spintronic applications.

Large assemblies of self-organized aluminum nanoclusters embedded in an oxide layer are formed on graphene templates and used to build tunnel-junction devices. Unexpectedly, single-electron-transport behavior with well-defined Coulomb oscillations is observed for a record junction area of up to 100 µm2 containing millions of metal islands. Such graphene-metal nanocluster hybrid materials offer new prospects for single-electron electronics.

Magnetic properties of Cr2O3 epitaxial clusters inserted in an Fe/MgO/Fe tunnel barrier are revealed by their tunnel magnetoresistance signature. The cluster assembly has been shown in a previous work to behave as a superparamagnet when a magnetic field was applied in the plane of the tunnel junction. We here demonstrate that an external large out-of plane electric field (in the order of 0.5 GV/m) favors in-plane magnetization orientation. This is due to an electric-field-induced magnetic anisotropy along the normal to the plane, corresponding to large anisotropy fields reaching up to 2 T. The assembly of clusters is thus strictly speaking not superparamagnetic and its magnetization cannot be exactly described by a Langevin law. This is attributed either to a strain-induced enhanced magnetoelectric effect or to a voltage-induced change of the magnetic anisotropy at interfaces with MgO.

The near-field Coulomb interaction between a nano-emitter and a graphene monolayer results in strong Förster-type resonant energy transfer and subsequent fluorescence quenching.Here, we investigate the distance dependence of the energy transfer rate from individual, i) zero-dimensional CdSe/CdS nanocrystals and ii) two-dimensional CdSe/CdS/ZnS nanoplatelets to a graphene monolayer.For increasing distances d, the energy transfer rate from individual nanocrystals to graphene decays as 1/d 4 .In contrast, the distance dependence of the energy transfer rate from a twodimensional nanoplatelet to graphene deviates from a simple power law, but is well described by a theoretical model, which considers a thermal distribution of free excitons in a two-dimensional quantum well.Our results show that accurate distance measurements can be performed at the single particle level using graphene-based molecular rulers and that energy transfer allows probing dimensionality effects at the nanoscale.

Identification of pathogenic variants in monogenic diseases is an important aspect of diagnosis, genetic counseling, and prediction of disease severity. Pathogenic mechanisms involved include changes in gene expression, RNA processing, and protein translation. Variants affecting pre-mRNA splicing are difficult to predict due to the complex mechanism of splicing regulation. A generic approach to systematically detect and characterize effects of sequence variants on splicing would improve current diagnostic practice. Here, it is shown that such approach is feasible by combining flanking exon RT-PCR, sequence analysis of PCR products, and exon-internal quantitative RT-PCR for all coding exons. Application of this approach to one novel and six previously published variants in the acid-alpha glucosidase (GAA) gene causing Pompe disease enabled detection of a total of 11 novel splicing events. Aberrant splicing included cryptic splice-site usage, intron retention, and exon skipping. Importantly, the extent of leaky wild-type splicing correlated with disease onset and severity. These results indicate that this approach enables sensitive detection and in-depth characterization of variants affecting splicing, many of which are still unrecognized or poorly understood. The approach is generic and should be adaptable for application to other monogenic diseases to aid in improved diagnostics.

We report on the fabrication and characterization of vertical spin-valve structures using a thick epitaxial MgO barrier as spacer layer and a graphene-passivated Ni film as bottom ferromagnetic electrode. The devices show robust and scalable tunnel magnetoresistance, with several changes of sign upon varying the applied bias voltage. These findings are explained by a model of phonon-assisted transport mechanisms that relies on the peculiarity of the band structure and spin density of states at the hybrid graphene|Ni interface.