Investigations of the polymer/magnetic interface of organic spin-valves

Abstract

This work investigates the top interface of an organic spin-valve, to determine the interactions between the polymer and top magnetic electrode. The polymers studied are regio-regular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (RR-P3HT) and poly(2,5-bis(3-hexadecylthiophen-2-yl)thieno[3,2-b]thiophene (PBTTT) and the magnetic top electrodes are NiFe and Fe. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is used to determine the bonding at the interface, along with the extent of how oxidised the magnetic layers are, while atomic force microscopy (AFM) is used to determine the surface roughness. A magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE) magnetometer is used to study the magnetic properties of the top electrode. It is shown that ..