Boosting Magnetoresistance in Molecular Devices

Abstract

Magnetoelectronics and molecular electronics are two emerging branches of nanoelectronics, which are believed to have large potential for future device applications. In his perspective, Strunk highlights an experiment reported in this issue by Pasupathy et al., in which a molecular quantum dot is in contact with two ferromagnetic electrodes. This setup leads to a competition between the Kondo effect and the ferromagnetism that can be controlled by switching the magnetization direction of the electrodes. The competing interactions result in a very large magnetoresistance of the device.