Negative Magnetoresistance in a Vertical Single-Layer Graphene Spin Valve at Room Temperature

Single-layer graphene (SLG) is an ideal material for spintronics because of its high charge-carrier mobility, long spin lifetime resulting from the small spin-orbit coupling, and hyperfine interactions of carbon atoms. Here, we report a vertical spin valve with SLG with device configuration Co/SLG/Al2O3/Ni. We observed negative magnetoresistance (-0.4%) for the Co/SLG/Al2O3/Ni junction at room temperature. However, the Co/Al2O3/Ni junction, which is without graphene, shows positive magnetoresistance. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of both Co/SLG/Al2O3/Ni and Co/Al2O3/Ni junctions are nonlinear, and this reveals that charge transport occurs by a tunneling mechanism. We have also explained the reason for negative magnetoresistance for the Co/SLG/Al2O3/Ni junction.