Theory of spin-dependent tunneling current in ferromagnetic metal–oxide–silicon structures

A theory is presented to calculate the spin-dependent tunneling current of ferromagnetic metal–oxide–silicon junctions. It is based on the theory of the tunneling process which was developed by Bardeen, and takes into account the specific properties of the barrier, as well as the material specifics on both sides of the barrier. It is applied to calculate the current–voltage characteristics of the spin-up and spin-down currents of the elemental ferromagnetic metals (Fe, Co, and Ni) connected to Si by a tunneling barrier.