Magnetostrictive Fe73Ga27 nanocontacts for low field conductance switching

The electrical conductance G of magnetostrictive nanocontacts made from Galfenol Fe73Ga27 can be reproducibly switched between on and off states in a low magnetic field of 20 to 30 mT at 10 K. The switching behavior is in agreement with the magnetic field dependence of the magnetostriction inferred from the magnetization behavior, causing a positive magnetostrictive strain along the magnetic field. The repeated magneticfield cycling leads to a stable contact geometry and to a robust contact configuration with a very low hysteresis of 1 mT between opening and closing the contact due to a training effect. Nonintegral multiples of the conductance quantum G0 observed for G is greater than G0 are attributed to electron backscattering at defect sites in the electrodes near the contact interface. When the contact is closed either mechanically or by magnetic field, the conductance shows an exponential behavior below G0 due to electron tunneling. This allows to estimate the magnetostriction at 10 K. The results demonstrate that such magnetostrictive devices are suitable for the remote control of the conductance by low magnetic fields in future nanotechnology applications.