Theoretical Understanding and Material Design towards Next-generation Data Storage Devices

Abstract

Magnetic data storage has been an active and productive research field for several decades. Targeted on the everlasting persuit of higher storage capacity, longer data retention, and lower energy consumption, it spans both computational and experimental efforts. The theoretical understanding of the underlying physical mechanism, i.e., the giant magnetoresistance and tunneling magnetoresistance effects, by means of first-principles calculation, stands among the essential issues which provides guidance and insights into the device optimization in practice. In addition, the computational screening and design of novel materials and heterostructures as the building blocks of data storage devices has proved to be a highly efficient and economic way. In this thesis, first-principles approaches based on various computational techniques were employed to illustrate and discuss the subject of magnetic data storage, to explore and unveil the physics dominat- ing the device performance, and to find novel and practical methodologies of designing promising functional elements for the next-generation data storage devices.