We have fabricated nanometer sized magnetic tunnel junctions using a new nanoindentation technique in order to study the transport properties of a single metallic nanoparticle. Coulomb blockade effects show clear evidence for single electron tunneling through a single 2.5 nm Au cluster. The observed magnetoresistance is the signature of spin conservation during the transport process through a non magnetic cluster.
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0601439,
title = {Spin injection in a single metallic nanoparticle: a step towards nanospintronics},
author = {A. Bernand-Mantel and P. Seneor and N. Lidgi and M. Munoz and V. Cros and S. Fusil and K. Bouzehouane and C. Deranlot and A. Vaures and F. Petroff and A. Fert},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0601439},
year = {2009}
}