High sensitivity microwave detection using a magnetic tunnel junction in the absence of an external applied magnetic field

In the absence of any external applied magnetic field, we have found that a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) can produce a significant output direct voltage under microwave radiation at frequencies, which are far from the ferromagnetic resonance condition, and this voltage signal can be increase by at least an order of magnitude by applying a direct current bias. The enhancement of the microwave detection can be explained by the nonlinear resistance/conductance of the MTJs. Our estimation suggests that optimized MTJs should achieve sensitivities for non-resonant broadband microwave detection of about 5000 mV/mW.