23 research outputs found
Effect of high annealing temperature on giant tunnel magnetoresistance ratio of CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB magnetic tunnel junctions
We report tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) ratios as high as 472% at room
temperature and 804% at 5 K in pseudo-spin valve (SV) CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB magnetic
tunnel junctions (MTJs) annealed at 450oC, which is approaching the
theoretically predicted value. By contrast, the TMR ratios for exchange-biased
(EB) SV MTJs with a MnIr antiferromagnetic layer are found to drop when they
are annealed at 450oC. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis shows that annealing at
450oC induces interdiffusion of Mn and Ru atoms into the MgO barrier and
ferromagnetic layers in EB-SV MTJs. Mechanisms behind the different annealing
behavior are discussed.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure
Mott Relation for Anomalous Hall and Nernst effects in Ga1-xMnxAs Ferromagnetic Semiconductors
The Mott relation between the electrical and thermoelectric transport
coefficients normally holds for phenomena involving scattering. However, the
anomalous Hall effect (AHE) in ferromagnets may arise from intrinsic spin-orbit
interaction. In this work, we have simultaneously measured AHE and the
anomalous Nernst effect (ANE) in Ga1-xMnxAs ferromagnetic semiconductor films,
and observed an exceptionally large ANE at zero magnetic field. We further show
that AHE and ANE share a common origin and demonstrate the validity of the Mott
relation for the anomalous transport phenomena
Dependence of Giant Tunnel Magnetoresistance of Sputtered CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB Magnetic Tunnel Junctions on MgO Barrier Thickness and Annealing Temperatur
We investigated the dependence of giant tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) on the
thickness of an MgO barrier and on the annealing temperature of sputtered
CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB magnetic tunnel junctions deposited on SiO2/Si wafers. The
resistance-area product exponentially increases with MgO thickness, indicating
that the quality of MgO barriers is high in the investigated thickness range of
1.15-2.4 nm. High-resolution transmission electron microscope images show that
annealing at 375 C results in the formation of crystalline CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB
structures, even though CoFeB electrodes are amorphous in the as-sputtered
state. The TMR ratio increases with annealing temperature and is as high as
260% at room temperature and 403% at 5 K.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure
A spin Esaki diode
We demonstrate electrical electron spin injection via interband tunneling in
ferromagnetic/nonmagnetic semiconductor Esaki diodes. An interband tunnel
junction between ferromagnetic p+-(Ga,Mn)As and nonmagnetic n+-GaAs under
reverse-bias allows spin-polarized tunneling of electrons from the valence band
of (Ga,Mn)As to the conduction band of n+-GaAs. The spin polarization of
tunneled electrons is probed by circular polarization of electroluminescence
(EL) from an n-GaAs/InGaAs/p-GaAs light emitting structure integrated with the
diode. Clear hysteresis loop with +-6.5% remanence is observed in the
magnetic-field dependence of the EL polarization at 6 K, below the Curie
temperature of (Ga,Mn)As.Comment: 11pages, 4figures. Submitted Japanese Journal of Applied Physics Pt2
Express Lette
Dependence of tunnel magnetoresistance on ferromagnetic electrode materials in MgO-barrier magnetic tunnel junctions
We investigated the relationship between the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR)
ratio and the electrode structure in MgO-barrier magnetic tunnel junctions
(MTJs). The TMR ratio in a MTJ with Co40Fe40B20 reference and free layers
reached 355% at the post-deposition annealing temperature of Ta=400 degree C.
When Co50Fe50 or Co90Fe10 is used for the reference layer material, no high TMR
ratio was observed. The key to have high TMR ratio is to have highly oriented
(001) MgO barrier/CoFeB crystalline electrodes. The highest TMR ratio obtained
so far is 450% at Ta = 450 degree C in a pseudo spin-valve MTJ.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, 1 table. to be published in J. Magn. Magn. Mate
Magnetization dynamics and its scattering mechanism in thin CoFeB films with interfacial anisotropy
Studies of magnetization dynamics have incessantly facilitated the discovery
of fundamentally novel physical phenomena, making steady headway in the
development of magnetic and spintronics devices. The dynamics can be induced
and detected electrically, offering new functionalities in advanced electronics
at the nanoscale. However, its scattering mechanism is still disputed.
Understanding the mechanism in thin films is especially important, because most
spintronics devices are made from stacks of multilayers with nanometer
thickness. The stacks are known to possess interfacial magnetic anisotropy, a
central property for applications, whose influence on the dynamics remains
unknown. Here, we investigate the impact of interfacial anisotropy by adopting
CoFeB/MgO as a model system. Through systematic and complementary measurements
of ferromagnetic resonance (FMR), on a series of thin films, we identify
narrower FMR linewidths at higher temperatures. We explicitly rule out the
temperature dependence of intrinsic damping as a possible cause, and it is also
not expected from existing extrinsic scattering mechanisms for ferromagnets. We
ascribe this observation to motional narrowing, an old concept so far neglected
in the analyses of FMR spectra. The effect is confirmed to originate from
interfacial anisotropy, impacting the practical technology of spin-based
nanodevices up to room temperature.Comment: 23 pages,3 figure
Current-induced magnetization switching in MgO barrier magnetic tunnel junctions with CoFeB based synthetic ferrimagnetic free layers
We investigated the effect of using a synthetic ferrimagnetic (SyF) free
layer in MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) on current-induced
magnetization switching (CIMS), particularly for application to spin-transfer
torque random access memory (SPRAM). The employed SyF free layer had a
Co40Fe40B20/ Ru/ Co40Fe40B20 and Co20Fe60B20/Ru/Co20Fe60B20 structures, and the
MTJs(100x(150-300) nm^2) were annealed at 300oC. The use of SyF free layer
resulted in low intrinsic critical current density (Jc0) without degrading the
thermal-stability factor (E/kBT, where E, kB, and T are the energy potential,
the Boltzmann constant, and temperature,respectively). When the two CoFeB
layers of a strongly antiferromagnetically coupled SyF free layer had the same
thickness, Jc0 was reduced to 2-4x10^6 A/cm^2. This low Jc0 may be due to the
decreased effective volume under the large spin accumulation at the CoFeB/Ru.
The E/kBT was over 60, resulting in a retention time of over ten years and
suppression of the write current dispersion for SPRAM. The use of the SyF free
layer also resulted in a bistable (parallel/antiparallel) magnetization
configuration at zero field, enabling the realization of CIMS without the need
to apply external fields to compensate for the offset field.Comment: 6 page