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Hrem Characterization of Magnetic Tunnel Junctions and Discontinuous Multilayers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2020

David J. Smith ,
Fuding Ge ,
C.L. Piatt ,
S. Sankar  and
A.E. Berkowitz
David J. Smith
Affiliation:
Center for Solid State Science, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ85287-170
Fuding Ge
Affiliation:
Center for Solid State Science, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ85287-170
C.L. Piatt
Affiliation:
Center for Magnetic Recording Research, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA92093
S. Sankar
Affiliation:
Center for Magnetic Recording Research, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA92093
A.E. Berkowitz
Affiliation:
Center for Magnetic Recording Research, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA92093
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There is much current interest in the magnetotransport properties of systems consisting of two (or more) magnetic metal layers separated by thin insulating layers. Traditional magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) are comprised of simple ferromagnet-insulator-ferromagnet trilayer structures and the conductance depends on the relative alignments of the magnetizations in the two ferromagnets. In the case of discontinuous metal/insulator multilayers, negative magnetoresistance (MR) results from spindependent tunneling. In both types of systems, the tunneling phenomena are strongly influenced by the microstructure of the films, particularly the metal/insulator interfaces and the nature and uniformity of the thin oxide barrier layers. In this study, we have used cross-sectional HREM to characterize a variety of magnetic tunnel junctions and discontinuous multilayers.

The MTJs were prepared by rf and dc magnetron sputtering onto thermally oxidized (100) silicon wafers at room temperature. The magnetic layers consisted of thin films of Co, Fe and/or CoFe alloys with thicknesses ∼ 30-50nm, and the barriers included MgO, HfO2, CoO, SiO2 as well as Al2O3 (thicknesses in the range 2-10nm).

Type
Spatially-Resolved Characterization of Interfaces in Materials
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 4 , Issue S2: Proceedings: Microscopy & Microanalysis '98, Microscopy Society of America 56th Annual Meeting, Microbeam Analysis Society 32nd Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia July 12-16, 1998 , July 1998 , pp. 798 - 799
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America

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References

1.Julliere, M., Phys. Lett. 54A (1975) 225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Sankar, S., Dieny, B.E. and Berkowitz, A.E., J. Appl. Phys. 81 (1997) 5512.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Piatt, C.L., Dieny, B. and Berkowitz, A.E., J. Appl. Phys. 81 (1997) 5523.Google Scholar
4. Electron micrographs were recorded at the Center for High Resolution Electron Microscopy at ASU. Work at UCSD was supported by NSF Grant-9400439 and the ATP Heads Program.Google Scholar