Spin transfer switching and spin polarization in magnetic tunnel junctions with MgO and AlOx barriers -: art. no. 232502

被引:185
作者
Diao, Z [1 ]
Apalkov, D [1 ]
Pakala, M [1 ]
Ding, YF [1 ]
Panchula, A [1 ]
Huai, YM [1 ]
机构
[1] Grandis Inc, Milpitas, CA 95035 USA
关键词
D O I
10.1063/1.2139849
中图分类号
O59 [应用物理学];
学科分类号
摘要
We present spin transfer switching results for MgO based magnetic tunneling junctions (MTJs) with large tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio of up to 150% and low intrinsic switching current density of 2-3x10(6) A/cm(2). The switching data are compared to those obtained on similar MTJ nanostructures with AlOx barrier. It is observed that the switching current density for MgO based MTJs is 3 to 4 times smaller than that for AlOx based MTJs, and that can be attributed to higher tunneling spin polarization (TSP) in MgO based MTJs. In addition, we report a qualitative study of TSP for a set of samples, ranging from 0.22 for AlOx to 0.46 for MgO based MTJs, and that shows the TSP (at finite bias) responsible for the current-driven magnetization switching is suppressed as compared to zero-bias tunneling spin polarization determined from TMR. (c) 2005 Americian Institute of Physics.
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页码:1 / 3
页数:3
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