Continuous thin barriers for low-resistance spin-dependent tunnel junctions

The occurrence of pinholes in thin barrier low-resistance junctions degrades the TMR signal and increases the coupling field between pinned and free layers. The tunnel junction coupling field (H-f), junction resistance and TMR signal dependence on the barrier thickness was studied for various types of barriers (HfOx,HfAlOx,ZrAlOx,AlOx). Micromagnetic simulation was employed to simulate the coupling field versus pinhole density. From the coupling field results, HfOx makes the thinnest continuous barriers, followed by doped HfAlOx and ZrAlOx, and then AlOx. HfAlOx and ZrAlOx offer the best compromise between low resistance (1-5 Omega mum(2)) and reasonable TMR (12%-14%). Pure HfOx can be made with RxA products of 0.4 Omega mum(2) but the TMR does not exceed 5.5%. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.