Effect of interface states on spin-dependent tunneling in Fe/MgO/Fe tunnel junctions

被引：116

作者：

Belashchenko, KD ^{[1
]}

Velev, J

Tsymbal, EY

机构：

[1] Univ Nebraska, Dept Phys & Astron, Lincoln, NE 68588 USA

[2] Univ Nebraska, Ctr Mat Res & Anal, Lincoln, NE 68588 USA

来源：

PHYSICAL REVIEW B | 2005年 / 72卷 / 14期

关键词：

D O I：

10.1103/PhysRevB.72.140404

中图分类号：

T [工业技术];

学科分类号：

08 ;

摘要：

The electronic structure and spin-dependent tunneling in epitaxial Fe/MgO/Fe(001) tunnel junctions are studied using first-principles calculations. For small MgO barrier thickness the minority-spin resonant bands at the two interfaces make a significant contribution to the tunneling conductance for the antiparallel magnetization, whereas these bands are, in practice, mismatched by disorder and/or small applied bias for the parallel magnetization. This explains the experimentally observed decrease in tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) for thin MgO barriers. We predict that a monolayer of Ag epitaxially deposited at the interface between Fe and MgO suppresses tunneling through the interface band and may thus be used to enhance the TMR for thin barriers.

引用

页数：4

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