Magnetic tunnel junction performance versus barrier thickness:: NiFe/AlOx/NiFe junctions fabricated from a wedged Al layer

被引：23

作者：

Covington, M

Nowak, J

Song, D

机构：

[1] Seagate Technol, Adv Heads Concepts, Bloomington, MN 55435 USA

[2] Seagate Res, Pittsburgh, PA USA

来源：

APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS | 2000年 / 76卷 / 26期

关键词：

D O I：

10.1063/1.126836

中图分类号：

O59 [应用物理学];

学科分类号：

摘要：

The resistance-area product (R*A) and the magnetoresistance (MR) of NiFe/AlOx/NiFe spin-dependent tunnel junctions exhibit a strong dependence on the thickness of Al before oxidation. We obtain these data from wafers where we uniformly oxidize an Al layer with a wedged thickness profile, enabling us to reliably characterize the effect of Al thickness variations with subangstrom precision. The R*A drops from 10(4) to 10(2) Omega mu m(2) as the Al thickness decreases from 9 to 4 Angstrom, respectively. The MR is highest (21%) for an Al thickness of 7 Angstrom, where the Al layer is fully oxidized and the oxidation of the bottom NiFe electrode is minimal. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)01926-4].

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页码：3965 / 3967

页数：3

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