Reliability of normal-state current-voltage characteristics as an indicator of tunnel-junction barrier quality

被引：128

作者：

Jönsson-Åkerman, BJ ^{[1
]}

Escudero, R

Leighton, C

Kim, S

Schuller, IK

Rabson, DA

机构：

[1] Univ Calif San Diego, Phys Dept 0319, La Jolla, CA 92093 USA

[2] Univ S Florida, Dept Phys, Tampa, FL 33620 USA

[3] Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, IIM, Mexico City, DF, Mexico

来源：

APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS | 2000年 / 77卷 / 12期

关键词：

D O I：

10.1063/1.1310633

中图分类号：

O59 [应用物理学];

学科分类号：

摘要：

We demonstrate that one of the most commonly used criteria to ascertain that tunneling is the dominant conduction mechanism in magnetic tunnel junctions-fits of current-voltage (I-V) data-is far from reliable. Using a superconducting electrode and measuring the differential conductance below T(c), we divide samples into junctions with an integral barrier and junctions having metallic shorts through the barrier. Despite the clear difference in barrier quality, equally reasonable fits to the I-V data are obtained above T(c). Our results further suggest that the temperature dependence of the zero-bias resistance is a more solid criterion, which could therefore be used to rule out possible pinholes in the barrier. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)01138-4].

引用

页码：1870 / 1872

页数：3

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