Fabrication of Perpendicular MgO-Based Magnetic Tunnel Junctions With TbFe/FeCo Electrodes

Author

Lin-Xiu Ye ; Ching-Ming Lee ; Jia-Mou Lee ; Jia-Hua Lin ; Jin-Zhen Liu ; Jong-Ching Wu ; Te-Ho Wu

Author_Institution

Taiwan SPIN Res. Center, Nat. Yunlin Univ. of Sci. & Technol., Douliu, Taiwan

Volume

47

Issue

10

fYear

2011

Firstpage

3857

Lastpage

3859

Abstract

This paper reports the results obtained using TbFe and FeCo alloys as the electrodes of MgO-based perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions (pMTJs). Without annealing treatment, the as-deposited structure showed MgO (001) crystalline texture. The tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio measured from the patterned cell of size 3 × 6 μm² was 9.5% at room temperature. However, the coercivities of both free and fixed layers were reduced considerably due to the damage caused from the patterning process. The hysteresis loop measurements showed that the magnetic properties of the structures can still be maintained after annealing up to 350°C.

Keywords

cobalt alloys; coercive force; electrodes; iron alloys; magnesium compounds; magnetic hysteresis; magnetic multilayers; perpendicular magnetic anisotropy; terbium alloys; tunnelling magnetoresistance; (001) crystalline texture; MgO-TbFe-FeCo; annealing; as-deposited structure; coercivities; electrodes; hysteresis loop measurements; magnetic properties; patterned cell; patterning process; perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions; temperature 293 K to 298 K; temperature 350 degC; tunnel magnetoresistance; Coercive force; Educational institutions; Iron; Junctions; Magnetic hysteresis; Magnetic tunneling; Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy; Magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs); perpendicular magnetic anisotropy; rare-earth-transition metal; tunnel magneto resistance (TMR);

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TMAG.2011.2157117

Filename

6028219