Title :
Effect of diffusion barrier in the thermally annealed exchange-biased IrMn-CoFe electrode in magnetic tunnel junctions
Author :
Yoo, Chung-Sik ; Jeong, H.D. ; Lee, J.H. ; Yoon, C.S. ; Kim, C.K. ; Yuh, J.H. ; Ando, Y. ; Kubota, H. ; Miyazaki, T.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Mater. Sci. & Eng., Hanyang Univ., Seoul, South Korea
fDate :
9/1/2002 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Exchange-biased electrodes IrMn/Ta(2 Å)/CoFe/AlOx and IrMn/CoFe/Ta(2 Å)-AlOx used in a magnetic tunnel junction were annealed at 300°C to study the Mn diffusion characteristics. Auger electron spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis of the annealed electrodes show that the Ta diffusion barrier effectively blocked the Mn migration, regardless of the barrier location. Also concluded from the study was that the Mn migration is largely enhanced by the preferential oxidation of Mn.
Keywords :
Auger electron spectra; MIM structures; X-ray photoelectron spectra; annealing; chemical interdiffusion; cobalt alloys; diffusion barriers; electrodes; electron spin polarisation; giant magnetoresistance; iridium alloys; iron alloys; magnetic hysteresis; magnetic multilayers; manganese alloys; oxidation; tunnelling; 300 C; Auger electron spectra; IrMn-CoFe; X-ray photoelectron spectra; chemical changes; diffusion barrier; hysteresis loops; magnetic tunnel junctions; manganese diffusion characteristics; preferential oxidation; thermally annealed exchange-biased electrode; thin barrier layer; thin-film stack; tunneling magnetoresistance; Annealing; Argon; Electrodes; Electrons; Magnetic materials; Magnetic tunneling; Oxidation; Spectroscopy; Sputtering; Tunneling magnetoresistance;
Journal_Title :
Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TMAG.2002.803168
