Chemical diffusion: Another factor affecting the magnetoresistance ratio in Ta/CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB/Ta magnetic tunnel junction

Y. Yang; W. X. Wang; Y. Yao; H. F. Liu; H. Naganuma; T. S. Sakul; X. F. Han; R. C. Yu

doi:10.1063/1.4732463

Chemical diffusion: Another factor affecting the magnetoresistance ratio in Ta/CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB/Ta magnetic tunnel junction

Y. Yang, W. X. Wang, Y. Yao, H. F. Liu, H. Naganuma, T. S. Sakul, X. F. Han, R. C. Yu

Center for Innovative Integrated Electronic Systems (CIES)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

36 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This letter investigates the microstructure and mean inner potential (MIP) profile of Ta/CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB/Ta magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and electron holography, respectively. The inconspicuous crystallization of MgO barrier is confirmed by HRTEM in the post-annealed sample at 250 °C. An obvious MIP difference is displayed in the Ta layers between the top and bottom of the MTJ, and elemental content difference of them is confirmed by energy dispersive spectroscopy. These results imply that the chemical diffusion can also give rise to a lower tunnel magnetoresistance ratio besides the inconspicuous crystallization of MgO barrier.

Original language	English
Article number	012406
Journal	Applied Physics Letters
Volume	101
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4732463
Publication status	Published - 2012 Jul 2

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title = "Chemical diffusion: Another factor affecting the magnetoresistance ratio in Ta/CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB/Ta magnetic tunnel junction",

abstract = "This letter investigates the microstructure and mean inner potential (MIP) profile of Ta/CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB/Ta magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and electron holography, respectively. The inconspicuous crystallization of MgO barrier is confirmed by HRTEM in the post-annealed sample at 250 °C. An obvious MIP difference is displayed in the Ta layers between the top and bottom of the MTJ, and elemental content difference of them is confirmed by energy dispersive spectroscopy. These results imply that the chemical diffusion can also give rise to a lower tunnel magnetoresistance ratio besides the inconspicuous crystallization of MgO barrier.",

author = "Y. Yang and Wang, {W. X.} and Y. Yao and Liu, {H. F.} and H. Naganuma and Sakul, {T. S.} and Han, {X. F.} and Yu, {R. C.}",

note = "Funding Information: This work is supported by the State Key Development Program for Basic Research of China (Grant Nos. 2012CB932302 and 2010CB934202), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 10974235 and 50921091), and the specific funding of Discipline and Graduate Education Project of Beijing Municipal Commission of Education.",

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doi = "10.1063/1.4732463",

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T1 - Chemical diffusion

T2 - Another factor affecting the magnetoresistance ratio in Ta/CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB/Ta magnetic tunnel junction

AU - Yang, Y.

AU - Wang, W. X.

AU - Yao, Y.

AU - Liu, H. F.

AU - Naganuma, H.

AU - Sakul, T. S.

AU - Han, X. F.

AU - Yu, R. C.

N1 - Funding Information: This work is supported by the State Key Development Program for Basic Research of China (Grant Nos. 2012CB932302 and 2010CB934202), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 10974235 and 50921091), and the specific funding of Discipline and Graduate Education Project of Beijing Municipal Commission of Education.

PY - 2012/7/2

Y1 - 2012/7/2

N2 - This letter investigates the microstructure and mean inner potential (MIP) profile of Ta/CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB/Ta magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and electron holography, respectively. The inconspicuous crystallization of MgO barrier is confirmed by HRTEM in the post-annealed sample at 250 °C. An obvious MIP difference is displayed in the Ta layers between the top and bottom of the MTJ, and elemental content difference of them is confirmed by energy dispersive spectroscopy. These results imply that the chemical diffusion can also give rise to a lower tunnel magnetoresistance ratio besides the inconspicuous crystallization of MgO barrier.

AB - This letter investigates the microstructure and mean inner potential (MIP) profile of Ta/CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB/Ta magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and electron holography, respectively. The inconspicuous crystallization of MgO barrier is confirmed by HRTEM in the post-annealed sample at 250 °C. An obvious MIP difference is displayed in the Ta layers between the top and bottom of the MTJ, and elemental content difference of them is confirmed by energy dispersive spectroscopy. These results imply that the chemical diffusion can also give rise to a lower tunnel magnetoresistance ratio besides the inconspicuous crystallization of MgO barrier.

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Chemical diffusion: Another factor affecting the magnetoresistance ratio in Ta/CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB/Ta magnetic tunnel junction

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