Effect of metallic Al cap layer on the interlayer coupling in nano-oxide added spin valves

Author

Li, K.E. ; Qiu, I.J. ; Han, G.C. ; Guo, Z.B. ; Zheng, Y.K. ; Wu, Y.H.

Author_Institution

Data Storage Inst., Singapore, Singapore

fYear

2005

fDate

4-8 April 2005

Firstpage

2037

Lastpage

2038

Abstract

A detailed work on the enhancement of the interlayer exchange coupling (IEC) in the nano-oxide added spin valves when metallic Al is used as the cap layer is presented. The interlayer coupling field and MR ratio as a function of the thickness of the Al was measured for two series of spin valves with the structures of Ta/NiFe/IrMn/CoFe/Ru/CoFe/CoFe/Cu/CoFe/Al/AlO and Ta/NiFe/IrMn/CoFe/Ru/CoFe/Cu/CoFe/Al/AlO. It is concluded that huge enhancement of the interlayer coupling observed in nano-oxide added spin valves is ascribed to the quantum size effect caused by the non-oxidized metallic Al layer between the free layer and AlO cap layer.

Keywords

aluminium; aluminium compounds; cobalt alloys; exchange interactions (electron); ferromagnetic materials; iridium alloys; iron alloys; magnetoresistance; manganese alloys; nickel alloys; ruthenium; size effect; spin valves; tantalum; Al thickness; MR ratio; Ta-NiFe-IrMn-CoFe-Ru-CoFe-CoFe-Cu-CoFe-Al-AlO; interlayer coupling field; interlayer exchange coupling; metallic cap layer; nanooxide added spin valves; nonoxidized metallic layer; quantum size effect; Annealing; Artificial intelligence; Atomic layer deposition; Electrons; IEC standards; Interference; Resonance; Spin valves;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Magnetics Conference, 2005. INTERMAG Asia 2005. Digests of the IEEE International

Print_ISBN

0-7803-9009-1

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/INTMAG.2005.1464457

Filename

1464457