Magnetic and Electrical Properties of Magnetic Tunnel Junctions With Radical Oxidized MgO Barriers

Author

Oh, S.C. ; Jeong, J.H. ; Nam, K.T. ; Lee, J.E. ; Park, S.O. ; Kim, Hak S. ; Chung, U-In ; Moon, J.T.

Author_Institution

Semicond. Bus., Samsung Electron. Co. Ltd., Yongin

Volume

42

Issue

10

fYear

2006

Firstpage

2642

Lastpage

2644

Abstract

This work focuses on magnetic tunnel junctions with a MgO barrier layer made by RF-sputtering and radical oxidation. In case of RF-sputtered MgO, its crystal orientation, MR and RA values very sensitively depend on the chamber atmosphere. The MR ratio of 97% in radical oxidized MgO is obtained at 0.4 V, which is slightly higher than RF-sputtered MgO. Also, its RA is smaller than that of RF-sputtered MgO. These improved MgO properties are originated from the improvement of the crystal orientation of MgO(200) and the decrease of OH component within the MgO barrier. In addition, the breakdown voltage in radical oxidized MgO is higher than that of RF-sputtered MgO at the same MgO thickness

Keywords

magnesium compounds; magnetic multilayers; magnetic tunnelling; oxidation; sputtering; 0.4 V; MgO; RF-sputtering; crystal orientation; electrical property; magnetic property; magnetic tunnel junctions; radical oxidation; Amorphous magnetic materials; Atmosphere; Electrodes; Magnetic field measurement; Magnetic films; Magnetic properties; Magnetic tunneling; Oxidation; Radio frequency; Sputtering; Magnetic tunnel junction; MgO; radical oxidation;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TMAG.2006.881276

Filename

1704391