Spin-valve-like properties and annealing effect in ferromagnetic tunnel junctions

Author

Sato, Masashige ; Kobayashi, Kazuo

Author_Institution

Fujitsu Labs. Ltd., Atsugi, Japan

Volume

33

Issue

5

fYear

1997

fDate

9/1/1997 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

3553

Lastpage

3555

Abstract

We fabricated ferromagnetic tunnel junctions with naturally oxidized Al barriers, and investigated the effects of Al oxidization time, Al thickness and annealing temperature on the tunnel properties. Changes of between 10 and 15% have been observed in the resistance, and in some junctions, the MR ratios increase by annealing at 250 to 300°C. The Ni-Fe/Co/Al-AlO_x/Co/Ni-Fe/Fe-Mn/NiFe junction showed a 24% spin-valve-like MR change after annealing at 300°C for one hour

Keywords

aluminium; aluminium alloys; aluminium compounds; annealing; cobalt; ferromagnetic materials; giant magnetoresistance; iron alloys; magnetic annealing; magnetic heads; magnetic multilayers; manganese alloys; nickel alloys; oxidation; 1 h; 250 to 300 C; Al oxidization time; Al thickness; Ni-Fe/Co/Al-AlO_x/Co/Ni-Fe/Fe-Mn/NiFe junction; NiFe-Co-Al-AlO-FeMn; annealing effect; annealing temperature; ferromagnetic tunnel junctions; spin-valve-like properties; Annealing; Conductivity; Insulation; Laboratories; Magnetic field measurement; Magnetic heads; Magnetic separation; Magnetization; Spin valves; Temperature;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/20.619495

Filename

619495