Title :
Effect of underlayer microstructure on the exchange coupling of Mumetal/AlOx/Co multilayer
Author :
Young Woo Lee ; Lee, T.H. ; Kim, C.G. ; Kim, C.O. ; Yoon, T.S.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Mater. Eng., Chungnam Nat. Univ., Taejon, South Korea
Abstract :
Summary form only given. Magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) composed of ferromagnetic (FM1)/insulator (I)/ ferromagnetic (FM2) layer have investigated for years because it is believed to realize new and high performance magnetic sensor and memory devices. Flat interfaces were required to get best performance without orange peel coupling between FM1 and FM2. This article shows the cross-sectional TEM image of MTJ multilayer. The large curvature of insulator layer is shown at the grain boundary region of FM1. For this purpose, we tried to decrease grain boundary density /spl zeta/ per unit area by increasing grain size of FM1. Then switching field of Mumetal, Hsw1 and exchange coupling field, Hex were measured to see the change of interlayer coupling state.
Keywords :
aluminium compounds; cobalt; copper alloys; exchange interactions (electron); grain boundaries; grain size; iron alloys; magnetic multilayers; magnetic switching; nickel alloys; transmission electron microscopy; tunnelling; Mumetal/AlO/sub x//Co multilayer; NiFeCu-AlO-Co; cross-sectional TEM imaging; exchange coupling; ferromagnetic/insulator/ferromagnetic layer; grain boundary; grain size; magnetic tunnel junction; switching field; underlayer microstructure; Annealing; Giant magnetoresistance; Grain size; Magnetic films; Microstructure; Physics; Rough surfaces; Surface roughness; Temperature; Thermal stability;
Conference_Titel :
Magnetics Conference, 2002. INTERMAG Europe 2002. Digest of Technical Papers. 2002 IEEE International
Conference_Location :
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-7365-0
DOI :
10.1109/INTMAG.2002.1001198
