Title :
Preoxidation as a General Approach to Suppressing Orange-Peel Coupling in Magnetic Tunnel Junctions
Author :
Egelhoff, W.F. ; McMichael, R.D., Jr. ; Dennis, C.L. ; Stiles, M.D. ; Shapiro, A.J. ; Maranville, B.B. ; Powell, C.J.
Author_Institution :
Nat. Inst. of Stand. & Technol., Gaithersburg, MD
Abstract :
We have found that preoxidation of the bottom electrode prior to deposition of Al2O3 or MgO is very effective as a general approach to suppressing orange-peel coupling in magnetic tunnel junctions. When orange-peel coupling is suppressed, the hard-axis saturation field of the free layer is greatly reduced
Keywords :
aluminium compounds; magnesium compounds; magnetic multilayers; magnetic tunnelling; magnetoresistive devices; oxidation; Al2O3; MgO; bottom electrode preoxidation; hard-axis saturation field reduction; magnetic tunnel junctions; orange-peel coupling suppression; Electrodes; Electrons; Laboratories; Magnetic field measurement; Magnetic materials; Magnetic tunneling; Materials science and technology; NIST; Optical coupling; Spin valves; Magnetic tunnel junctions; orange-peel coupling; preoxidation;
Journal_Title :
Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TMAG.2006.879882
