Tunneling processes in thin MgO magnetic junctions

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2010

Authors

teixeira, j. m. (Author) REIT; ventura, j. (Author) FCUP; araujo, j. p. (Author) FCUP; sousa, j. b. (Author) FCUP; wisniowski, p. (Author) Other; freitas, p. p. (Author) Other

Journal

Title: Applied Physics Letters

Vol. 96 No. 4

Final page: 262506

ISSN: 0003-6951

Publisher: American Institute of Physics

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 15 Citations

Scopus - 15 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-003-5M1

DOI: 10.1063/1.3458701

Abstract (EN): Magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with MgO barriers are used in a variety of applications, from read heads to novel microwave devices. In this work, we probed the temperature (T) dependence of the electrical transport of sputtered CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB MTJs with different barrier thicknesses (t(b)=0.75-1.35 nm). We show evidence that spin-polarized direct elastic tunneling is the dominant mechanism determining the T-dependence of the tunnel conductance (G) and magnetoresistance for t(b)>= 0.85 nm. Also, the electronic thermal smearing near the Fermi level plays a key role in G(T). We observe the onset of pinholes for MTJs with 0.75 nm of MgO, with a transition to metallic-like transport. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3458701]

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 3