Low resistance tunnel junctions with remote plasma underoxidized thick barriers
- Microsistemas e Nanotecnologias, Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores (INESC-MN), R. Alves Redol, 9-1, 1000-029 Lisbon (Portugal)
Low resistance tunnel junctions suitable for >200 Gb/inch{sup 2} read heads require RxA<1 {omega}{mu}m{sup 2} and TMR>10%, usually achieved by natural oxidation with tAl<0.7 nm barriers. This paper shows that as-deposited junctions with competitive electrical and magnetic properties can be produced starting from 0.9 nm Al barriers and remote plasma oxidation in ion beam-deposited stacks using Co{sub 73.8}Fe{sub 16.2}B{sub 10} electrodes. TMR{approx}20% for RxA{approx}2-15 {omega}{mu}m{sup 2} is obtained, while in the RxA{approx}40-140 {omega}{mu}m{sup 2} range TMR can reach 40%-45%, in as-deposited samples. A limited number of junctions exhibits considerably lower RxA values with respect to the average while keeping similar MR (down to 0.44 {omega}{mu}m{sup 2} with 20% and down to 2.2 {omega}{mu}m{sup 2} with 51%)
- OSTI ID:
- 20709699
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 97, Issue 10; Conference: 49. annual conference on magnetism and magnetic materials, Jacksonville, FL (United States), 7-11 Nov 2004; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.1845951; (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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