Joint perpendicular anisotropy and strong interlayer exchange coupling in systems with thin vanadium spacers

Journal Article · Tue Apr 28 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4919089· OSTI ID:22402916

Le Goff, A.; Eimer, S.; Adam, J. -P. ^[1]

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1. Institut d'Electronique Fondamentale, CNRS, UMR 8622, Orsay (France)

We study the influence of the insertion of a vanadium spacer layer between an FeCoB layer and a [Co/Ni] multilayer in an MgO substrate-based system mimicking the reference system of a perpendicular anisotropy magnetic tunnel junction. The anisotropy of the [Co/Ni] multilayer gradually improves with the vanadium thicknesses t, up to an optimized state for t = 8 Å, with little influence of the thermal annealing. The interlayer exchange coupling is ferromagnetic and very strong for t≤6 Å. It can be adjusted by thermal treatment at t = 8 Å from no coupling in the as-grown state to more than 2 mJ/m{sup 2} after 250 °C annealing. For this spacer thickness, the magnetic properties are consistent with the occurrence of a bcc (001) to an fcc (111) crystalline structure transition at the vanadium spacer. The remaining interlayer exchange coupling at t = 8 Å is still substantially higher than the one formerly obtained with a Tantalum spacer, which holds promise for further optimization of the reference layers of tunnel junctions meant for magnetic random access memories.

• OSTI ID: 22402916
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Applied Physics Journal Issue: 16 Vol. 117; ISSN JAPIAU; ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ANISOTROPY
ANNEALING
BCC LATTICES
COBALT
COBALT BORIDES
COUPLING
FCC LATTICES
HETEROJUNCTIONS
IRON COMPOUNDS
LAYERS
MAGNESIUM OXIDES
MAGNETIC PROPERTIES
NICKEL
RANDOMNESS
SPACERS
SUBSTRATES
TANTALUM
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
TUNNEL EFFECT
VANADIUM