Magnetotransport properties of spin-valve structures with Mg spacer layers

Journal Article · Mon Jan 19 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4906533· OSTI ID:22415149

Ferrante, Y. ^[1]; Parkin, S. S. P. ^[2]

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1. Technische Universität Kaiserslautern, 67663 Kaiserslautern (Germany)
2. IBM Research Division, Almaden Research Center, San Jose, California 95120 (United States)

A theoretical prediction by Wang et al. [Phys. Rev. B 82, 054405 (2010)] suggests the preferential transmission of majority-spin states with Δ{sub 1} symmetry across a magnesium interlayer in Fe/Mg/MgO/Fe based magnetic tunnel junctions. Here, we report experiments to probe this question in CoFe/Mg/CoFe structures. We find that the strength of the interlayer coupling decays exponentially with increasing the spacer thickness, however, a non-monotonic variation of the magnetoresistance as a function of the Mg layer is observed. These data may help revisit the role of the insertion of a Mg interface layer in MgO-based devices.

• OSTI ID: 22415149
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 106, Issue 3; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
COBALT COMPOUNDS
IRON
IRON COMPOUNDS
LAYERS
MAGNESIUM
MAGNESIUM OXIDES
MAGNETORESISTANCE
SPIN
SUPERCONDUCTING JUNCTIONS
SYMMETRY
TUNNEL EFFECT