Progress on First-Principles Calculations and Experimental Results of Single-crystalline Magnetic Tunnel Junctions with MgO barriers

Journal Article · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2009 · Progress in Physics

OSTI ID:979300

Wang, Y. ^[1]; Zhang, J. ^[1]; Zhang, Xiaoguang ^[2]; Wang, Shouguo ^[1]; Han, Xiufeng ^[2]

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1. Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Science
2. ORNL

Since the theoretical prediction and experimental observation of giant tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) effect at room temperature in magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with single-crystalline MgO(001) barrier, MgO-based MTJs have been extensively studied due to their broad potential applications in spintronic devices. In this paper, progress on theoretical calculations and experimental results in MgO-based MTJs is reported. Spin-dependent electronic structure and transport properties of MgO-based MTJs, including structures of Fe(001)/MgO/Fe, Fe(001)/FeO/MgO/Fe, Fe(001)/Mg/MgO/Fe, Fe(001)/Co/MgO/Co/Fe, and Fe(001)/MgO/Fe/MgO/Fe, have been studied using the Layer-KKR first-principles method. The quantitative result not only provide a better way to understand the electronic structures and spin-dependent transport properties of MgO-based MTJs, but also shows a direction to exploit new kinds of spintronic materials with high room-temperature TMR ratio.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL); Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences
• Sponsoring Organization: SC USDOE - Office of Science (SC)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 979300
• Journal Information: Progress in Physics, Journal Name: Progress in Physics Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 29; ISSN WUJIEF
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE
FORECASTING
MAGNETORESISTANCE
TRANSPORT
TUNNELING