Abstract
The effects of annealing on the electrical transport behavior of CoFe/MgO/CoFe magnetic tunnel junctions have been studied using a combination of site-specific in situ transmission electron microscopy and three-dimensional atom-probe tomography. Annealing leads to an increase in the resistance of the junctions. A shift in the conductance curve (dI/dV) minimum from 0 V for the as-grown specimen correlates with a sharply defined layer of CoFe oxide at the lower ferromagnetic interface. Annealing decreases the asymmetry in the conductance by making the interfaces more diffuse and the tunnel barrier more chemically homogeneous.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 103113 |
| Journal | Applied Physics Letters |
| Volume | 93 |
| Issue number | 10 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2008 |
Funding
Argonne National Laboratory is operated under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357 by U.S. DOE. The electron microscopy was accomplished in the Argonne National Laboratory Electron Microscopy Center for Materials Research. The APT analyses were performed at the Northwestern University Center for Atom-Probe Tomography (NUCAPT). The local-electrode atom-probe tomograph was purchased with funding from the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)