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Determination of the thickness of Al₂O₃ barriers in magnetic tunnel junctions

Buchanan, J.D.R.; Hase, T.P.A.; Tanner, B.K.; Hughes, N.D.; Hicken, R.J.

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Authors

J.D.R. Buchanan

T.P.A. Hase

N.D. Hughes

R.J. Hicken



Abstract

The barrier thickness in magnetic spin-dependent tunnel junctions with Al2O3 barriers has been measured using grazing incidence x-ray reflectivity and by fitting the tunneling current to the Simmons model. We have studied the effect of glow discharge oxidation time on the barrier structure, revealing a substantial increase in Al2O3 thickness with oxidation. The greater thickness of barrier measured using grazing incidence x-ray reflectivity compared with that obtained by fitting current density-voltage to the Simmons electron tunneling model suggests that electron tunneling is localized to specific regions across the barrier, where the thickness is reduced by fluctuations due to nonconformal roughness.

Citation

Buchanan, J., Hase, T., Tanner, B., Hughes, N., & Hicken, R. (2002). Determination of the thickness of Al₂O₃ barriers in magnetic tunnel junctions. Applied Physics Letters, 81(4), 751-753. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1496131

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jul 22, 2002
Deposit Date Jan 9, 2009
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Applied Physics Letters
Print ISSN 0003-6951
Electronic ISSN 1077-3118
Publisher American Institute of Physics
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 81
Issue 4
Pages 751-753
DOI https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1496131
Keywords Aluminum oxides, Cobalt, Electron spin, Electron tunneling, Ferromagnetic materials, Grazing incidence, Insulation, Insulators, Magnetic materials, Magnetic properties, Magnetoresistivity, MIM (semiconductors), Permalloys (trademark), Polarization.
Publisher URL http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2002ApPhL..81..751B&db_key=PHY

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Copyright Statement
© 2002 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in Buchanan, J. D. R. and Hase, T. P. A. and Tanner, B. K. and Hughes, N. D. and Hicken, R. J. (2002) 'Determination of the thickness of Al2O3 barriers in magnetic tunnel junctions.', Applied physics letters., 81 (4). pp. 751-753 and may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1496131





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