Resonant tunneling in magnetic semiconductor tunnel junctions with arbitrary magnetic alignments

Combining an extended Julliere model with transfer matrix method, we study the spin-polarized resonant tunneling in GaMnAs/AlAs/GaAs/AlAs/GaMnAs double barrier ferromagnetic semiconductor (FS) tunnel junctions with the arbitrary angle θ between the magnetic directions of two FS's. It is shown that tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio linearly varies with sin²(θ/2). We also demonstrate that for the heavy and light holes, the properties of the spin-polarized resonant tunneling are obviously different. The present results are expected to be instructive for manufacturing the relevant semiconductor spintronic devices.     

Angular dependence of tunneling magnetoresistance in magnetic semiconductor heterostructures

Theoretical studies on spin-dependent transport in magnetic tunnel heterostructures consisting of two diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS) separated by a nonmagnetic semiconductor (NMS) barrier, are carried in the limit of coherent regime by including the effect of angular dependence of the magnetizations in DMS. Based on parabolic valence band effective mass approximation and spontaneous magnetization of DMS electrodes, we obtain an analytical expression of angular dependence of transmission for DMS/NMS/DMS junctions. We also examine the dependence of spin polarization and tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) on barrier thickness, temperature, applied voltage and the relative angle between the magnetizations of two DMS layers in GaMnAs/GaAs/GaMnAs heterostructures. We discuss the theoretical interpretation of this variation. Our results show that TMR of more than 65% are obtained at zero temperature, when one GaAs monolayer is used as a tunnel barrier. It is also shown that the TMR decreases rapidly with increasing barrier width and applied voltage; however at high voltages and low thicknesses, the TMR first increases and then decreases. Our calculations explain the main features of the recent experimental observations and the application of the predicted results may prove useful in designing nano spin-valve devices.     

Analytical result of the effect of spin scattering and impurity-assistance on magnetoresistance in doped magnetic tunneling junctions

An extended tunneling Hamiltonian method is proposed to study the temperature-dependent tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) in doped magnetic tunnel junctions. It is found that for nonmagnetic dopants (Si), impurity-assisted tunneling is mainly elastic, giving rise to a weak spin polarization, thereby reduces the overall TMR, while for magnetic ions (Ni), the collective excitation of local spins in δ-doped magnetic layer contributes to the severe drop of TMR and the behavior of the variation of TMR with temperature different from that for Si-doping. The theoretical results can reproduce the main characteristic features of experiments. Received 13 January 2002 / Received in final form 30 November 2002 Published online 6 March 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: yctao12@163.com     

Spin torque, tunnel-current spin polarization, and magnetoresistance in MgO magnetic tunnel junctions

We employ the spin-torque response of magnetic tunnel junctions with ultrathin MgO tunnel barrier layers to investigate the relationship between spin transfer and tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) under finite bias, and find that the spin torque per unit current exerted on the free layer decreases by < 10% over a bias range where the TMR decreases by > 40%. This is inconsistent with free-electron-like spin-polarized tunneling and reduced-surface-magnetism models of the TMR bias dependence, but is consistent with magnetic-state-dependent decay lengths in the tunnel barrier.     

Origin of the tunnel anisotropic magnetoresistance in Ga(1-x)Mn(x)As/ZnSe/Ga(1-x)Mn(x)As magnetic tunnel junctions of II-VI/III-V heterostructures

We investigated spin-dependent transport in magnetic tunnel junctions made of III-V Ga(1-x)Mn(x)As electrodes and II-VI ZnSe tunnel barriers. The high tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio up to 100% we observed indicates high spin polarization at the barrier/electrodes interfaces. We found anisotropic tunneling conductance having a magnitude of 10% with respect to the direction of magnetization to linearly depend on the magnetic anisotropy energy of Ga(1-x)Mn(x)As. This proves that the spin-orbit interactions in the valence band of Ga(1-x)M(x)As are responsible for the tunnel anisotropic magnetoresistance (TAMR) effect.     

Anisotropy of magnetoresistance in Be Co-doped GaMnAs

Magnetotransport properties of GaMnAs co-doped with Be have been studied as a function of applied magnetic field orientations and temperature. It was shown that magnetoresistivity phenomena in GaMnAs:Be depend not only on the relative orientation of the current and applied magnetic field, but also on the respective orientation of these two vectors to the crystalline axis.     

Oxygen-vacancy-induced diffusive scattering in Fe/MgO/Fe magnetic tunnel junctions

By first principles analysis, we systematically investigate effects of oxygen vacancies (OV) in the MgO barrier of Fe/MgO/Fe magnetic tunnel junctions. The interchannel diffusive scattering by disordered OVs located at or near the Fe/MgO interface drastically reduces the tunnel magnetoresistance ratio (TMR) from the ideal theoretical limit to the presently observed much smaller experimental range. Interior OVs are far less important in influencing TMR, but they significantly increase the junction resistance. Filling OV with nitrogen atoms restores TMR to near the ideal theoretical limit.     

TMR of double spin-valve type AF/FM/I/FM/I/FM/AF magnetic tunneling junctions

An unusually large enhancement of TMR at 77 K was observed in double barrier tunnel junctions (DBTJ). This is explained with extended Julliere's model which yields a twice larger TMR value. When the spin coherence length is much smaller at higher temperature, DBTJ is shown to work as a series of two single barrier tunnel junctions.     

Tunneling magnetoresistance on the subnanometer scale

The influence of the finite thickness and structure, amorphous or crystalline, of Fe electrodes on the tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio is investigated by ab initio calculations in Fe/MgO/Fe tunnel junctions. An amorphous Fe layer in direct contact with the MgO barrier causes a low TMR ratio of only 44%. By inserting crystalline Fe monolayers between the barrier and the amorphous Fe the TMR ratio increases rapidly and reaches the same level as for semi-infinite Fe electrodes. Even one crystalline Fe monolayer is sufficient to achieve a giant TMR ratio exceeding 500%. Omitting the amorphous Fe has nearly no influence on the results if there are more than two monolayers of crystalline Fe next to the barrier. The results demonstrate that the reservoirs can even be nonmagnetic. The TMR emerges from the interplay of symmetry selection in the barrier and spin filtering at the electrode-barrier interface.     

磁性隧道结Ni80Fe20/Al2O3/Co的制备和物性

用等离子体氧化形成绝缘层的方法,重复性地制备出了Ｎｉ８０Ｆｅ２０／Ａｌ２Ｏ３／Ｃｏ磁性隧道结。样品的隧道磁电阻（ＴＭＲ）比值在室温下最高可达６．０％,翻转场（ｓｗｉｔｃｈ ｆｉｅｌｄ）可低于８００Ａ／ｍ,平台宽度约２４００Ａ／ｍ。结电阻的变化范围从几百欧姆到几百千欧。     

Output voltage calculations in double barrier magnetic tunnel junctions with asymmetric voltage behavior

In this paper we study the asymmetric voltage behavior (AVB) of the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) for single and double barrier magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) in range of a quasi-classical free electron model. Numerical calculations of the TMR–V curves, output voltages and I–V characteristics for negative and positive values of applied voltages were carried out using MTJs with CoFeB/MgO interfaces as an example. Asymmetry of the experimental TMR–V curves is explained by different values of the minority and majority Fermi wave vectors for the left and right sides of the tunnel barrier, which arises due to different annealing regimes. Electron tunneling in DMTJs was simulated in two ways: (i) Coherent tunneling, where the DMTJ is modeled as one tunnel system and (ii) consecutive tunneling, where the DMTJ is modeled by two single barrier junctions connected in series.     

Possible mechanism for tunneling magnetoresistance in La0.9Ba0.1MnO3/Nb-doped SrTiO3 p-n junctions

The observed tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) effect in La_0.9Ba_0.1MnO₃ (LBMO)/Nb-doped SrTiO₃ (Nb-STO) p⁺-n junctions is investigated and a possible mechanism responsible for the TMR generation is proposed by taking into account the dynamic spin accumulation and paramagnetic magnetization in the Nb-STO layer. Because of carrier diffusion across the dynamic domain boundaries in the Nb-STO layer and spin disordering in the LBMO layer, the tunneling resistance through the junction is high at zero magnetic field. The spin disordering is suppressed upon applying a non-zero magnetic field, which results in the spin-polarized tunneling in this ferromagnetic/depletion layer/dynamic ferromagnetic sandwiched structure and thus the observed TMR effect. The dependence of the TMR effect on the domain size in the LBMO layer, the tunneling current and temperature as well is explained, qualitatively consistent with the experimental observation.     

磁性隧道结Ni80Fe20/Al2O3/Co的研究

用等离子体氧化形成中间绝缘层的方法可重复制备出具有隧道磁电阻（TMR)效应的Ni₈₀Fe₂₀/Al₂O₃/Co磁性隧道结.光透射谱等实验结果表明等离子体氧化能可控制地制备较致密的Al₂O₃绝缘层.样品的TMR比值在室温下最高可达6.0％,反转场可低于800A/m,相应的平台宽度约为2400A/m.结电阻R_j的变化范围从百欧到几百千欧,并且TMR比值随零磁场结偏压增大单调减小. 关键词：     

Non-equilibrium Green's function approach to the quasiparticle transport and magnetoresistance in hybrid magnetic tunnel junctions

A generalized approach to study quasiparticle transport across hybrid magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) is formulated using the non-equilibrium Green's function technique. This formalism allows for arbitrary thicknesses of the electrodes and the central scattering region comprising of materials with multiple electronic bands, and incorporates the many body interactions present in the electrode regions. While the method can be used to study the transport characteristics of various types of MTJs, we have used it to study the tunneling characteristics and magnetoresistance (MR) of MTJs in which s-f interaction is present at the electrode layers. It is also used to study the transport characteristics of MTJs with hybrid electrodes and double barrier. The magnetic correlation present in the electrodes is found to strongly influence the TMR. Eventhough the magnetic correlation in general suppress the TMR, the TMR is found to be enhanced strongly for certain band occupations of the electrodes. We observe a fall of TMR with increase in the number of layers in the insulating region. Band occupation of the metallic layer present at the middle of the insulating layers in the double barrier MTJ is found to be important in deciding its tunnel characteristics. Origin of the different types of behavior of TMR is analyzed in terms of the spin-dependent tunnel currents.     

Interpretation of the magnetoresistance in doped magnetic tunnel junctions

We present a quantum mechanical model of the magnetoresistance in ferromagnetic tunnel junctions artificially doped by the introduction of layers of impurities in the middle of the barrier. The electron transport across the barrier is described by a combination of direct tunneling, tunneling assisted by spin-conserving scattering and tunneling assisted by spin-flip scattering. With this model, we interpret recent experimental results concerning the dependence of the TMR amplitude on the amount of impurities in the barrier and on temperature. Received 1st February 2001 and Received in final form 14 June 2001     

TMR与GMR传感器1/f噪声的研究进展

隧道结磁阻(TMR) 传感器及巨磁阻(GMR) 传感器的1/f噪声在低频段噪声功率密度较大, 是影响其低频下分辨率和灵敏度的主要噪声形式. 本文详细介绍了近年来TMR传感器及GMR传感器1/f噪声的特点、来源、理论模型、检测方法及降噪措施等方面的研究进展, 并就隧道结磁阻传感器1/f噪声的物理模型进行了详细解释. 通过纳米模拟软件Virtual NanoLab对不同MgO厚度的Fe/MgO/Fe型磁性隧道结(MTJ) 进行了隧穿概率和TMR变化率的模拟计算, 得到保守估计与乐观估计的TMR变化率, 分别为98.1%与10324.55%, 同时通过MTJ的噪声模型分析了MgO厚度对TMR传感器噪声的影响. 制备了磁屏蔽系数大于10000的磁屏蔽筒并搭建了磁阻传感器1/f噪声的测试平台, 通过测试验证了磁屏蔽系统对环境磁场具有较好的屏蔽效果, 为噪声检测提供了稳定的磁场空间. 最后分析了TMR与GMR中各种因素对传感器噪声的影响, 提出了影响MTJ传感器1/f噪声的因素及一些降噪措施.     

Annealing effect on tunneling magnetoresistance in MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions with FeMn exchange-bias layer

MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions were fabricated, with a thin pinned CoFeB layer in the unbalanced synthetic antiferromagnet part of the stack FeMn/CoFe/Ru/CoFeB. Inverted and normal tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) values occur at low and high annealing temperatures (T_a), respectively. The TMR ratio remains inverted up to T_a=300 °C and it becomes normal around T_a=350 °C. The exchange bias of FeMn disappears at high T_a. The sign reversal of the TMR ratio is mainly attributed to the disappearance of the exchange bias due to manganese diffusion during the annealing process.     

A theory of tunnel magnetoresistance through a magnetic grain boundary

We study tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) through grain boundaries where tunneling electrons interact with localized spins via ferromagnetic exchange interaction. It is shown that spin–flip tunneling due to the exchange interaction gives rise to appreciable effects on TMR, and that TMR increases almost linearly with increasing magnetic field.     

Bias voltage and temperature dependence of magneto-electric properties in double-barrier magnetic tunnel junction with amorphous Co-Fe-B electrodes

Bias voltage and temperature dependence of magneto-electric properties in double-barrier magnetic tunnel junctions(DBMTJs) with a structure of [IrMn/CoFe/Ru/CoFeB]/Al-O/CoFeB/Al-O/[CoFeB/Ru/CoFe/IrMn], have been investigated. The DBMTJs show a large tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio of up to 57.6%, a high V_1/2 value of 1.26 V and small switching field H_c of 9.5 Oe at room temperature (RT). The TMR reaches the maximum at 30 K, about 89.0%, and decreases slightly from 30 to 4.2 K. A novel zero-bias anomaly (ZBA) in the P state is found and is temperature dependent, more sharply at low temperature, whereas a normal ZBA exists in the AP state. These effects are ascribed to magnon-, phonon- and impurity-assisted tunneling, and variation of density of states. The DBMTJ with a large TMR ratio, a high V_1/2, and small switching field H_c is promising for developing the future spin electronic devices.