Impact of Fe80B20 insertion on the properties of dual-MgO perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions

Abstract

We explore the impact of Fe80B20 inserted at both Co20Fe60B20/MgO interfaces of dual-MgO free layers (FLs) in bottom-pinned magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs). MTJ stacks are annealed for 30 min at 350 °C and 400 °C in a vacuum after film deposition. Current-in-plane tunneling measurements are carried out to characterize magnetotransport properties of the MTJs. Conventional magnetometry measurements and ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) are conducted to estimate the saturation magnetization, the effective perpendicular anisotropy field and the Gilbert damping of dual-MgO FLs as a function of the Fe80B20 thickness and annealing temperatures. With ultrathin Fe80B20 (0.2–0.4 nm) inserted, perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) of FLs increases with similar tunnel magneto-resistance (TMR) and low damping values. As Fe80B20 layer thickness further increases (0.6–1.2 nm), both TMR and PMA degrade, and damping increases dramatically. This study demonstrates a novel approach to tune properties of MTJ stacks with dual-MgO FLs up to 400 °C annealing, which enables MTJ stacks for various applications.