Influence of annealing on the bias voltage dependence of tunneling magnetoresistance in MgO double-barrier magnetic tunnel junctions with CoFeB electrodes

Abstract

Double-barrier magnetic tunnel junctions with two MgO barriers and three CoFeB layers exhibiting tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) values of more than 100% were fabricated. The bias voltage dependence of the TMR ratio is highly asymmetric after annealing at low temperatures, indicating dissimilar CoFeB∕MgO interfaces. The TMR effect decays very slowly for positive bias and is only reduced to half of its maximum value at V1∕2=1.88V when the junctions are processed at 200°C. The largest output voltage, 0.62V, is obtained after annealing at 300°C, a temperature that combines high TMR ratios with a considerable asymmetric bias dependence.