Abstract
AlO x tunnel barriers prepared by oxidizing ultra-thin Al films of various thickness by means of a Rf wave resonance plasma beam source were investigated to understand the influence of the plasma oxidation conditions on the junction resistance R j, the magnetoresistance ratio (MR) and the switching characteristics of exchange-biased magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with NiMn pinning layer. The junction properties were characterized as a function of oxidation time, plasma power and distance between plasma source and sample. The MR of the as-deposited junction was about 15%. The highest exchange bias fields (17 mT) and pinned layer coercivities (23 mT) can be achieved with extended annealing at low temperatures T ≅ 32 0 ∘ C or with a rapid annealing at T ≅ 40 0 ∘ C , respectively. Short-time annealing (1 min) at intermediate temperatures (350 °C) and field cooling at 1 T leads to the highest MR effect of 35% at room temperature and 55% at 4.2 K.
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