Abstract
We report on a systematic investigation of rapid thermal anneal (RTA) effects on the properties of FeMn exchange-biased magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs). The tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) in an as-grown MTJ is found to be ∼27%, whereas the TMR in MTJs annealed by RTA increases with annealing temperature up to 300 °C, reaching ∼46%. A significant change in the effective barrier thickness ( t eff) and height ( Φ eff) occurs within 10 s during RTA. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray reflectivity studies demonstrate that the interface of the alumina tunnel barrier for the MTJ annealed by RTA became sharper and clearer, giving rise to the enhanced TMR.
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