Abstract
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is employed to characterize ex situ the interface between the bottom Fe (001) electrode and MgO (001) barrier in a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) deposited by molecular beam epitaxy. High resolution TEM images are compared with multislice-based simulations of oxidized and sharp interfaces to conclude that at least the part of the interface is not oxidized. In addition, the spacing between the Fe and O layers at the interface is measured and found to be comparable with theoretical calculations in the literature of sharp interfaces. This result offers a methodology to characterize the interface structure of MTJs, which is important to determine the magneto-transport properties of the device.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 2779-2781 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | IEEE Transactions on Magnetics |
Volume | 43 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1 Jan 2007 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Electron microscopy
- Epitaxial growth
- Interface phenomena
- Oxidation
- Tunnel junction
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering