The interface structures of magnetic tunnel junctions were studied using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The structures were correlated with magnetoresistance (MR) characteristics. For MR measurements, Fe(50 nm)/AlOx/CoFe(30 nm) junctions with an in situ naturally oxidized Al tunnel barrier were fabricated. The thickness of the Al layer, an important parameter in MR characteristics, was varied from 0 to 5 nm. MR curves showed that the largest MR ratio occurred when the Al layers were 2–3 nm in thickness. XPS analysis showed that an Al layer greater than 1 nm thick covers the entire surface of the Fe underlayer. However, if the Al layer is more than 1 nm thick, the unoxidized Al remaining after the oxidation process increases as the thickness is increased. For Al layers that are greater than 3 nm thick, the MR ratio is strongly affected by unoxidized Al, probably due to the decrease in spin polarization at the surface of an Fe/Al electrode. On the other hand, the hysteresis loops indicate that the difference in coercive force between Fe and CoFe layers reduces with decreasing Al thickness for Al layers less than 2.5 nm thick. This means that the antiparallel direction of magnetization in the two layers becomes incomplete due to the gradual increase of the ferromagnetic coupling between them. As a result, the MR ratio decreases, although a 1-nm-thick Al layer seems to be enough to cover the Fe surface.

We developed two types of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) that showed high thermal stability. One is a PtMn exchange-biased spin-valve MTJ with a CoFe/Al-oxide (AlOx)/NiFe free layer and a CoFeTaOx/CoFe pinned layer, and the other is a pseudo-spin-valve (PSV) MTJ with a CoFe/AlOx/NiFe soft layer, where AlOx and CoFeTaOx act as barriers for Ni and Mn diffusion toward the tunnel barrier, respectively. After 390 °C-1H annealing, the PSV MTJs maintained 28% and the SV MTJs 39% of tunnel magnetoresistance. Transmission electron microscopy observation of the SV MTJs after 380 °C-1H annealing revealed that the migrated Mn atoms were trapped at the CoFeTaOx layer.

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Spuriously reduced magnetoresistance (MR) ratios have been observed in magnetic tunnel junctions in which a square contact portion with dimensions smaller than the width of the lead electrodes connects both the top and bottom lead electrodes. The phenomenon becomes apparent by measuring the magnetoresistance of the junctions with various sizes systematically varied under a fixed line width of the electrodes. Observed junction size dependence of resistance (R)×area(A) products and MR ratios were analyzed through finite difference calculation, and it was found that there exist junction sizes for which R×A products and MR ratios are larger and smaller, respectively, than the intrinsic ones.

Exchange-biased magnetic tunnel junctions with a Ta/NiFe/FeMn/NiFe/Al–oxide/NiFe/Ta structure have been fabricated. The tunnel barrier was formed by the in situ natural oxidation of an Al metal layer under controlled oxygen pressure. Photolithography and ion milling were used to pattern the multilayer into junction structures of 2×2 μm2–20×20 μm2 dimensions. Magnetoresistance (MR) curves show spin-valve-like characteristics, in which an antiparallel configuration of magnetizations in both ferromagnetic layers is observed between 50 and 240 Oe, and the hysteresis loops for both the free and pinned layers exhibit sufficient separation. An evaluation of the MR curves shows the exchange-bias field to be 340 Oe and coercivity levels in the free layer to become as low as 13 Oe. At room temperature normalized junction resistance is 2×10−5 Ω cm2, with MR ratios still being maintained at 13%. This resistance value is much lower than previously reported values for junctions produced either with plasma oxidation or thermal oxidation in air. Maximum variation in junction resistance is only ±5% for 10×10 μm2 junctions over a 2 in. wafer. The MR ratio decreases by half when the bias voltage is raised from 0 to 440 mV, approximately the same ratio of decrease as has been previously reported for other successful junctions.