Conductive oxides RuOx as alternative electrode on high-κ HfO2 gate dielectric have been fabricated by ultrahigh-vacuum sputtering and subsequently oxidized using oxygen plasma. The energy-band alignment for the RuOx∕HfO2∕Si system and the oxidation-state dependence of barrier height for RuOx contacting to HfO2 dielectrics has been analyzed by x-ray photoemission spectroscopy. The valence- and conduction-band offsets of HfO2∕Si are determined to be 3.05±0.1 and 1.48±0.1eV, respectively. The barrier heights for the RuOx contacting to HfO2 are oxidation-state dependent, in the range of 1.95–2.73eV.
We report a systematic study of NOL ͑nano-oxide-layer͒ insertion and specular effects on the giant magnetoresistance ͑GMR͒ of single, synthetic, and dual spin valves, using a semiclassical Boltzmann theory. It is confirmed that the GMR ratio is enhanced by NOL insertion inside the pinned layer or after the free layer. The enhancements are primarily due to the contribution of the majority carriers. The NOL insertions inside the inactive layers of spin valves such as the seed, under, and capping layers reduce the GMR ratio. Though introducing a NOL before or after the Cu spacer would, in principle, significantly suppress the GMR ratio due to the blocking effect or the average effect of different spin channels, large positive or negative ͑inverse͒ GMR is found by assuming spin-dependent NOL specular reflections. We have also demonstrated that specular reflection, even beyond a capping layer, may result in reduction of GMR. Upon appropriate NOL insertion, the amplitude of curve of GMR versus thickness of individual layer of spin valves may be generally enhanced, but the shape may change, depending on whether the distance of the NOL to the layer is small or large ͑distance effect͒. Finally, it is found that most results obtained for the single realistic spin valves are applicable to synthetic and dual spin valves.
Negative rotatable anisotropy is estimated via ferromagnetic resonance measurements in as-made, annealed, and ion-irradiated IrMn 3 /Ni 81 Fe 19 bilayers. Opposite to previous observations, inverse correlation between rotatable anisotropy and coercivity is observed. The exchange-bias field, determined from hysteresis loop measurements, is higher than that obtained from ferromagnetic resonance for all samples. The results are discussed in terms of majority antiparallel coupling and magnetic-field-induced transitions from antiparallel to parallel states of uncompensated spins at fer-romagnet/antiferromagnet interface. We affirm that an observation of negative rotatable anisotropy evidences antiparallel coupling even in systems presenting conventional exchange bias. V C 2015 AIP Publishing LLC. [http://dx.
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