High performance magnetic tunnel barriers with amorphous materials
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A structure, comprising:
- at least one tunnel barrier selected from the group of tunnel barriers consisting of MgO and Mg—
ZnO; and
an amorphous magnetic layer that includes Co and at least one additional element selected to make the layer amorphous, wherein the amorphous layer is in proximity with the tunnel barrier, thereby permitting spin-polarized current to pass between the tunnel barrier and the magnetic layer.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A magnetic tunneling element is constructed from a MgO or Mg—ZnO tunnel barrier and an amorphous magnetic layer in proximity with the tunnel barrier. The amorphous magnetic layer includes Co and at least one additional element selected to make the layer amorphous. Magnetic tunnel junctions formed from the amorphous magnetic layer, the tunnel barrier, and an additional ferromagnetic layer have tunneling magnetoresistance values of up to 200% or more.
117 Citations
74 Claims
-
1. A structure, comprising:
-
at least one tunnel barrier selected from the group of tunnel barriers consisting of MgO and Mg—
ZnO; and
an amorphous magnetic layer that includes Co and at least one additional element selected to make the layer amorphous, wherein the amorphous layer is in proximity with the tunnel barrier, thereby permitting spin-polarized current to pass between the tunnel barrier and the magnetic layer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 66, 67, 68, 72, 73, 74)
-
-
23. A structure, comprising:
-
at least one tunnel barrier selected from the group of tunnel barriers consisting of MgO and Mg—
ZnO;
an amorphous magnetic layer that includes Co and at least one additional element selected to make the layer amorphous, wherein the amorphous layer is in proximity with the tunnel barrier;
a crystalline layer between the amorphous layer and the tunnel barrier; and
an additional layer of magnetic material selected from the group consisting of ferromagnetic materials and ferrimagnetic materials, wherein the tunnel barrier, the amorphous layer, the crystalline layer, and the additional magnetic layer are configured to form a magnetic tunnel junction having a tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) of at least 50%. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 69, 70, 71)
-
-
42. A method, comprising:
-
forming a tunnel barrier selected from the group of tunnel barriers consisting of MgO and Mg—
ZnO; and
forming an amorphous ferromagnetic layer by depositing Co and at least one other element on an underlayer, wherein the amorphous layer and the tunnel barrier are formed in proximity to one another to permit spin-polarized current to be passed between the tunnel barrier and the amorphous layer. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65)
-
Specification