Thermal stability of spin valves incorporating new amorphous ZrAl alloy films as under and capping layers

Jong Soo Kim; Seong Rae Lee

doi:10.1109/TMAG.2004.830217

Thermal stability of spin valves incorporating new amorphous ZrAl alloy films as under and capping layers

Jong Soo Kim, Seong Rae Lee

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We investigated the thermal stability and interdiffusion behavior of new amorphous ZrAl-based spin valves (SVs) and compared them with similarly structured Ta-based top (T) and bottom (B) SVs. The magneto-resistance (MR) ratios of ZrAlbased T-and B-SVs were enhanced from 8.49 to 9.14% and from 6.91 to 7.54%, respectively. The Ta-based SVs degraded relatively quickly at elevated temperatures because of interlayer diffusion. In contrast, the MR ratio of the ZrAl-based T-SV decreased by only 6.6% (9.14 → 8.54%), while that of the B-SV increased by 2.3% (7.54 → 7.71 %), after annealing at 300°C for 240 min. This result and the Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) depth profile clearly showed that ZrAl-based SVs have high interdiffusion resistance. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analyses of the root-mean-square (rms) roughness indicated that the ZrAl layer (0.162 nm) has a smoother interface than the Ta layer (0.431 nm). The ZrAl-based SV has a fine, dense microstructure. It resists interdiffusion at elevated temperature and results in superior thermal stability over traditional Ta-based SVs.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2206-2208
Number of pages	3
Journal	IEEE Transactions on Magnetics
Volume	40
Issue number	4 II
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/TMAG.2004.830217
Publication status	Published - 2004 Jul

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Manuscript received October 15, 2003. This work was supported by the Korea Ministry of Science and Technology under the National Research Laboratory Program. The authors are with the Division of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Korea (e-mail: [email protected]). Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TMAG.2004.830217

Keywords

Amorphous ZrAl-based spin valves
Interdiffusion
Thermal stability

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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10.1109/TMAG.2004.830217

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title = "Thermal stability of spin valves incorporating new amorphous ZrAl alloy films as under and capping layers",

abstract = "We investigated the thermal stability and interdiffusion behavior of new amorphous ZrAl-based spin valves (SVs) and compared them with similarly structured Ta-based top (T) and bottom (B) SVs. The magneto-resistance (MR) ratios of ZrAlbased T-and B-SVs were enhanced from 8.49 to 9.14% and from 6.91 to 7.54%, respectively. The Ta-based SVs degraded relatively quickly at elevated temperatures because of interlayer diffusion. In contrast, the MR ratio of the ZrAl-based T-SV decreased by only 6.6% (9.14 → 8.54%), while that of the B-SV increased by 2.3% (7.54 → 7.71 %), after annealing at 300°C for 240 min. This result and the Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) depth profile clearly showed that ZrAl-based SVs have high interdiffusion resistance. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analyses of the root-mean-square (rms) roughness indicated that the ZrAl layer (0.162 nm) has a smoother interface than the Ta layer (0.431 nm). The ZrAl-based SV has a fine, dense microstructure. It resists interdiffusion at elevated temperature and results in superior thermal stability over traditional Ta-based SVs.",

keywords = "Amorphous ZrAl-based spin valves, Interdiffusion, Thermal stability",

author = "Kim, {Jong Soo} and Lee, {Seong Rae}",

note = "Funding Information: Manuscript received October 15, 2003. This work was supported by the Korea Ministry of Science and Technology under the National Research Laboratory Program. The authors are with the Division of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Korea (e-mail: [email protected]). Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TMAG.2004.830217",

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AU - Kim, Jong Soo

AU - Lee, Seong Rae

N1 - Funding Information: Manuscript received October 15, 2003. This work was supported by the Korea Ministry of Science and Technology under the National Research Laboratory Program. The authors are with the Division of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Korea (e-mail: [email protected]). Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TMAG.2004.830217

PY - 2004/7

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N2 - We investigated the thermal stability and interdiffusion behavior of new amorphous ZrAl-based spin valves (SVs) and compared them with similarly structured Ta-based top (T) and bottom (B) SVs. The magneto-resistance (MR) ratios of ZrAlbased T-and B-SVs were enhanced from 8.49 to 9.14% and from 6.91 to 7.54%, respectively. The Ta-based SVs degraded relatively quickly at elevated temperatures because of interlayer diffusion. In contrast, the MR ratio of the ZrAl-based T-SV decreased by only 6.6% (9.14 → 8.54%), while that of the B-SV increased by 2.3% (7.54 → 7.71 %), after annealing at 300°C for 240 min. This result and the Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) depth profile clearly showed that ZrAl-based SVs have high interdiffusion resistance. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analyses of the root-mean-square (rms) roughness indicated that the ZrAl layer (0.162 nm) has a smoother interface than the Ta layer (0.431 nm). The ZrAl-based SV has a fine, dense microstructure. It resists interdiffusion at elevated temperature and results in superior thermal stability over traditional Ta-based SVs.

AB - We investigated the thermal stability and interdiffusion behavior of new amorphous ZrAl-based spin valves (SVs) and compared them with similarly structured Ta-based top (T) and bottom (B) SVs. The magneto-resistance (MR) ratios of ZrAlbased T-and B-SVs were enhanced from 8.49 to 9.14% and from 6.91 to 7.54%, respectively. The Ta-based SVs degraded relatively quickly at elevated temperatures because of interlayer diffusion. In contrast, the MR ratio of the ZrAl-based T-SV decreased by only 6.6% (9.14 → 8.54%), while that of the B-SV increased by 2.3% (7.54 → 7.71 %), after annealing at 300°C for 240 min. This result and the Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) depth profile clearly showed that ZrAl-based SVs have high interdiffusion resistance. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analyses of the root-mean-square (rms) roughness indicated that the ZrAl layer (0.162 nm) has a smoother interface than the Ta layer (0.431 nm). The ZrAl-based SV has a fine, dense microstructure. It resists interdiffusion at elevated temperature and results in superior thermal stability over traditional Ta-based SVs.

KW - Amorphous ZrAl-based spin valves

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Thermal stability of spin valves incorporating new amorphous ZrAl alloy films as under and capping layers

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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