Abstract
The changes in the magnetic dead layer (MDL) and saturation magnetization of the CoFeB layers are investigated as a function of the annealing temperature for four different unit structures, that are relevant to the synthetic ferrimagnetic free structure in MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions. The MDL results for these unit structures are then converted into those for the constituent interfaces of the free structure. Most of the changes in the MDL thickness occur during annealing at a low temperature of 150 °C while those in the saturation magnetization occur at a high annealing temperature of 350 °C. These results for the MDL and saturation magnetization are critically tested by using the synthetic ferrimagnetic free structures with various thickness asymmetries. The observed switching properties of these tested structures are in good agreement with those expected from the results for the MDL and saturation magnetization, confirming the accuracy of the present results. The accuracy of the saturation magnetization is further confirmed by ferromagnetic resonance experiments.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 013901 |
| Journal | Journal of Applied Physics |
| Volume | 109 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1 Jan 2011 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea through a National Research Laboratory program (Project No. M10600000198-06J0000-19810). C.Y.Y. acknowledges the support from Nano R&D programs through the NRF of Korea (Grant No. 2008-02553).