Browsing by Author "Reiss, Guenter"

MgO based magnetic tunnel junctions are prepared to investigate the dielectric breakdown of the barrier. The breakdown is visualized by transmission electron microscopy measurements. The broken tunnel junctions are prepared for the microscopy measurements by focused ion beam out of the junctions characterized by transport investigations. A direct comparison of transport behavior and structure of the intact and broken junctions is obtained. The MgO barrier shows many microscopic pinholes after breakdown. This can be explained within a model assuming a relationship between the current density at the breakdown and the rate of pinhole formation. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3001934]

A systematic analysis of the bias voltage and temperature dependence of the tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) in Co-Fe-B/MgO/Co-Fe-B magnetic tunnel junctions with barrier thickness t(B) between 1.8 and 4.0 nm has been performed. The resistance measured at low temperature in the parallel state shows the expected exponential increase with increasing barrier thickness. The low-temperature TMR amplitude of about 300% is quite similar for all MgO thicknesses. This is in accordance with microstructural investigations by transmission electron microscopy, which do not give hints to a reduction in the barrier quality with increasing MgO thickness. Both the junction resistance and TMR decrease with increasing temperature and bias voltage. In general, the decrease is much stronger for thicker barriers, e. g., a decrease in the TMR by a factor of 13.4 from 293% at 15 K to 21.9% at 300 K was observed for t(B) = 4.0 nm compared to a reduction by only a factor of 1.6 for t(B) = 1.8 nm. This behavior can be described self-consistently for all barrier thicknesses within a model that extends the magnon-assisted tunneling model by adding an inelastic, unpolarized tunneling contribution. Furthermore we discuss our results in the framework of a recent model by Lu et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 176801 (2009)] claiming that polarized hopping conductance becomes important for larger MgO thickness.

Magnetic tunnel junctions for spin-transfer torque (STT) switching are prepared to investigate the dielectric breakdown. Intact and broken tunnel junctions are characterized by transport measurements prior to transmission electron microscopy analysis. The comparison to our previous model for thicker MgO tunnel barriers reveals a different breakdown mechanism arising from the high current densities in a STT device: instead of local pinhole formation at a constant rate, massive electromigration and heating leads to displacement of the junction material and voids are appearing. This is determined by element resolved energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy and three dimensional tomographic reconstruction. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3272268]

Interest in femtosecond demagnetization dynamics was sparked by Bigot's experiment in 1996, which unveiled the elementary mechanisms that relate the electrons' temperature to their spin order. Simultaneously, the application of fast demagnetization experiments has been demonstrated to provide key insight into technologically important systems such as high-spin-polarization metals, and consequently there is broad interest in further understanding the physics of these phenomena. To gain new and relevant insights, we performed ultrafast optical pump-probe experiments to characterize the demagnetization processes of highly spin-polarized magnetic thin films on a femtosecond time scale. Full spin polarization is obtained in half-metallic ferro- or ferrimagnets, where only one spin channel is populated at the Fermi level, whereas the other one exhibits a gap. In these materials, the spin-scattering processes is controlled via the electronic structure, and thus their ultrafast demagnetization is solely related to the spin polarization via a Fermi golden-rule model. Accordingly, a long demagnetization time correlates with a high spin polarization due to the suppression of the spin-flip scattering at around the Fermi level. Here we show that isoelectronic Heusler compounds (Co2MnSi, Co2MnGe, and Co2FeAl) exhibit a degree of spin polarization between 59% and 86%. We explain this behavior by considering the robustness of the gap against structural disorder. Moreover, we observe that CoFe-based pseudogap materials, such as partially ordered Co-Fe-Ge and Co-Fe-B alloys, can reach similar values of the spin polarization. By using the unique features of these metals we vary the number of possible spin-flip channels, which allows us to pinpoint and control the half-metals' electronic structure and its influence on the elementary mechanisms of ultrafast demagnetization.

Thermoelectric effects in magnetic tunnel junctions are promising to serve as the basis for logic devices or memories in a ''green'' information technology. However, up to now the readout contrast achieved with Seebeck effects was magnitudes smaller compared to the well-established tunnel magnetoresistance effect. Here, we resolve this problem by demonstrating that the tunnel magneto-Seebeck effect (TMS) in CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB tunnel junctions can be switched on to a logic "1" state and off to "0'' by simply changing the magnetic state of the CoFeB electrodes. This new functionality is achieved by combining a thermal gradient and an electric field. Our results show that the signal crosses zero and can be adjusted by tuning a bias voltage that is applied between the electrodes of the junction; hence, the name of the effect is bias-enhanced tunnel magneto-Seebeck effect (bTMS). Via the spin-and energy-dependent transmission of electrons in the junction, the bTMS effect can be configured using the bias voltage with much higher control than the tunnel magnetoresistance and even completely suppressed for only one magnetic configuration. Moreover, our measurements are a step towards the experimental realization of high TMS ratios without additional bias voltage, which are predicted for specific Co-Fe compositions.

Thermal spin-transfer torque describes the manipulation of the magnetization by the application of a heat flow. The effect has been calculated theoretically by Jia et al. in 2011. It is found to require large temperature gradients in the order of Kelvins across an ultra thin MgO barrier. In this paper, we present results on the fabrication and the characterization of magnetic tunnel junctions with three monolayer thin MgO barriers. The quality of the interfaces at different growth conditions is studied quantitatively via high-resolution transmission electron microscopy imaging. We demonstrate tunneling magnetoresistance ratios of up to 55% to 64% for 3 to 4 monolayer barrier thickness. Magnetic tunnel junctions with perpendicular magnetization anisotropy show spin-transfer torque switching with a critical current of 0.2 MA/cm(2). The thermally generated torque is calculated ab initio using the Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker and nonequilibrium Green's function method. Temperature gradients generated from femtosecond laser pulses were simulated using COMSOL, revealing gradients of 20K enabling thermal spin-transfer-torque switching.

Creating temperature gradients in magnetic nanostructures has resulted in a new research direction, that is, the combination of magneto- and thermoelectric effects(1-5). Here, we demonstrate the observation of one important effect of this class: the magneto-Seebeck effect. It is observed when a magnetic configuration changes the charge-based Seebeck coefficient. In particular, the Seebeck coefficient changes during the transition from a parallel to an antiparallel magnetic configuration in a tunnel junction. In this respect, it is the analogue to the tunnelling magnetoresistance. The Seebeck coefficients in parallel and antiparallel configurations are of the order of the voltages known from the charge-Seebeck effect. The size and sign of the effect can be controlled by the composition of the electrodes' atomic layers adjacent to the barrier and the temperature. The geometric centre of the electronic density of states relative to the Fermi level determines the size of the Seebeck effect. Experimentally, we realized 8.8% magneto-Seebeck effect, which results from a voltage change of about -8.7 mu VK-1 from the antiparallel to the parallel direction close to the predicted value of -12.1 mu VK-1. In contrast to the spin-Seebeck effect, it can be measured as a voltage change directly without conversion of a spin current.

Knowledge of the spin polarization is of fundamental importance for the use of a material in spintronics applications. Here, we used femtosecond optical excitation of half-metals to distinguish between half-metallic and metallic properties. Because the direct energy transfer by Elliot-Yafet scattering is blocked in a half-metal, the demagnetization time is a measure for the degree of half-metallicity. We propose that this characteristic enables us vice versa to establish a novel and fast characterization tool for this highly important material class used in spin-electronic devices. The technique has been applied to a variety of materials where the spin polarization at the Fermi level ranges from 45 to 98%: Ni, Co2MnSi, Fe3O4, La0.66Sr0.33MnO3 and CrO2.

Recently, several groups have reported spin-dependent thermoelectric effects in magnetic tunnel junctions. In this paper, we present a setup for time-resolved measurements of thermovoltages and thermocurrents of a single micro-to nanometer-scaled tunnel junction. An electrically modulated diode laser is used to create a temperature gradient across the tunnel junction layer stack. This laser modulation technique enables the recording of time-dependent thermovoltage signals with a temporal resolution only limited by the preamplifier for the thermovoltage. So far, time-dependent thermovoltage could not be interpreted. Now, with the setup presented in this paper, it is possible to distinguish different Seebeck voltage contributions to the overall measured voltage signal in the mu s time regime. A model circuit is developed that explains those voltage contributions on different sample types. Further, it will be shown that a voltage signal arising from the magnetic tunnel junction can only be observed when the laser spot is directly centered on top of the magnetic tunnel junction, which allows a lateral separation of the effects. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.

Using magnetron sputtering, we have prepared Co-Fe-B/tunnel barrier/Co-Fe-B magnetic tunnel junctions with tunnel barriers consisting of alumina, magnesia, and magnesia-alumina bilayer systems. The highest tunnel magnetoresistance ratios we found were 73% for alumina and 323% for magnesia-based tunnel junctions. Additionally, tunnel junctions with a unified layer stack were prepared for the three different barriers. In these systems, the tunnel magnetoresistance ratios at optimum annealing temperatures were found to be 65% for alumina, 173% for magnesia, and 78% for the composite tunnel barriers. The similar tunnel magnetoresistance ratios of the tunnel junctions containing alumina provide evidence that coherent tunneling is suppressed by the alumina layer in the composite tunnel barrier. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.