Fabrication of Mg-X-O (X = Fe, Co, Ni, Cr, Mn, Ti, V, and Zn) barriers for magnetic tunnel junctions

We fabricated magnetic tunnel junctions with a 3d-transition material(X)-doped MgO (Mg-X-O) barrier, and evaluated the effect of the doping on magnetoresistance (MR) and microstructure. Among the variations of X (X = Fe, Co, Ni, Cr, Mn, Ti, V, and Zn), X = Fe and Mn showed a high MR ratio of more than 100%, even at a low resistance-area product of 3 Ωμm2. The microstructure analysis revealed that (001) textured orientation formed for X = Fe and Mn despite substantial doping (about 10 at%). The elemental mappings indicated that Fe atoms in the Mg-Fe-O barrier were segregated at the interfaces, while Mn atoms were evenly involved in the Mg-Mn-O barrier. This suggests that MgO has high adaptability for Fe and Mn dopants in terms of high MR ratio.