Journal
APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS
Volume 94, Issue 6, Pages -Publisher
AMER INST PHYSICS
DOI: 10.1063/1.3080208
Keywords
annealing; boron alloys; cobalt alloys; crystallisation; iron alloys; magnesium compounds; secondary ion mass spectra; titanium; transmission electron microscopy; tunnelling magnetoresistance
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Effects of capping materials on magnetoresistance (MR) properties of MgO magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with a CoFeB free layer were investigated. MR ratios of samples with various capping materials showed a difference in annealing temperature dependence. MTJ with a Ti capping layer annealed at 270 degrees C showed a MR ratio 1.4 times greater than that with a conventional Ta or Ru capping layer. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy images revealed that crystallization of CoFeB was remarkably affected by adjacent materials and the Ti capping layer adjoining CoFeB acted as a boron-absorption layer. These results suggest that the crystallization process can be controlled by choosing proper capping materials. Ti is one of the effective materials that accelerate the crystallization of CoFeB layers at lower annealing temperature.
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