CoFeB/MgO-based magnetic tunnel junction directly formed on a flexible substrate

We succeeded in fabricating a CoFeB/MgO-based magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) directly on an organic flexible substrate. The MTJ shows good strain endurance while keeping the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio of similar to 100% under various strained conditions; the TMR ratio is almost unchanged up to a tensile strain of 1.2%. Because of the magnetoelastic effect, the magnetic anisotropy fields for the top and bottom CoFeB layers are linearly proportional to strain with almost the same rate as that in a single CoFeB film, suggesting that the expected strain is added on both CoFeB layers in the MTJ pillar from the stretched flexible substrate. (c) 2019 The Japan Society of Applied Physics