Enhancing the interfacial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and tunnel magnetoresistance by inserting an ultrathin LiF layer at an Fe/MgO interface
Enhancing the interfacial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and tunnel magnetoresistance by inserting an ultrathin LiF layer at an Fe/MgO interface
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DOI：
10.1038/s41427-021-00350-8
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发表时间：
2022-01
影响因子：
9.7
通讯作者：
T. Nozaki;T. Nozaki;Tatsuya Yamamoto;M. Konoto;A. Sugihara;K. Yakushiji;H. Kubota;A. Fukushima;S. Yuasa
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
T. Nozaki;T. Nozaki;Tatsuya Yamamoto;M. Konoto;A. Sugihara;K. Yakushiji;H. Kubota;A. Fukushima;S. Yuasa
在自旋电子学研究中，特别是对于高密度磁阻随机存取存储器（MRAM），永磁各向异性（PMA）变得越来越重要。在Fe/MgO界面处感生的PMA广泛用于磁性隧道结。在这里，我们建议在外延Fe/MgO结的界面处插入一层LiF层。采用0.3 nm厚的LiF层，实现了2.8 mJ/m2的大的本征界面PMA能量Ki，0。我们还发现，LiF/MgO双层隧穿势垒表现出较大的隧道磁电阻（TMR）效应，这表明在LiF/MgO双层隧穿势垒中保持了相干的自旋相关隧穿过程。使用氟化物的原子尺度界面工程可以进一步改善自旋电子器件的PMA和TMR特性。
Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) is becoming increasingly important in spintronics research, especially for high-density magnetoresistive random access memories (MRAMs). The PMA induced at an Fe/MgO interface is widely used in magnetic tunnel junctions. Here, we propose inserting an ultrathin LiF layer at the interface in an epitaxial Fe/MgO junction. With a 0.3 nm-thick LiF layer, a large intrinsic interface PMA energy,Ki,0, of 2.8 mJ/m2was achieved. We also found that the LiF/MgO bilayer tunneling barrier exhibited a large tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) effect, suggesting that a coherent spin-dependent tunneling process was maintained in the ultrathin LiF layer. Atomic-scale interface engineering using fluoride can further improve the PMA and TMR properties of spintronic devices.