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2004•Japanese Journal of Applied PhysicsOpen access

X-ray Absorption and X-ray Magnetic Circular Dichroism Studies of a Monatomic Fe(001) Layer Facing a Single-Crystalline MgO(001) Tunnel Barrier

K. Miyokawa, Shinji Saito, T. Katayama, Toshiaki Saito, Tomoyuki Kamino, K. Hanashima, Yoshishige Suzuki, K. Mamiya, T. Koide, Shinji Yuasa

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Abstract

We studied the electronic and magnetic states of a monatomic bcc Fe(001) layer facing a single crystalline MgO(001) tunnel barrier by using X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) at the Fe L 2,3 core edges in order to clarify the origin of the huge tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) effect observed in Fe/MgO/Fe magnetic tunnel junctions. Both the XAS and XMCD revealed that the 1 ML-Fe is not oxidized, which is crucial to the huge TMR effect. A sum-rule analysis of the XMCD shows that the 1 ML-Fe(001) has an enhanced total magnetic moment of about 2.6 µ B per Fe atom compared with that of bulk Fe.

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We studied the electronic and magnetic states of a monatomic bcc Fe(001) layer facing a single crystalline MgO(001) tunnel barrier by using X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) at the Fe L 2,3 core edges in order to clarify the origin of the huge tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) effect observed in Fe/MgO/Fe magnetic tunnel junctions. Both the XAS and XMCD revealed that the 1 ML-Fe is not oxidized, which is crucial to the huge TMR effect. A sum-rule analysis of the XMCD shows that the 1 ML-Fe(001) has an enhanced total magnetic moment of about 2.6 µ B per Fe atom compared with that of bulk Fe.

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Available abstract

We studied the electronic and magnetic states of a monatomic bcc Fe(001) layer facing a single crystalline MgO(001) tunnel barrier by using X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) at the Fe L 2,3 core edges in order to clarify the origin of the huge tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) effect observed in Fe/MgO/Fe magnetic tunnel junctions. Both the XAS and XMCD revealed that the 1 ML-Fe is not oxidized, which is crucial to the huge TMR effect. A sum-rule analysis of the XMCD shows that the 1 ML-Fe(001) has an enhanced total magnetic moment of about 2.6 µ B per Fe atom compared with that of bulk Fe.

Key concepts: Magnetic circular dichroism, Monatomic ion, X-ray magnetic circular dichroism, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, Magnetic moment, XANES, Tunnel magnetoresistance, Condensed matter physics

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X-ray Absorption and X-ray Magnetic Circular Dichroism Studies of a Monatomic Fe(001) Layer Facing a Single-Crystalline MgO(001) Tunnel Barrier — Research Paper | ScholarLens