MgAl2O4(001) based magnetic tunnel junctions made by direct sputtering of a sintered spinel target

We developed a fabrication process of an epitaxial MgAl2O4 barrier for magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) using a direct sputtering method from an MgAl2O4 spinel sintered target. Annealing the sputter-deposited MgAl2O4 layer sandwiched between Fe electrodes led to the formation of a (001)-oriented cation-disorder spinel with atomically sharp interfaces and lattice-matching with the Fe electrodes. A large tunnel magnetoresistance ratio up to 245% at 297K (436% at 3K) was achieved in the Fe/MgAl2O4/Fe(001) MTJ as well as an excellent bias voltage dependence. These results indicate that the direct sputtering is an alternative method for the realization of high performance MTJs with a spinel-based tunnel barrier. (C) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC.