Investigation on Mn${}_{3-\delta }$Ga/MgO interface for magnetic tunneling junctions

Abstract

The Mn${}_3$Ga Heusler compound and related alloys are the most promising materials for the realization of spin-transfer-torque switching in magneto tunneling junctions. Improved performance can be achieved by high quality interfaces in these multilayered structured devices. In this context, the interface between Mn${}_{1.63}$Ga and MgO is of particular interest because of its spin polarization properties in tunneling junctions. We performed a chemical characterization of the MgO/Mn${}_{1.63}$Ga junction by hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HAXPES). The experiment indicated the formation of Ga-O bonds at the interface and evidenced changes in the local environment of Mn atoms in the proximity of the MgO film. In addition, we show that the insertion of a metallic Mg-layer interfacing the MgO and Mn--Ga film strongly suppresses the oxidation of gallium.

References in corpus (4)

• Large magnetoresistance in bcc Co/MgO/Co and FeCo/MgO/FeCo tunneling junctions
• Hidden relationship between the electrical conductivity and the Mn 2p core-level photoemission spectra in La1-xSrxMnO3
• Magnetic dichroism in angular-resolved hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy from buried layers
• Probing the interface of Fe3O4/GaAs thin films by hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Magnetic dichroism study on Mn${}_{1.8}$Co${}_{1.2}$Ga thin film using a combination of X-ray absorption and photoemission spectroscopy