Effect of MgO Underlying Layer on the Growth of GaO(x) Tunnel Barrier in Epitaxial Fe/GaO(x)/(MgO)/Fe Magnetic Tunnel Junction Structure

We investigated the effect of a thin MgO underlying layer (~3 monoatomic layers) on the growth of GaO(x) tunnel barrier in Fe/GaO(x)/(MgO)/Fe(001) magnetic tunnel junctions. To obtain a single-crystalline barrier, an in situ annealing was conducted with the temperature being raised up to 500 °C under an O(2) atmosphere. This annealing was performed after the deposition of the GaO(x) on the Fe(001) bottom electrode with or without the MgO(001) underlying layer. Reflection high-energy electron diffraction patterns after the annealing indicated the formation of a single-crystalline layer regardless of with or without the MgO layer. Ex situ structural studies such as transmission electron microscopy revealed that the GaO(x) grown on the MgO underlying layer has a cubic MgAl(2)O(4)-type spinel structure with a (001) orientation. When without MgO layer, however, a Ga-Fe-O ternary compound having the same crystal structure and orientation as the crystalline GaO(x) was observed. The results indicate that the MgO underlying layer effectively prevents the Fe bottom electrode from oxidation during the annealing process. Tunneling magneto-resistance effect was observed only for the sample with the MgO underlying layer, suggesting that Ga-Fe-O layer is not an effective tunnel-barrier.