S. Yuasa 1, T. Sato 2, E. Tamura 3, Y. Suzuki 1,3, H. Yamamori 1, K. Ando 1 and T. Katayama 1
1
Electrotechnical Laboratory - Tsukuba 305-8568, Japan
2
Joint Research Center for Atom Technology (JRCAT) Angstrom Technology Partnership (ATP) - Tsukuba 305-0046, Japan
3
JRCAT, National Institute for Advanced Interdisiplinary (NAIR) Tsukuba 305-8562, Japan
S. Yuasa et al 2000 Europhys. Lett. 52 344
A strong dependence of tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) on the crystal orientation of ferromagnetic electrodes was confirmed experimentally. We studied the TMR of Fe/Al2O3/Fe50Co50 tunnel junctions with single-crystal Fe electrodes of different crystal orientations and found that the TMR ratio increased from 13% to 42% at 2K (8% to 26% at room temperature) when the crystal orientation was changed from (100) to (211). Such a TMR anisotropy could be explained in terms of the anisotropic spin polarization of Fe bulk and/or interface electronic states. The importance of the "momentum-filtering" effect of the tunnel barrier was also discussed.
Issue 3 (1 November 2000)
Received 5 June 2000
,
accepted for publication 15 September 2000
in final form 15 September 2000
S. Yuasa et al 2000 Europhys. Lett. 52 344
S Karsch et al 2007 New J. Phys. 9 415