Berlin 2008 – scientific programme
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MA: Fachverband Magnetismus
MA 5: Spindependent Transportphenomena I
MA 5.8: Talk
Monday, February 25, 2008, 12:00–12:15, H 0112
Anisotropic tunnel magnetoresistance in Fe/MgO/Fe junctions — Mayukh Nilay Khan1, •Jürgen Henk2, and Patrick Bruno2 — 1Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India — 2Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, Halle, Germany
The tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) of a magnetic tunnel junction is defined as the difference of the currents for the parallel and the antiparallel configuration. Due to spin-orbit coupling it becomes anisotropic, that is, dependent on the magnetization directions.
We report on a detailed theoretical investigation of the tunnel anisotropic magnetoresistance (TAMR) in Fe/MgO/Fe by means of relativistic first-principles electronic structure and transport calculations. The TAMR ratio can be as large as 30 %. It is shown that the anisotropy originates from both the Rashba spin-orbit interaction at the interfaces and from resonant tunnelling. Spin-orbit induced band gaps in the leads show no considerable effect.