Regensburg 2013 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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MA: Fachverband Magnetismus

MA 25: Magnetic Heusler Compounds

MA 25.4: Vortrag

Mittwoch, 13. März 2013, 10:15–10:30, H10

X-ray absorption spectroscopy and magnetic circular dichroism studies of L1₀-Mn-Ga thin films — •Manuel Glas¹, Daniel Ebke², Christian Sterwerf¹, Jan Schmalhorst¹, Catherine Jenkins³, Elke Arenholz³, and Günter Reiss¹ — ¹Thin Films and Physics of Nanostructures, Bielefeld University, Germany — ²Max-Planck-Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Dresden, Germany — ³Advanced Light Source Berkeley, CA, USA

The continuous miniaturization process for spintronic devices requires consistently new materials. In particular, materials with high spin polarization, high Curie temperature, high perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, low magnetic moment, and low magnetic damping have found a lot of interest, due to the predicted lower current densities for spin torque transfer switching. The tetragonally distorted Mn_3−xGa compound fulfils these properties and is therefore a promising candidate for STT-switching MRAM devices. To achieve a high TMR effect the interface between the electrodes and barrier plays an important role. Therefore we investigated the interface between a Mn₆₄Ga₃₆ electrode and a 2.3 nm thick MgO barrier by element specific X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD). Additionally, we examined the effects of CoFeB sandwiched between the Mn-Ga and the MgO with different thicknesses, and the deposition method for the MgO capping layer on the formation of interfacial MnO. Element specific full hysteresis loops were taken to determine the easy magnetization axis of the Mn and Co, respectively.