2005/05/13 by K. D. Belashchenko, J. Velev, Julian Velev +2 · 2 citations
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Magnetic Properties and Synthesis of Ferrites #Magnetic properties of thin films #ZnO doping and properties #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.72.140404
published as Phys. Rev. B 72, 140404(R) (2005) · 4 pages, 3 eps figures (2 in color), revtex4
arxiv created 2005/05/13 · openalex publication_date 2005/10/12 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The electronic structure and spin-dependent tunneling in epitaxial Fe∕MgO∕Fe(001) tunnel junctions are studied using first-principles calculations. For small MgO barrier thickness the minority-spin resonant bands at the two interfaces make a significant contribution to the tunneling conductance for the antiparallel magnetization, whereas these bands are, in practice, mismatched by disorder and/or small applied bias for the parallel magnetization. This explains the experimentally observed decrease in tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) for thin MgO barriers. We predict that a monolayer of Ag epitaxially deposited at the interface between Fe and MgO suppresses tunneling through the interface band and may thus be used to enhance the TMR for thin barriers.