Evidence for FeO formation at the Fe/MgO interface in epitaxial TMR structure by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

S. G. Wang*, G. Han, G. H. Yu, Y. Jiang, C. Wang, A. Kohn, R. C.C. Ward

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

81 Scopus citations

Abstract

Epitaxial Fe/MgO/Fe tunnelling magnetoresistance (TMR) structure was grown on the MgO substrate by molecular beam epitaxy, characterized in-situ by reflection high-energy electron diffraction and ex-situ by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The chemical states at the Fe/MgO interface have been investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and peak decomposition technique. The results show that there is FeO formation at interface of Fe/MgO, clearly identified by the existence of Fe2+ and Fe3+ peaks at 708.2 and 710.4 eV, respectively, which locate at the high-energy side of the main metallic Fe peak. The presence of FeO layer at the Fe/MgO interface proved by XPS is likely to have considerable influence on its MR value and hence on its application in spintronics.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1935-1936
Number of pages2
JournalJournal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials
Volume310
Issue number2 SUPPL. PART 3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2007
Externally publishedYes

Funding

FundersFunder number
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

    Keywords

    • Interface chemical reaction
    • Magnetic tunnelling junction (MTJ)
    • X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)

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