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A New Generation of Spintronic Devices: MgO Magnetic Tunneling Junctions

We developed a low-pressure magnetron sputtering technique together with the linear dynamic deposition method and successfully fabricated a new type of magnetic tunneling junctions (MTJs) with (001) textured MgO barrier. We are the only US university to have achieved this success as of April 2007.Picture1-magnetic tunneling junctions.jpg
We developed a low-pressure magnetron sputtering technique together with the linear dynamic deposition method and successfully fabricated a new type of magnetic tunneling junctions (MTJs) with (001) textured MgO barrier. We are the only US university to have achieved this success as of April 2007.

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MgO-based MTJs exhibit magnetoresistance exceeding 200% at room temperature and low field, a major breakthrough in spintronics. The physics is coherent spin dependent tunneling, where only electron wavefuctions with certain symmetry can tunnel through.

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Schematics of a MgO-based MTJ that requires modern thin film deposition and lithography. The key to our success is to minimize the interfacial roughness using low pressure sputtering.

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We have achieved the best performance in MgO-based MTJs worldwide.
Our mass production of these MTJs is used for industrial applications
of metrology, magnetic sensing,Â’  and spintronic immunoassay.

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