(Fe–Co)–(Mg-fluoride) insulating nanogranular system with enhanced tunnel-type giant magnetoresistance

Abstract

Insulating nanogranular-type tunnel magnetoresistive thin films made of (Fe or Fe–Co)–(Mg-fluoride) have been investigated. The films were prepared by a tandem deposition method, using Fe, Co, or Fe+Co metal and MgF2 insulator targets. The granular structure was found to consist of Fe or Fe–Co based nanogranules surrounded by thin intergranules of Mg based fluoride with the MgF2 crystal structure. A magnetoresistance value of 13.3% at room temperature and 10 kOe, the largest values ever reported, were obtained at the compositions of 32 vol %(Fe0.51Co0.49)–(Mg–F). To increase the magnetic field sensitivity of the magnetoresistance, a granular-in-gap film consisting of an (Fe–Co)–(Mg–F) granular thin film filling a narrow gap in a soft magnetic Permalloy thin film was prepared. A remarkably high magnetoresistance of 4% or more at 1–2 Oe was obtained.