Magnetic Tunnel Junction Based on MgO Barrier Prepared by Natural Oxidation and Direct Sputtering Deposition

Magnetic tunnel junctions(MTJs) based on MgO barrier have been fabricated by sputtering single crystal MgO target and metal Mg target, respectively, using magnetic sputtering system Nordiko 2000. MgO barriers have been formed by a multi-step deposition and natural oxidization of Mg layer. Mg layer thickness,oxygen flow rate and oxidization time were adjusted and the tunnel magnetoresistance(TMR) ratio of optimal MTJs is over 60% at annealing temperature 385. The(001) MgO crystal structure was obtained when the separation distance between MgO target and substrate is less than 6 cm. The TMR ratio of most MgO based MTJs are over 100% at the separation distance of 5 cm and annealing temperature 340. The TMR ratios of MTJs are almost zero when the separation distance ranges from 6 to 10 cm, due to the amorphous nature of the MgO film.

Ferromagnetism in Eu-doped ZnO films deposited by radio-frequency magnetic sputtering

This paper reports that Eu-doped ZnO films were successfully deposited on silicon （100） by radio-frequency magnetic sputtering. The x-ray diffraction patterns indicate that Eu substitutes for Zn in the lattice. Ferromagnetic loops were obtained by using superconducting quantum interference device at 10 K and room temperature. No discontinuous change was found in both of the zero-field-cooled and field-cooled curves. The observed ferromagnetism in Eu-doped ZnO can be attributed to a single magnetic phase. The saturation magnetisation decreased remarkably for the Eu-doped ZnO prepared by introducing 5% of oxygen in the sputtering gas or by the post annealing in O2, suggesting that the defects play key roles in the development of ferromagnetism in Eu-doped ZnO films.

Structure and Magnetic Properties of Fe-N Films Prepared by Dual Ion Beam Sputtering

Fe-N films were prepared on Si substrate by dual ion beam sputtering (DIBS). It is found that the crystal structure of the films varies from α-Fe, to ε-Fe2-3N, ε-Fe2-3N +γ-Fe4N, and finally γ'-Fe4N with the increase in substrate temperature (TS). The magnetic properties of the films were investigated by a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The structure of the films is insensitive to the ratios of N2/Ar in main ion source(MIS), and is mainly influenced by the substrate temperature (Ts).

Effects of thickness and annealing condition on magnetic properties and thermal stabilities of Ta/Nd/NdFeB/Nd/Ta sandwiched films

Ta/Nd/NdFeB/Nd/Ta sandwiched films are deposited by magnetron sputtering on Si（100） substrates,and subsequently annealed in vacuum at different temperatures for different time.It is found that both the thickness of NdFeB and Nd layer and the annealing condition can affect the magnetic properties of Ta/Nd/NdFeB/Nd/Ta films.Interestingly,the thickness and annealing temperature show the relevant behaviors that can affect the magnetic properties of the film.The high coercivity of 24.1 kOe（1 Oe = 79.5775 A/m） and remanence ratio（remanent magnetization/saturation magnetization）of 0.94 can be obtained in a Ta/Nd（250 nm）/NdFeB（600 nm）/Nd（250 nm）/Ta film annealed for 3 min at 1023 K.In addition,the thermal stability of the film is also linked to the thickness of NdFeB and Nd layer and the annealing temperature as well.The excellent thermal stability can be achieved in a Ta/Nd（250 nm）/NdFeB（600 nm）/Nd（250 nm）/Ta film annealed at1023 K.

Preparation and characterization of La_(0.9)Sr_(0.1)Ga_(0.8)Mg_(0.2)O_(3-δ) thin film deposited by radio frequency magnetic sputtering

La0.9Sr0.1Ga0.8Mg0.2O3–？ （LSGM） electrolyte materials were synthesized by the solid state reaction method. The conductivity of LSGM materials was detected by four probe method, and it was 0.08 S/cm at 850 oC. Dense and uniform films of LSGM materials were deposited by the magnetic sputtering on substrates of Si and La0.7Sr0.3Cr0.5Mn0.5O3–？ （LSCM）. The experimental results showed that the deposition rates dropped and the average grain sizes of the films enlarged with increase in the substrate temperatures. In the sputtering process, the LSGM film was deposited with preferred growth direction. After annealing, the preferred growth direction disappeared and the film surface became smoother and denser. Through observing the deposition process, deposition mechanism was proposed, which was consistent with a model of island growth.

Preparation and characterization of ZnO/Cu/ZnO transparent conductive films

ZnO/Cu/ZnO transparent conductive thin films were prepared by RF sputtering deposition of ZnO target and DC sputtering deposition of Cu target on n-type （001） Si and glass substrates at room temperature. The mor- phology, structure, optical, and electrical properties of the multilayer films were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscope （FESEM）, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, UV/Vis spectrophotometer, and Hall effect mea- surement system. The influence of Cu layer thickness and the oxygen pressure in sputtering atmosphere on the film properties were studied. ZnO/Cu/ZnO transparent conduc- tive film fabricated in pure Ar atmosphere with 10 nm Cu layer thickness has the best performance： resistivity of 2.3 × 10^-4 Ω.cm, carrier concentration of 6.44 × 10^16 cm-2, mobility of 4.51 cm2.（V.s）-1, and acceptable aver- age transmittance of 80 % in the visible range. The trans- mittance and conductivity of the films fabricated with oxygen are lower than those of the films fabricated without oxygen, which indicates that oxygen atmosphere does not improve the optical and electrical properties of ZnO/Cu/ ZnO films.

Preparation of Nano-Crystalline ZnO Thin Films

Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films were identified as very suitable piezoelectric material for SAW on the basis of its relatively high electromechanical coupling coefficient,as well as high resistivity for low insertion loss and little distortion in the frequency.In this paper ZnO thin films were deposited on Si(100) substrate covered with SiO_2 using a reactive DC magnetic sputtering system from a zinc target.The effects of various deposition parameters on structural and performances have been investigated through experiments.Theoretical and experimental results are also discussed in this paper.XRD showed that the prepared ZnO films had strongly c-axis preferred-orientation.The composition of the film was also determined through high-resolution photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).AFM showed that the films had smooth surface and that the crystallite sizes of deposited films were in the range 30 nm～50 nm.The above results showed that the films deposited by magnetic sputtering met the demands for surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices.

Large tunable FMR frequency shift by magnetoelectric coupling in oblique-sputtered Fe52.5Co22.5B25.0/PZN-PT multiferroic heterostructure

In this study, we observe a strong inverse magnetoelectric coupling in Fe52.5Co22.5B25.0/PZN-PT multiferroic heterostructure, which produces large electric field（E-field） tunability of microwave magnetic properties. With the increase of the E-field from 0 to 8 kV/cm, the magnetic anisotropy field Heffis dramatically enhanced from 169 to 600 Oe, which further leads to a significant enhancement of ferromagnetic resonance frequency from 4.57 to 8.73 GHz under zero bias magnetic field, and a simultaneous decrease of the damping constant α from 0.021 to 0.0186. These features demonstrate that this multiferroic composite is a promising candidate for fabricating E-field tunable microwave components.

Discharge characteristics of the DUHOCAMIS with a high magnetic bottle-shaped field

For the purpose of producing high intensity, multiply charged metal ion beams, the dual hollow cathode ion source for metal ions （DUHOCAMIS） was derived from the hot cathode Penning ion source combined with the hollow cathode sputtering experiments in 2007. To investigate the behavior of this discharge geometry in a stronger magnetic bottle-shaped field, a new test bench for DUHOCAMIS with a high magnetic bottle-shaped field up to 0.6 T has been set up at the Peking University. The experiments with magnetic fields from 0.13 T to 0.52 T have indicated that the discharge behavior is very sensitive to the magnetic flux densities. The slope of discharge curves in a very wide range can be controlled by changing the magnetic field as well as regulated by adjusting the cathode heating power; the production of metallic ions would be much greater than gas ions with the increased magnetic flux density; and the magnetic field has a much higher influence on the DHCD mode than on the PIG mode.

Magnetic Properties and Coercivity of MnGa Films Deposited on Different Substrates

MnGa films were grown by magnetron sputtering on thermally oxidized Si（Si/SiO2） and glass substrates. Films grown on single-crystal Si（100） substrate with different underlayers were prepared for comparison. It is found that the Si/SiO2 substrate is more suitable for growing high-coercivity MnGa films than the glass substrate, which is the result of the isolated-island-like growth. A coercivity of 9.7 kOe can be achieved for the 10 nm MnGa films grown on Si/SiO2 substrate at substrate temperature TS of 450 °C.Optimized experimental conditions are specified by changing the thickness of the MnGa films and the temperature of the substrates.