13:30 〜 13:45
▼ [17p-501-2] Mn-composition dependence of magnetoresistance ratio of Co2MnSi-based giant magneto-resistance devices
キーワード:Spintronics, Heusler alloy, GMR
We have shown that harmful defects in Heusler alloy thin films of Co2MnSi (CMS), Co2(Mn,Fe)Si (CMFS), and Co2MnGe can be suppressed by appropriately controlling the film composition, i.e., CoMn antisites detrimental to the half-metallicity can be suppressed by adding an excess Mn, and have demonstrated high tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) ratios of up to 1995% (354%) at 4.2 K (290 K) in CMS/MgO/CMS MTJs having Mn-rich CMS electrodes, and up to 2611% (429%) at 4.2 K (290 K) in CMFS/MgO/CMFS MTJs having (Mn+Fe)-rich CMFS electrodes. The purpose of the present study was to clarify the influence of off-stoichiometry for CMS films on the MR ratio of GMR devices. To do this, we fabricated current-perpendicular-to-plane (CPP)-GMR devices having CMS electrodes with various Mn compositions, α, and an Ag spacer, and investigated the influence of α on the magnetoresistance (MR) characteristics. We demonstrated that MR ratios as a function of Mn composition, α. The MR ratios increased with increasing α from 9% for Mn-deficient α = 0.62 to 17% for Mn-rich α = 1.45. This result suggests the continuous increase in the spin polarization with increasing α from a Mn-deficient to a Mn-rich composition. Thus, it is demonstrated that the suppression of CoMn antisite by a Mn-rich composition is effective in CMS-based GMR devices as in MTJs.