Perpendicularly magnetized synthetic antiferromagnetic Mn<i>x</i>Ga/Co2FeAl bilayers on MgAl2O4 substrate

R Rongkun Han (State Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Physics and Chip Technologies, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences 1 , P.O. Box 912, Beijing 100083,) F Fengyue He (State Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Physics and Chip Technologies, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences 1 , P.O. Box 912, Beijing 100083,) D Dong Pan D Dahai Wei (State Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Physics and Chip Technologies, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences 1 , Beijing 100083,) J Jianhua Zhao

Abstract

Magnetic tunneling junctions (MTJs) with MgAl2O4 (MAO) barrier exhibit large tunnel magnetoresistance, comparable to that of MgO barrier. In this study, we grow synthetic antiferromagnetic MnxGa/Co2FeAl (CFA) bilayers on MAO (001) substrates without any buffer layer, where the MnxGa layer includes D022-Mn3Ga and L10-MnGa phases. Our results indicate that the CFA forms antiferromagnetic coupling with both D022-Mn3Ga and L10-MnGa. Moreover, we observe the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) in both L10-MnGa/CFA and D022-Mn3Ga/CFA bilayers, which is induced by tetragonal MnxGa and interfacial magnetic coupling. Particularly, the L10-MnGa(10 nm)/CFA(1.5 nm) bilayer exhibits a perpendicular anisotropy field of 72.08 kOe and a perpendicular anisotropy energy of 7.57 × 106 erg/cm3. Similar PMA is also observed in L10-MnGa/Co2MnAl and L10-MnGa/Co2FeGa bilayers on MAO substrates. These results provide a foundation for the development of high-performance perpendicular MTJs with MAO barrier.

Article Details

Volume / Issue Vol. 126, Issue 23
Published June 09, 2025
ISSN 0003-6951
Publisher American Institute of Physics

Journal Info

Applied Physics Letters

American Institute of Physics

ISSN: 0003-6951 Physical Sciences

Authors (5)

R

Rongkun Han

State Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Physics and Chip Technologies, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences 1 , P.O. Box 912, Beijing 100083,

F

Fengyue He

State Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Physics and Chip Technologies, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences 1 , P.O. Box 912, Beijing 100083,

D

Dong Pan

D

Dahai Wei

State Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Physics and Chip Technologies, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences 1 , Beijing 100083,

J

Jianhua Zhao