In-situ characterization of rapid crystallization of amorphous CoFeB electrodes in CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB junctions during thermal annealing

W. G. Wang; J. Jordan-Sweet; G. X. Miao; C. Ni; A. K. Rumaiz; L. R. Shah; X. Fan; P. Parsons; R. Stearrett; E. R. Nowak; J. S. Moodera; J. Q. Xiao

doi:10.1063/1.3273397

In-situ characterization of rapid crystallization of amorphous CoFeB electrodes in CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB junctions during thermal annealing

W. G. Wang
, J. Jordan-Sweet
, G. X. Miao
, C. Ni
, A. K. Rumaiz
, L. R. Shah
, X. Fan
, P. Parsons
, R. Stearrett
, E. R. Nowak
, J. S. Moodera
, J. Q. Xiao

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

48 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report the crystallization study of CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB magnetic tunnel junctions using in-situ, time-resolved synchrotron-based x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the crystallization of amorphous CoFeB electrodes occurs on a time scale of seconds during the postgrowth high temperature annealing. The crystallization can be well fit by the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami model and the effective activation energy of the process was determined to be 150 kJ/mol. The solid-state epitaxy mode of CoFeB was found to involve separate crystallization at different locations followed by subsequent merging of small grains, instead of layer-by-layer growth of CoFeB film along the MgO template.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	242501
Journal	Applied Physics Letters
Volume	95
Issue number	24
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3273397
State	Published - Dec 14 2009
Externally published	Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

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10.1063/1.3273397

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Wang, W. G., Jordan-Sweet, J., Miao, G. X., Ni, C., Rumaiz, A. K., Shah, L. R., Fan, X., Parsons, P., Stearrett, R., Nowak, E. R., Moodera, J. S., & Xiao, J. Q. (2009). In-situ characterization of rapid crystallization of amorphous CoFeB electrodes in CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB junctions during thermal annealing. Applied Physics Letters, 95(24), Article 242501. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3273397

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title = "In-situ characterization of rapid crystallization of amorphous CoFeB electrodes in CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB junctions during thermal annealing",

abstract = "We report the crystallization study of CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB magnetic tunnel junctions using in-situ, time-resolved synchrotron-based x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the crystallization of amorphous CoFeB electrodes occurs on a time scale of seconds during the postgrowth high temperature annealing. The crystallization can be well fit by the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami model and the effective activation energy of the process was determined to be 150 kJ/mol. The solid-state epitaxy mode of CoFeB was found to involve separate crystallization at different locations followed by subsequent merging of small grains, instead of layer-by-layer growth of CoFeB film along the MgO template.",

author = "Wang, \{W. G.\} and J. Jordan-Sweet and Miao, \{G. X.\} and C. Ni and Rumaiz, \{A. K.\} and Shah, \{L. R.\} and X. Fan and P. Parsons and R. Stearrett and Nowak, \{E. R.\} and Moodera, \{J. S.\} and Xiao, \{J. Q.\}",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by DOE under Grant No. DE-FG02-07ER46374 and NSF under Grant No. DMR0827249. The work at MIT was supported by NSF Grant No DMR0504158 and by ONR Grant No. N00014–09–1–0177. Use of the National Synchrotron Light Source, Brookhaven National Laboratory, was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract No. DE-AC02-98CH10886.",

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month = dec,

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doi = "10.1063/1.3273397",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "95",

journal = "Applied Physics Letters",

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T1 - In-situ characterization of rapid crystallization of amorphous CoFeB electrodes in CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB junctions during thermal annealing

AU - Wang, W. G.

AU - Jordan-Sweet, J.

AU - Miao, G. X.

AU - Ni, C.

AU - Rumaiz, A. K.

AU - Shah, L. R.

AU - Fan, X.

AU - Parsons, P.

AU - Stearrett, R.

AU - Nowak, E. R.

AU - Moodera, J. S.

AU - Xiao, J. Q.

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by DOE under Grant No. DE-FG02-07ER46374 and NSF under Grant No. DMR0827249. The work at MIT was supported by NSF Grant No DMR0504158 and by ONR Grant No. N00014–09–1–0177. Use of the National Synchrotron Light Source, Brookhaven National Laboratory, was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Contract No. DE-AC02-98CH10886.

PY - 2009/12/14

Y1 - 2009/12/14

N2 - We report the crystallization study of CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB magnetic tunnel junctions using in-situ, time-resolved synchrotron-based x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the crystallization of amorphous CoFeB electrodes occurs on a time scale of seconds during the postgrowth high temperature annealing. The crystallization can be well fit by the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami model and the effective activation energy of the process was determined to be 150 kJ/mol. The solid-state epitaxy mode of CoFeB was found to involve separate crystallization at different locations followed by subsequent merging of small grains, instead of layer-by-layer growth of CoFeB film along the MgO template.

AB - We report the crystallization study of CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB magnetic tunnel junctions using in-situ, time-resolved synchrotron-based x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the crystallization of amorphous CoFeB electrodes occurs on a time scale of seconds during the postgrowth high temperature annealing. The crystallization can be well fit by the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami model and the effective activation energy of the process was determined to be 150 kJ/mol. The solid-state epitaxy mode of CoFeB was found to involve separate crystallization at different locations followed by subsequent merging of small grains, instead of layer-by-layer growth of CoFeB film along the MgO template.

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IS - 24

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ER -

In-situ characterization of rapid crystallization of amorphous CoFeB electrodes in CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB junctions during thermal annealing

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