Giant tunneling magnetoresistance in MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions and its industrial applications

First-principle theories predicted an extremely high magnetoresistance (MR) ratio over 1000% in epitaxial Fe(001)/MgO(001)/Fe(001) MTJs. We have fabricated fully epitaxial Fe-Co(001)/MgO(001)/Fe-Co(001) MTJs and textured CoFeB/MgO(001)/CoFeB MTJs and achieved giant MR ratios above 400% at room temperature. An ultra-low resistance-area (RA) product indispensable for magnetic sensor application has also been achieved in CoFeB/MgO(001)/CoFeB MTJs. The giant TMR effect in MgO-based MTJs is the key for next-generation spintronic devices.