Abstract
A systematic, quantitative study of the effect of interface roughness and disorder on the magnetoresistance of FeCo|vacuum|FeCo magnetic tunnel junctions is presented based upon parameter-free electronic structure calculations. Surface roughness is found to have a very strong effect on the spin-polarized transport while that of disorder in the leads (leads consisting of a substitutional alloy) is weaker but still sufficient to suppress the huge tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) predicted for ideal systems.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 180402 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Physical review B: Condensed matter and materials physics |
Volume | 73 |
Issue number | 18 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2006 |