Tunneling magnetoresistance of a GaMnAs-based double barrier ferromagnetic tunnel

junction
T. Hayashi, M. Tanaka, and A. Asamitsu
Citation: Journal of Applied Physics 87, 4673 (2000); doi: 10.1063/1.373126
View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.373126
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JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS

VOLUME 87, NUMBER 9

1 MAY 2000

Tunneling magnetoresistance of a GaMnAs-based double barrier

ferromagnetic tunnel junction
T. Hayashia) and M. Tanakab)
Department of Electronic Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku,
Tokyo 113-8656, Japan

A. Asamitsu
Cryogenic Center, The University of Tokyo, 2-11-16 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan

Introduction of a ferromagnetic quantum well in a ferromagnetic tunnel junction is shown to greatly

enhance the tunneling magnetoresistance TMR effect, due to spin filtering as well as energy
filtering. We have theoretically analyzed resonant transmission probability of a magnetic double
barrier heterostructure consisting of IIIV based ferromagnetic semiconductor GaMnAs, and
nonmagnetic semiconductor AlAs. Experimentally, we have observed very large TMR effect of
such a system grown by low-temperature molecular-beam epitaxy, and have shown that some of the
measured tunneling features are attributed to spin-dependent resonant tunneling. 2000
American Institute of Physics. S0021-89790052808-4

I. INTRODUCTION

Diluted magnetic semiconductor DMS is one of the

best candidates to combine semiconductor electronics with
magnetism. Recently, we have successfully grown a new
class of IIIV based ferromagnetic semiconductor
Ga1x Mnx As13 and its heterostructures4,5 by lowtemperature molecular-beam epitaxy LT-MBE. They show
ferromagnetic behaviors at low temperature maximum T c
100 K, which are induced by holes. The feasibility of preparing
GaMnAs-based
magnetic
semiconductor
heterostructures4,5 with abrupt interfaces will offer unique
opportunities for studying the spin-related phenomena in
well-controlled IIIV systems, including the spin-related
tunneling effects and the interlayer exchange coupling between GaMnAs layers via a nonmagnetic AlAs layer.
Recently, we have grown a GaMnAs/AlAs/GaMnAs
trilayer structure by LT-MBE, and have studied its tunneling
magnetoresistance TMR effect at 4.2 K under a magnetic
field parallel to the plane. Very large negative TMR was
observed TMR ratio44% in the tunnel junction of such
epitaxial ferromagnetic semiconductor heterostructures.6
In general, the TMR ratio strongly depends on the spin
polarization of the magnetic electrodes at Fermi energy.
Therefore, introducing a magnetic quantum well QW is
predicted to enhance the TMR effect because each wave
number normal to the interface is quantized separately depending on the spin direction of electrons. In this article, we
introduce a spin-dependent band engineering approach and
propose a new type of magnetic tunnel junctions using a
magnetic QW.
a

Electronic mail: hayashi@cryst.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Also at CREST, Japan Science and Technology Corporation, 4-1-8
Kawaguchi, Honcho 332-0012, Japan; electronic mail: masaaki@ee.t.utokyo.ac.jp

II. TRANSMISSION PROBABILITY OF MAGNETIC

RESONANT TUNNELING

As a first step towards a new type of TMR using QW

states, we consider a double barrier magnetic resonant tunneling diode RTD structure. For device applications, the
TMR effect, the high resistivity of the conventional magnetic
tunnel junctions MTJ is unattractive in terms of response
time and noise, which gives the limitation of the downsizing
of the device.7 Although the higher bias voltage allows us to
obtain the larger signals, the TMR effect of the conventional
MTJ shows a significant decrease with increasing the bias
voltage.8 On the other hand, in a magnetic RTD, the best
driving voltage can be designed by choosing the adequate
thickness of the magnetic QW because a large TMR effect is
expected at the resonant bias voltage. Hence, by properly
designing the magnetic RTD device, a large TMR effect and
the large signals will be realized at the same time.
We have calculated transmission probability of a double
barrier RTD structure GaMnAs/AlAs 28 /GaMnAs 80
/AlAs 28 /GaMnAs, using transfer matrix
formalism.9,10 Its valence band profile along the direction
perpendicular to the material interfaces is depicted in Fig.
1a. Magnetic circular dichroism MCD measurements11
and angle-resolved photoemission measurements12 have revealed that the band structure of GaMnAs is of zinc-blende
semiconductor type, and is very similar to that of GaAs.
Therefore, we assumed that the band parameters of GaMnAs
are the same as those of GaAs. The spin splitting energy
E44 meV is used here, as estimated in Ref. 13. We also
assumed that the magnetization directions of both GaMnAs
electrodes are parallel to one another, and only the magnetization direction angle , as shown in Fig. 1a of the GaMnAs magnetic quantum well is changeable relative to the
magnetization directions of the electrodes because the coercive force of thin GaMnAs films is larger than that of thick
GaMnAs films.4 The abrupt change in the quantization axis
at the interfaces zz 2 and zz 4 requires the spinor transformation,

0021-8979/2000/87(9)/4673/3/$17.00
4673
2000 American Institute of Physics
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4674

J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 87, No. 9, 1 May 2000

Hayashi, Tanaka, and Asamitsu

FIG. 2. Tunneling magnetoresistance of a GaMnAs 2000 , Mn concentration x0.045/AlAs 28 /GaMnAs 80 , x0.035/AlAs 28 /

GaMnAs 2000 , x0.045 double barrier tunnel junction. The inset is a
magnified viewgraph at low field.

FIG. 1. a Valence band profile of the GaMnAs-based double barrier heterostructure. b Transmission probability for heavy holes m hh0.45m 0 for
GaMnAs and 0.75m 0 for AlAs, respectively. c Transmission probability
for light holes m lh0.08m 0 for GaMnAs and 0.143m 0 for AlAs, respectively.

cos
i i1

sin
i1
,
2
2

sin
i i1

cos
i1
,
2
2

and similarly for the derivatives, where i is the wave function of ith region with the spin of .
Figures 1b and 1c show the energy dependence of
transmission probability TT * (E z ) from one majority spin
band to the other majority spin band in such magnetic resonant tunneling structures. Figures 1b and 1c correspond to
heavy holes (m hh0.45m 0 ) and light holes (m lh0.08m 0 ),
respectively. The peak energies shift in both cases, depending on the magnetization direction of the magnetic QW. This
fact indicates that a magnetic QW works as a very sharp spin
filter as well as an energy filter, leading to the enhancement
and unique bias dependence of TMR.
III. TUNNELING MAGNETORESISTANCE OF A
MAGNETIC RESONANT TUNNELING DIODE

We grew the same magnetic RTD structure as described

in theoretical model, on p-type GaAs001 and on semiinsulating GaAs001 substrates by using LT-MBE: GaMnAs 2000 , Mn concentration x0.045/AlAs 28 /
GaMnAs 80 , x0.035/AlAs 28 /GaMnAs 2000 ,
x0.045. Two-terminal RTD devices, with active areas of
20 m diameter circles, were fabricated on the p-type substrate, and Hall bars on the semi-insulating substrate using

photolithographic techniques. Their I V and dI/dV characteristics and TMR were measured at 4.2 K in CPP current
perpendicular to the plane configuration, applying an inplane magnetic field. At the same time, we also performed
magnetotransport measurements on the Hall bar of the same
sample in CIP current in-plane configuration, applying an
in-plane magnetic field.
Figure 2 shows magnetic field dependence of tunneling
resistance measured at nearly zero bias at 4.2 K by using the
conventional lock-in technique. The modulation amplitude is
1 mV 42 Hz. Very large negative TMR was observed up to
high field. The TMR ratio, defined by (R maxRmin)/Rmin , is
about 170%, which is much higher than the CIP-MR ratio
about 10% of the same sample, where R min is the resistance
at 11.1 kOe. Note here that the resistance of GaMnAs electrodes is much smaller than the total tunneling resistance,
therefore, the MR of the GaMnAs electrodes hardly contributes to the observed TMR effect.6 A clear hysteresis behavior appeared at low field, as shown in the inset of Fig. 2,
which is caused by the different magnetization configuration
of the ferromagnetic GaMnAs layers.
Although the magnetization of these three GaMnAs layers is almost saturated at 5001000 Oe, negative TMR continued to be observed up to higher field. The TMR effect at
high field is much larger than that at low field, similar to the
CIP-MR of GaMnAs single layers. The present TMR behavior observed in the GaMnAs-based heterostructures can be
explained in the following way. The ferromagnetic ordering
between Mn spins in GaMnAs is induced by itinerate holes
through p-d exchange interaction. That is to say, itinerate
holes drag magnetic clouds of Mn spins along with them.
Therefore, with a magnetic field larger, in case of tunneling
process, the penetration length of hole wave functions into
the tunnel barriers becomes larger due to the restoration of
the kinetic energy of conducting holes. In other words, the
transmission probability becomes exponentially larger with
increasing the magnetic field, leading to the giant negative
TMR up to high field.
Negative differential resistance NDR was not observed
in the I V characteristic although the shape of the derivative
dI/dV-V not shown here looked wavy. In order to make

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J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 87, No. 9, 1 May 2000

Hayashi, Tanaka, and Asamitsu

4675

GaMnAs is extremely high 100 meV or more when the

hole concentration of GaMnAs is 1019 1020 cm3 and
therefore tunneling process through several quantum energy
levels occurs at the same time. Despite these detrimental
factors, in such epitaxial magnetic heterostructures, one can
design a suitable structure by some structural parameters
such as barrier thickness, well width, and Mn concentration
of GaMnAs layers. Introducing of a double quantum well
system is probably one of the possible solutions.
IV. CONCLUSION

FIG. 3. d 2 I/dV 2 -V curves of the GaMnAs/AlAs double barrier tunnel junction at two different magnetic fields. The inset shows the I V characteristics.

the wavy character clear, its d 2 I/dV 2 -V curves at two different magnetic fields 22 kOe and 120 Oe are presented in
Fig. 3. At high field 22 kOe, where the magnetization directions of all three GaMnAs layers are aligned parallel to
the applied magnetic field direction, a large peak appeared at
about 0.5 V and a few tiny shoulders were observed at
smaller voltages 25 and 250 mV. On the other hand, at low
field 122 Oe, which corresponds to the magnetic field for
the peak tunneling resistance, a new peak appeared at around
1.35 V, while the whole spectrum shifted toward higher voltage and becomes a little smaller. Apparently, this spectrum
shift accounts for the observed very large TMR effect.
The resonant tunneling of holes in high quality nonmagnetic AlAsGaAsAlAs heterostructures was reported by
Mendez et al.14 Although one should expect to see peaks
associated with GaAs heavy and light hole virtual bound
states, the experimentally observed peaks in the current
voltage characteristics did not fit these assumptions, reflecting the complicated valence-band states. For the same reason, the quantitative discrepancy between the calculation and
the experiment in our system is probably very large. In addition, some irreducible depletion layers, which prohibit net
bias voltage from being applied over the AlAs double barriers, can exist in this two-terminal device, making the resonant tunneling voltage higher. Considering all described
above, the new additional peak at 1.35 V measured at 120
Oe in Fig. 3 probably indicates a sign of spin-dependent
resonant tunneling of holes through the subbands in the magnetic quantum well.
Clear NDR would enhance the TMR effect much more.
Some experimental factors may make it difficult to obtain
NDR in our sample. One reason is phase and spin decoherence of the tunneling holes due to impurity scattering especially, Mn magnetic impurities in the AlAs barriers and interface roughness because the present double barrier
heterostructure contains GaMnAs which is a very heavily
doped semiconductor and needs to be grown at low temperature. Another possible reason is that the Fermi energy of

We proposed a new type of all-semiconductor epitaxial

magnetic tunnel junctions having a magnetic quantum well
and double barriers. Transmission probability of such a magnetic resonant tunneling diode structure was calculated, indicating spin filter together with energy filter functions. Very
large TMR effect was observed in a GaMnAs/AlAs double
barrier system grown by LT-MBE, mainly due to the enhanced penetration of the hole wave functions into the barriers at high magnetic field. We believe that GaMnAs-based
heterostructure is one of the best prospective systems to obtain very large TMR effect enhanced by resonant transmission.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors wish to thank Dr. H. Shimada for collaboration, and Professor T. Nishinaga for encouragement. This
work is partially supported by JSPS Research for the Future
Program JSPS-RFTF97P00202 and Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research Spin-Controlled Semiconductor Nanostructures No. 09244105 provided by the Ministry of Education, Science, Sport and Culture, Japan.
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