Resonant Inversion of Tunneling Magnetoresistance

Authors

Evgeny Y. Tsymbal, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Andrei Sokolov, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Ildar F. Sabiryanov, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Bernard Doudin, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

5-9-2003

Comments

Published in Physical Review Letters VOLUME 90, NUMBER 18. Copyright 2003 The American Physical Society. Used by permission.

Abstract

Resonant tunneling via localized states in the barrier can invert magnetoresistance in magnetic tunnel junctions. Experiments performed on electrodeposited Ni/NiO/Co nanojunctions of area smaller than 0.01 μm² show that both positive and negative values of magnetoresistance are possible. Calculations based on Landauer-Bu¨ttiker theory explain this behavior in terms of disorder-driven statistical variations in magnetoresistance with a finite probability of inversion due to resonant tunneling.