Observation of spin-dependent quantum well resonant tunneling in textured CoFeB layers.

We report the observation of spin-dependent quantum well (QW) resonant tunneling in textured CoFeB free layers of single MgO magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs). The inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy spectra clearly show the presence of resonant oscillations in the parallel configuration, which are related with the appearance of majority-spin Δ1 QW states in the CoFeB free layer. To gain a quantitative understanding, we calculated QW state positions in the voltage-thickness plane using the so-called phase accumulation model (PAM) and compared the PAM solutions with the experimental resonant voltages observed for a set of MTJs with different CoFeB free layer thicknesses (tfl =1.55, 1.65, 1.95, and 3.0nm). An overall good agreement between experiment and theory was obtained. An enhancement of the tunnel magnetoresistance with bias is observed in a bias voltage region corresponding to the resonant oscillations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]