Potential barrier modification and interface states formation in metal-oxide-metal tunnel junctions

Hyuntae Jung, Yongmin Kim, Kyooho Jung, Hyunsik Im, Yu A. Pashkin, O. Astafiev, Y. Nakamura, Hosik Lee, Y. Miyamoto, J. S. Tsai

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

30 Scopus citations

Abstract

We show that the barrier profile of in situ grown AlOx tunnel barriers strongly depends on the material choices of the oxide-metal interface. By doing transport measurements on Al and Nb-based metal-oxide-metal tunnel junctions in a wide temperature range and using the phenomenological Simmons' model, we obtain barrier parameters that are qualitatively consistent with the values obtained from the first-principles calculations. The latter suggest that the formation of metal-induced gap states originating from the hybridization between the metallic bands and Al2 O3 conduction band is responsible for the tunnel barrier modification. These findings are important for nanoelectronic devices containing tunnel junctions with a thin insulating layer.

Original languageEnglish
Article number125413
JournalPhysical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
Volume80
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - 16 Sep 2009

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