Coexistence of tunneling magnetoresistance and Josephson effects in SFIFS junctions

Abstract

We demonstrate an integration of tunneling magnetoresistance and the Josephson effects within one tunneling junction. Several sets of Nb-Fe-Al-Al2O3-Fe-Nb wafers with varying Al and Fe layers thickness were prepared to systematically explore the competition of TMR and Josephson effects. A coexistence of the critical current IC(dFe) and the tunneling magnetoresistance ratio T M R(dFe) is observed for iron layer dFe thickness range 1.9 and 2.9 nm. Further optimization such as thinner Al2O3 layer leads to an enhancement of the critical current and thus to an extension of the coexistence regime up to dFe≃3.9 nm Fe.