Canted magnetization texture in ferromagnetic tunnel junctions

Abstract

We study the formation of inhomogeneous magnetization texture in the vicinity of a tunnel junction between two metallic ferromagnets nominally in the antiparallel configuration and its influence on the magnetoresistance of such a device. Such a texture, dependent on the magnetization rigidity and crystalline anisotropy energy in the ferromagnet, develops when the ferromagnetic coupling across the tunnel barrier increases above a critical value. © 2008 The American Physical Society.