Diagnosis and Location of Pinhole Defects in Tunnel Junctions using only Electrical Measurements

In the development of the first generation of sensors and memory chips based on spin-dependent tunneling through a thin trilayer, it has become clear that pinhole defects can have a deleterious effect on magnetoresistance. However, current diagnostic protocols based on Andreev reflection and the tem...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inarXiv.org
Main Authors Zhang, Zhongsheng, Rabson, David A
Format Paper
LanguageEnglish
Published Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 06.06.2003
Subjects
Chips (memory devices)
Diagnostic systems
Electrical junctions
Electrical measurement
Inverse problems
Magnetoresistance
Magnetoresistivity
Pinhole defects
Position measurement
Quality control
Temperature dependence
Tunnel junctions
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Summary:In the development of the first generation of sensors and memory chips based on spin-dependent tunneling through a thin trilayer, it has become clear that pinhole defects can have a deleterious effect on magnetoresistance. However, current diagnostic protocols based on Andreev reflection and the temperature dependence of junction resistance may not be suitable for production quality control. We show that the current density in a tunnel junction in the cross-strip geometry becomes very inhomogeneous in the presence of a single pinhole, yielding a four-terminal resistance that depends on the location of the pinhole in the junction. Taking advantage of this position dependence, we propose a simple protocol of four four-terminal measurements. Solving an inverse problem, we can diagnose the presence of a pinhole and estimate its position and resistance.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.0306153