Monocrystalline Half-Metallic NiMnSb Thin Films: Preparation and Characterization

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The discovery of giant magnetoresistance (GMR) in magnetic multilayers (Baibich et al., 1988) and of tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) in metal/insulator junctions (Julliere, 1975) has marked the beginning of spin electronics, which makes use of the electron’s spin as an additional degree of freedom, thus enabling novel phenomena and devices to be imagined. The GMR spin valves (Dieny et al., 1991; Parkin, 1993) have already been integrated in many functional devices like magnetic read heads, angle and position sensors and low-capacity random access memories (RAM). The TMR tunnel junctions are mainly proposed for non-volatile magnetic memories (MRAM) which combine all the advantages of conventional memories such as DRAM (dynamic RAM), SRAM (static RAM) or flash: short access time, non-volatility, insensibility to ionizing radiation, high density, infinite cyclabilty. Major IC manufacturers are now ready to launch the first fully functional prototypes.