Broadband ferromagnetic resonance linewidth measurement of magnetic tunnel junction multilayers

The broadband ferromagnetic resonance FMR linewidth of the free layer of magnetic tunnel junctions is used as a simple diagnostic of the quality of the magnetic structure. The FMR linewidth increases near the field regions of free layer reversal and pinned layer reversal, and this increase correlates with an increase in magnetic hysteresis in unpatterned films, low-frequency noise in patterned devices, and previous observations of magnetic domain ripple by use of Lorentz microscopy. Postannealing changes the free layer FMR linewidth, indicating that considerable magnetic disorder, originating in the exchange-biased pinned layer, is transferred to the free layer. © 2009 American Institute of Physics. DOI: 10.1063/1.3054642