Patent ID: 8790798

Claim:
A magnetoresistive element comprising: a first ferromagnetic layer comprising a first magnetization direction directed substantially perpendicular to a film surface; a second ferromagnetic layer comprising a boron (B), an etched surface, and a second magnetization direction directed substantially perpendicular to the film surface; and a nonmagnetic tunnel barrier layer disposed between the first ferromagnetic layer and the second ferromagnetic layer adjacent to a side of the second ferromagnetic layer opposite to the etched surface, wherein the second ferromagnetic layer comprises a crystalline structure and a concentration of the boron (B) across its thickness increasing from the side adjacent the tunnel barrier layer towards the etched surface; and wherein the first ferromagnetic layer, the tunnel barrier layer, and the second ferromagnetic layer produce a coherent body-centered cubic (bcc) structure with a (001) plane oriented.