A magnetic
tunnel junction (MTJ) device
usable as a
magnetic memory cell or
magnetoresistive sensor, such as a MTJ read head for magnetic recording, has the free ferromagnetic layer located on the bottom of the device, the bottom free layer being formed on a special underlayer. The MTJ read head may be a flux-guided head that uses the free layer as a flux guide for directing
magnetic flux from the
magnetic media to the sensing region of the MTJ. The special underlayer for the growth of the free layer is an
alloy comprising Mn, one of Pt, Ni, Ir and Os, and an additive X selected from Ta, Al, Ti, Cu, Cr and V. Without the additive, the underlayer
alloy is antiferromagnetic. The additive is present in an amount sufficient to render the
alloy to have no magnetic ordering, i.e., it is neither antiferromagnetic nor ferromagnetic, but without substantially affecting the preferred crystalline texture and unit
cell size so that the underlayer is well-suited as a growth-enhancing underlayer for the free layer.