  The influence of insertion of an ultra-thin NiO layer between the MgO barrier
and ferromagnetic electrode in magnetic tunnel junctions has been investigated
by measuring the tunneling magnetoresistance and the X-ray magnetic circular
dichroism (XMCD). The magnetoresistance shows a high asymmetry with respect to
bias voltage, giving rise to a negative value of -16% at 2.8 K. We attribute
this to the formation of non-collinear spin structures in the NiO layer as
observed by XMCD. The magnetic moments of the interface Ni atoms tilt from the
easy axis due to exchange interaction and the tilting angle decreases with
increasing the NiO thickness. The experimental observations are further support
by non-collinear spin density functional theory.
