We measured differential conductance spectra of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with thin MgO barrier and low-resistance area product. The spectra of MTJs with MgO barrier thicker than 1.05 nm were essentially the same except for slight decrease of contributions from low-energy excitations, such as magnons. The spectra of MTJ with 1.01 nm MgO barrier were thoroughly different from the MTJs with thicker barrier. The result reveals that an MTJ with very thin MgO barrier thickness has different conduction characteristics from those with thicker MgO barriers. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.