Voltage-controlled interlayer coupling in perpendicularly magnetized magnetic tunnel junctions

Newhouse-Illige, Ty; Liu, Yaohua; Xu, Meng; Hickey, Danielle Reifsnyder; Kundu, Anirban; Almasi, Hamid; Bi, Chong; Wang, X.; Freeland, J. W.; Keavney, D. J.; Sun, Congli; Xu, Yong; Rosales, M.; Cheng, Xuemei; Zhang, Shufeng; Mkhoyan, K. Andre; Wang, W. G.

doi:10.1038/ncomms15232

Cited by 53 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…For example, it was theoretically proposed in Ref. 21 that the interlayer exchange coupling can be switched from ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic either by an electric field – as demonstrated experimentally very recently 22 - or by making use of a ferroelectric layer.…”

Section: Statics and Dynamicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synthetic antiferromagnetic spintronics

et al. 2018

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Spintronic and nanomagnetic devices often derive their functionality from layers of different materials and the interfaces between them. This is especially true for synthetic antiferromagnets — two or more ferromagnetic layers that are separated by metallic spacers or tunnel barriers and which have antiparallel magnetizations. Here, we discuss the new opportunities that arise from synthetic antiferromagnets, as compared to crystal antiferromagnets or ferromagnets.

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Section: Statics and Dynamicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synthetic antiferromagnetic spintronics

et al. 2018

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“…The VCMA effect can also be applied for the control of domain wall motion [85,86,87] and magnetic skyrmions [88,89,90]. In addition, voltage control of the magnetic properties has been expanded not only for the PMA, but also for the Curie temperature [22], Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions [91], interlayer exchange coupling [92], and proximity-induced magnetism in non-magnetic metal thin films [93,94,95].…”

Section: Overview Of the Vcma Effect And Voltage-induced Dynamic Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent Progress in the Voltage-Controlled Magnetic Anisotropy Effect and the Challenges Faced in Developing Voltage-Torque MRAM

et al. 2019

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The electron spin degree of freedom can provide the functionality of “nonvolatility” in electronic devices. For example, magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) is expected as an ideal nonvolatile working memory, with high speed response, high write endurance, and good compatibility with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technologies. However, a challenging technical issue is to reduce the operating power. With the present technology, an electrical current is required to control the direction and dynamics of the spin. This consumes high energy when compared with electric-field controlled devices, such as those that are used in the semiconductor industry. A novel approach to overcome this problem is to use the voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy (VCMA) effect, which draws attention to the development of a new type of MRAM that is controlled by voltage (voltage-torque MRAM). This paper reviews recent progress in experimental demonstrations of the VCMA effect. First, we present an overview of the early experimental observations of the VCMA effect in all-solid state devices, and follow this with an introduction of the concept of the voltage-induced dynamic switching technique. Subsequently, we describe recent progress in understanding of physical origin of the VCMA effect. Finally, new materials research to realize a highly-efficient VCMA effect and the verification of reliable voltage-induced dynamic switching with a low write error rate are introduced, followed by a discussion of the technical challenges that will be encountered in the future development of voltage-torque MRAM.

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“…This unprecedented behavior of the interlayer coupling in GdOX-pMTJs may be due to the large proximity effect 60 induced magnetic moment of the Gd ions in the barrier. 24 The induced magnetic moment of the Gd is found to be antiferromagnetically coupled to the FM electrodes and exhibits two distinct switchings that correspond to the MTJ switching fields, suggesting that they are magnetically coupled to both electrodes separately 24 . If the coupling in our GdOX-pMTJs is mediated through the proximity magnetism of the GdOX barrier, it could have a much more complex dependence on temperature than that predicted by earlier models.…”

Section: Fig 3 (A) Minor Tmr Loop At Rt Hic = -31 Oe (B) Minor Tmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temperature dependence of interlayer coupling in perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions with GdOX barriers

Newhouse-Illige

Liu

et al. 2018

Applied Physics Letters

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Perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions with GdOX tunneling barriers have shown a unique voltage controllable interlayer magnetic coupling effect. Here we investigate the quality of the GdOX barrier and the coupling mechanism in these junctions by examining the temperature dependence of the tunneling magnetoresistance and the interlayer coupling from room temperature down to 11 K. The barrier is shown to be of good quality with the spin independent conductance only contributing a small portion, 14%, to the total room temperature conductance, similar to AlOX and MgO barriers. The interlayer coupling, however, shows an anomalously strong temperature dependence including sign changes below 80 K. This non-trivial temperature dependence is not described by previous models of interlayer coupling and may be due to the large induced magnetic moment of the Gd ions in the barrier. *wgwang@physics.arizona.edu

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Voltage-controlled interlayer coupling in perpendicularly magnetized magnetic tunnel junctions

Cited by 53 publications

References 49 publications

Synthetic antiferromagnetic spintronics

Synthetic antiferromagnetic spintronics

Recent Progress in the Voltage-Controlled Magnetic Anisotropy Effect and the Challenges Faced in Developing Voltage-Torque MRAM

Temperature dependence of interlayer coupling in perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions with GdOX barriers

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