TY - JOUR
T1 - Size dependence effect in MgO-based CoFeB tunnel junctions with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy
AU - Chenchen, Jacob Wang
AU - Akhtar, Mohamed Akbar Khan Bin
AU - Sbiaa, Rachid
AU - Hao, Meng
AU - Sunny, Lua Yan Hwee
AU - Kai, Wong Seng
AU - Ping, Luo
AU - Carlberg, Patrick
AU - Arthur, Ang Khoon Siah
PY - 2012/1
Y1 - 2012/1
N2 - We examine the effect of junction sizes on the magnetization reversal process and spin-transfer torque switching of the MgO-based CoFeB magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA). From the magnetic field transport measurements, it was found that the miniaturization of MTJs inherently enhances the switching asymmetry and the PMA of the soft layer. Our micromagnetic simulations confirmed that the dipolar field from the hard layer is responsible for the switching asymmetry and the increase in perpendicular shape anisotropy induces improvement of the PMA. It was further revealed that this additional anisotropy gained from the smaller MTJ sizes is not sufficient to sustain the thermal stability to meet the long-term information storage at the state-of-the-art complementary-metal-oxide semiconductor technology node. The pulsed spin-transfer torque measurements showed that a higher current density is needed to switch the magnetization of the soft layer in MTJ with smaller lateral dimensions, which is attributed to the increase in PMA.
AB - We examine the effect of junction sizes on the magnetization reversal process and spin-transfer torque switching of the MgO-based CoFeB magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA). From the magnetic field transport measurements, it was found that the miniaturization of MTJs inherently enhances the switching asymmetry and the PMA of the soft layer. Our micromagnetic simulations confirmed that the dipolar field from the hard layer is responsible for the switching asymmetry and the increase in perpendicular shape anisotropy induces improvement of the PMA. It was further revealed that this additional anisotropy gained from the smaller MTJ sizes is not sufficient to sustain the thermal stability to meet the long-term information storage at the state-of-the-art complementary-metal-oxide semiconductor technology node. The pulsed spin-transfer torque measurements showed that a higher current density is needed to switch the magnetization of the soft layer in MTJ with smaller lateral dimensions, which is attributed to the increase in PMA.
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U2 - 10.1143/JJAP.51.013101
DO - 10.1143/JJAP.51.013101
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84855798474
SN - 0021-4922
VL - 51
JO - Japanese Journal of Applied Physics
JF - Japanese Journal of Applied Physics
IS - 1
M1 - 013101
ER -