电流感应磁化翻转效应的改进的系综模型

运用宏观双通道扩散模型研究了赝自旋阀结构中的自旋相关输运过程,考虑到磁化强度矢量的横向分量的影响,建立了自由层磁化强度矢量的动力学方程,利用自旋流连续和化学势差连续作为边界条件.理论计算求解了电流感应磁化翻转效应中的临界电流,解释了铁磁层和非磁层电导率匹配问题和纵向场对电流感应磁化翻转效应中临界电流的影响. 关键词： 赝自旋阀 电导率匹配 自旋转移扭矩 电流感应磁化翻转效应     

用外磁场控制电流感应磁化翻转效应中的临界电流方法

应用基于磁动力学方程的宏观唯象模型,研究了弱外磁场下纳米尺度赝自旋阀结构的电流感应磁化翻转效应.在统一考虑铁磁/非磁界面的自旋相关散射以及铁磁层中的自旋积累和弛豫过程后,给出了赝自旋阀结构在弱外磁场下的磁化翻转条件和临界电流.对该效应的数值计算解释了弱外磁场下赝自旋阀结构的电阻-电流回线的偏移,并给出了用外磁场控制电流感应磁化翻转效应中的临界电流方法. 关键词： 电流感应磁化翻转 外磁场 临界电流 赝自旋阀     

Hard axis magnetic field dependence on current-induced magnetization switching in MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions

We conducted a detailed study of hard axis magnetic field (H_hard) dependence on current-induced magnetization switching (CIMS) in MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with various junction sizes and various uniaxial anisotropy fields. The decreases in critical current density (J_c) and the intrinsic critical current density (J_c0) estimated from the pulse duration dependence on J_c in CIMS are observed when applying H_hard for all MTJs. The decrease in energy barrier of CIMS is also observed except for the largest sample. These results indicate that the reduction of J_c is attributable to both the increase of spin-transfer efficiency and the decrease in energy barrier in the case of applying H_hard. The J_c0 decreases with increase in the mutual angle between the direction of magnetization and the easy axis (θ_f), which is consistent with the theoretical prediction proposed by Slonczewski. The degree of the reduction of J_c0 for the same value of H_hard decreases with decreasing size of MTJs. This behavior is considered to be related to not only decrease in θ_f due to the increase in anisotropy field in MTJs, but also to the increase in the variance of the initial angle of magnetization due to the thermally activated magnon excitation. The stable switching endurance related to CIMS was observed in a wide range of MTJ sizes when applying H_hard. Moreover, we proposed a new architecture and a new switching method considering write disturbance. These results would be useful for application to spin memory and other spin-electronic devices.     

Spin torque transfer structure with new spin switching configurations

Spin torque transfer structures with new spin switching configurations are proposed, fabricated and investigated in this paper. The non-uniform current-induced magnetization switching is implemented based on both GMR and MTJ nano devices. The proposed new spin transfer structure has a hybrid free layer that consists of a layer with conductive channels (magnetic) and non-conductive matrix (non-magnetic) and traditional free layer(s). Two mechanisms, a higher local current density by nano-current-channels and a non-uniform magnetization switching (reversal domain nucleation and growth) by a magnetic nanocomposite structure, contribute in reducing the switching current density. The critical switching current density for the new spin transfer structure is reduced to one third of the typical value for the normal structure. It can be expected to have one order of magnitude or more reduction for the critical current density if the optimization of materials and fabrication processes could be done further. Meanwhile, the thermal stability of this new spin transfer structure is not degraded, which may solve the long-standing scaling problem for magnetic random access memory (MRAM). This spin transfer structure, with the proposed and demonstrated new spin switching configurations, not only provides a solid approach for the practical application of spin transfer devices but also forms a unique platform for researchers to explore the non-uniform current-induced switching process.     

Field-and Current-Driven Magnetization Reversal and Dynamic Properties of CoFeB-MgO-Based Perpendicular Magnetic Tunnel Junctions

We report a perpendicular magnetic tunnel junction(p MTJ) cell with a tunnel magnetoresistance(TMR) ratio of nearly 200% at room temperature based on Co Fe B/Ta/Co Fe B as the free layer(FL) and a synthetic antiferromagnetic(SAF) multilayer [Pt/Co]/Ru/[Pt/Co]/Ta/Co Fe B as the reference layer(RL). The field-driven magnetization switching measurements show that the p MTJs exhibit an anomalous TMR hysteresis loop. The spin-polarized layer Co Fe B of SAF-RL has a lower critical switching field than that of FL. The reason is related to the interlayer exchange coupling(IEC) through a moderately thick Ta spacer layer among SAF-RLs, which generates a moderate and negative bias magnetic field on Co Fe B of RL. However, the IEC among RLs has a negligible influence on the current-driven magnetization switching of FL and its magnetization dynamics.     

Instability of storage and temperature increment in nanopillars due to human body model electrostatic discharge

MRAM relevant to current induced magnetization switching (CIMS) is studied due to thermal increment caused by CIMS. In this paper, the instability of storage and the thermal increment caused by the transient current from the HBM ESD in nanopillars of MRAM are studied. We determine the voltage which can cause erroneous switching in MRAM by inducing CIMS. The finite element method is used to calculate the temperature increase caused by the discharge. Results indicate that this voltage is not sufficient to cause permanent physical or magnetic damage to MRAMs but only affects the reliability of the stored information.     

自旋阀中电流诱导磁化翻转行为的研究

通过实验研究了一种特殊的反对称自旋阀结构．研究发现,随着外加磁场的增大,该结构纳米器件表现出了一种由“逆CIMS”向“正常CIMS”的转变．这种现象是因为：该反对称自旋阀在不同的外加磁场下有不同的磁化取向,因而引起不同的CIMS行为． 关键词： CPP ESPV CIMS     

基于磁动力学方程的电流感应磁化翻转效应的宏观模型

提出了一个基于磁动力学方程的宏观唯象理论模型，对纳米级赝自旋阀结构的电流感应磁化翻转效应给出了明晰的物理解释：流入自由层的净自旋流和自由层内的自旋弛豫过程的共同作用，导致自由层总磁矩随时间的改变，甚至产生磁化方向的翻转.模型将“铁磁/非铁磁”界面的自旋相关散射，以及铁磁层中的自旋积累和弛豫过程，统一于宏观的磁动力学方程中.通过求解该方程的解析解，给出了赝自旋阀在电流激励下的磁化翻转条件和临界电流密度的表达式.对该效应的定性解释和数值模拟结果都和实验报道良好符合.根据模型分析了影响临界电流密度的诸因素，并指出提高器件性能的途径. 关键词： 电流感应磁化翻转 磁动力学方程 自旋电子学     

Spin-transfer induced ultrafast precessional switching enhanced by interface anisotropy in a ferromagnetic nanopillar

Spin-transfer induced ultrafast precessional switching of magnetization in a Co/Cu/Co nanopillar device is studied. Micromagnetic calculations show that precessional magnetization switching occurs above a threshold current. The presence of interface uniaxial anisotropy in the Co-thin film free layer influences heavily the current and the energy required to initiate the switching in the device, and the speed of the precessional switching. The threshold current and the precessional switching time are significantly reduced by this effect.     

Temperature dependence of current-induced magnetization switching in spin valves with a ferrimagnetic CoGd free layer

The temperature dependence of current-induced magnetization switching of ferrimagnetic CoGd free layers in spin valves is explored. At temperatures well above and well below the magnetization compensation temperature (T(MC)) of CoGd, a current flowing from the free layer to the CoFe fixed layer aligns the moments of the two layers parallel, and a current flowing in the opposite direction aligns them antiparallel. However, for intermediate temperatures just above T(MC), the current-induced alignment of the moments is reversed. We attribute this effect to the different compensation temperatures of the net magnetization and angular momentum of CoGd.     

Reduction in critical current density of current-induced magnetization switching

We have investigated the current-induced magnetization switching in an exchange-biased spin valve structure. By using an unpatterned antiferromagnetic layer to pin the fixed Co layer, we obtained a lower switching current density by a factor of 5 than a simple spin valve structure. For the application, it is important to know how to keep the spin polarization when the thicker layer is pinned by an antiferromagnet. The unpatterned pinned ferromagnetic lead can be a good solution for spin-transfer-torque-activated device. The effect of Cu buffer layer on the top of the thin Co and Ru buffer layer under the thick Co layer on the current-induced magnetization switching in cobalt-based trilayer spin valves was also investigated. The experimental results showed that the Ru buffer layer in combination with Cu buffer layer could induce a decrease in the critical switching current by 30%, and an increase in the absolute resistance change by 35%, which is caused by an improvement of a microstructure of a thicker Co polarizer.     

Thermally assisted writing for perpendicular MRAM

Spin valves composed of TbCo/CoFe/Cu/CoFe/TbFeCo were fabricated with perpendicular magnetization and GMR ratios of 4.5%. The (TbCo/CoFe) layers and (CoFe/TbFeCo) layers are referred to the free and the pinned layers, respectively. The compositions of two layers were chosen to have a lower Curie temperature (130 °C) but higher coercivity (13.2 kOe) of the free layer at room temperature than those of the pinned layer; therefore, the free layer is quite stable at room temperature but its magnetization can be easily switched at a relatively low temperature. Spin valves were patterned into 100-μm-wide cells and their coercivity was reduced with increasing writing current due to the temperature rise by current-heating. When the current density of the writing current was increased to 2.1×10⁶ A/cm², the required switching field for the free layer was only 10 Oe.     

Interface magnetization reversal and anisotropy in Fe/AlGaAs(001)

The reversal process of the Fe interface layer magnetization in Fe/AlGaAs heterostructures is measured directly using magnetization-induced second-harmonic generation, and is compared with the reversal of the bulk magnetization as obtained from magneto-optic Kerr effect. The switching characteristics are distinctly different due to interface-derived anisotropy--single step switching occurs at the interface layer, while two-jump switching occurs in the bulk Fe for the magnetic field orientations employed. The angle between the interface and bulk magnetization may be as large as 40-85 degrees. Such interface switching will dominate the behavior of nanoscale structures.     

Voltage-Driven Adaptive Spintronic Neuron for Energy-Efficient Neuromorphic Computing

A spintronics neuron device based on voltage-induced strain is proposed.The stochastic switching behavior,which can mimic the firing behavior of neurons,is obtained by using two voltage signals to control the in-plane magnetization of a free layer of magneto-tunneling junction.One voltage signal is used as the input,and the other voltage signal can be used to tune the activation function(Sigmoid-like) of spin neurons.Therefore,this voltage-driven tunable spin neuron does not necessarily use energy-inefficient Oersted fields and spin-polarized current.Moreover,a voltage-control reading operation is presented,which can achieve the transition of activation function from Sigmoid-like to Re LU-like.A three-layer artificial neural network based on the voltage-driven spin neurons is constructed to recognize the handwritten digits from the MNIST dataset.For the MNIST handwritten dataset,the design achieves 97.75% recognition accuracy.The present results indicate that the voltage-driven adaptive spintronic neuron has the potential to realize energy-efficient well-adapted neuromorphic computing.     

Magnetization reversal dependence on magnetic properties of a spin torque oscillator with in-plane anisotropy free layer and orthogonal polarizer

The effect of magnetic properties on magnetization dynamics is studied for a spin torque oscillator (STO) composed of a free layer with an in-plane magnetic anisotropy and a reference layer with a fixed out-of plane magnetization. A transition from damped to uniform oscillations is observed for a critical value of saturation magnetization M_S). In the uniform oscillations regime, the frequency is inversely proportional to M_S. Similarly, the critical current for achieving uniform oscillations is investigated as a function of free layer intrinsic properties. In a second part of the study, the magnetostatic field (H_m) from the reference layer is considered and it is revealed that the out-of plane component of magnetization has a strong dependence on H_m. For a particular configuration, H_m could reduce the out-of plane component maximizing thus the out-put signal of the STO.     

Dependence of switching process on the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy constant in P-MTJ

We investigate the dependence of the switching process on the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy(PMA) constant in perpendicular spin transfer torque magnetic tunnel junctions(P-MTJs) using micromagnetic simulations. It is found that the final stable states of the magnetization distribution of the free layer after switching can be divided into three different states based on different PMA constants: vortex, uniform, and steady. Different magnetic states can be attributed to a trade-off among demagnetization, exchange, and PMA energies. The generation of the vortex state is also related to the non-uniform stray field from the polarizer, and the final stable magnetization is sensitive to the PMA constant. The vortex and uniform states have different switching processes, and the switching time of the vortex state is longer than that of the uniform state due to hindrance by the vortex.     

Influence of thickness on current-induced magnetization switching in L1_0-FePt single layer

The thickness dependent spin–orbit torque(SOT) in an L1_0-Fe Pt single layer is investigated in this work. As the thickness increases from 8 nm to 16 nm, the magnetization switching ratio in the L1_0-Fe Pt film with higher chemical ordering becomes smaller. It is noted that compared with 3-nm-thick L1_0-Fe Pt film, 8-nm-thick L1_0-Fe Pt film can switch much magnetization with the increase of chemical ordering. When the Fe Pt film is thick enough, the SOT in Fe Pt is closely related to the L1_0-ordered structure, which indicates a bulk nature. Therefore, the disordering plays an important role in the magnetization switching only for the ultra-thin Fe Pt films, while the structural gradient may play an important role for thicker films. However, both of the two mechanisms cannot fully explain the process of magnetization switching and the spin current generation. Although many factors influence SOT, here in this work we emphasize only the bulk nature of strong SOC in L1_0-Fe Pt through density functional theory calculations, which should generate large spin current due to spin Hall effect.     

Quasiballistic magnetization reversal

We demonstrate a quasiballistic switching of the magnetization in a microscopic magnetoresistive memory cell. By means of time resolved magnetotransport, we follow the large angle precession of the free layer magnetization of a spin valve cell upon application of transverse magnetic field pulses. Stopping the field pulse after a 180 degrees precession rotation leads to magnetization reversal with reversal times as short as 165 ps. This switching mode represents the fundamental ultrafast limit of field induced magnetization reversal.     

自旋转移矩效应激发的非线性磁化动力学

本文基于宏观磁矩(macrospin)的Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert方程,模拟研究了磁性自旋阀结构中由垂直膜面流向的自旋极化电流所激发的磁化转动动力学特性.直流自旋极化电流借助自旋转移矩效应可驱动磁矩翻转或作周期性振荡,交流电可以激发出具有混沌行为的磁矩振荡.展示了磁矩振荡行为随电流强度变化而发生倍周期分岔、直至混沌振荡的行为规律. 关键词： 自旋转移矩效应 微磁模拟 磁性自旋阀 混沌     

Control of spins in a nano-sized magnet using electric-current

With the development of spintronics,spin-transfer torque control of magnetic properties receives considerable attention.In this paper the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation including the torque term is used to investigate the magnetic moment dynamics in the free layer of the ferromagnet/non-magnetic/ferromagnet(FM1/N/FM2) structures.It is found that the reverse critical time τ_c decreases with the current increasing.The critical time τ_c as a function of current for the perpendicular and parallel easy magnetic axes are the same.The critical time τ_c increases with the damping factor α increasing.In the case of large current the influence of the damping factor α is smaller,but in the case of little torque the critical time τ_c increases greatly with the damping increasing.The direction of the magnetization in the fixed layer influences the critical time,when the angle between the magnetization and the z direction changes from 0.1π to 0.4π,the critical time τ_c decreases from 26.7 to 15.6.