Perpendicular magnetic tunnel junction and its application in magnetic random access memory

Recent progresses in magnetic tunnel junctions with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy(PMA) are reviewed and summarized. At first, the concept and source of perpendicular magnetic anisotropy(PMA) are introduced. Next, a historical overview of PMA materials as magnetic electrodes, such as the RE–TM alloys TbFeCo and GdFeCo, novel tetragonal manganese alloys Mn–Ga, L10-ordered(Co, Fe)/Pt alloy, multilayer film [Co, Fe, CoFe/Pt, Pd, Ni, Au]N, and ultra-thin magnetic metal/oxidized barrier is offered. The other part of the article focuses on the optimization and fabrication of CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB p-MTJs, which is thought to have high potential to meet the main demands for non-volatile magnetic random access memory.     

Spin transfer torques

This tutorial article introduces the physics of spin transfer torques in magnetic devices. Our intention is that it be accessible to beginning graduate students. We provide an elementary discussion of the mechanism of spin transfer torque and review the theoretical and experimental progress in this field. This article is meant to set the stage for the articles which follow in this volume of the Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, which focus in more depth on particularly interesting aspects of spin-torque physics and highlight unanswered questions that might be productive topics for future research.     

NM/FI/NI/FI/NM新型双自旋过滤隧道结的隧穿电导和隧穿磁电阻

在NM/FI/FI/NM型双自旋过滤隧道结(此处NM为非磁金属层，FI为铁磁绝缘体或半导体层)的基础上，我们提出一种NM/FI/NI/FI/NM新型双自旋过滤隧道结(此处NI表示非磁绝缘体或半导体层). 插入NI层的目的是为了避免原双自旋过滤隧道结中相邻FI层界面处磁的耦合作用所导致的对隧穿磁电阻的不利影响. 在自由电子近似的基础上，利用转移矩阵方法，对NM/FI/NI/FI/NM新型双自旋过滤隧道结的隧穿电导、隧穿磁电阻与FI层及NI层厚度的变化关系以及随偏压的变化关系进行了理论研究.计算结果表明，在NM/FI/NI/FI/NM新型双自旋过滤隧道结中仍可以得到很大的TMR值. 关键词： 双自旋过滤隧道结 隧穿磁电阻 非磁绝缘(半导)体间隔层     

Magnetoresistance and spin-transfer torque in magnetic tunnel junctions

We comment on both recent progress and lingering puzzles related to research on magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs). MTJs are already being used in applications such as magnetic-field sensors in the read heads of disk drives, and they may also be the first device geometry in which spin-torque effects are applied to manipulate magnetic dynamics, in order to make non-volatile magnetic random access memory. However, there remain many unanswered questions about such basic properties as the magnetoresistance of MTJs, how their properties change as a function of tunnel-barrier thickness and applied bias, and what are the magnitude and direction of the spin-transfer-torque vector induced by a tunnel current.     

Interaction region of magnon-mediated spin torques and novel magnetic states

We determine the region in which the magnon-mediated spin torques exist. This region can be controlled by the spin waves. In terms of stability analysis of magnetization dynamics based on the spin-wave background, we obtain the instability conditions of spin waves. With these results, we find the relationship between unstable regions and the formation of Akhmediev breather, Kuznetsov–Ma breather and rogue waves. We establish the phase diagram of some novel magnetic excitaions.     

双势垒磁性隧道结的磁电阻效应及其在自旋晶体管中的应用

利用磁控溅射方法沉积双势垒磁性隧道结多层膜, 其中Al-O势垒层由等离子体氧化1 nm厚的 金属铝膜方式制备，然后采用深紫外光曝光和Ar离子刻蚀技术、微加工制备出长短轴分别为 6和3 μm大小的椭圆形双势垒磁性隧道结（DBMTJ），并在室温和低温下对其自旋电子输运 特性进行了研究. DBMTJ的隧穿磁电阻(TMR)比值在室温和42 K分别达到27％和423％， 结电阻分别为136 kΩ·μm²和175 kΩ·μm²，并在实验中观 察到平行状 态下存在低电阻态及共振隧穿效应，反平行态下呈现高电阻态以及TMR随外加偏压或直流电 流的增加而发生振荡现象. 由此，设计了一种基于这种双势垒磁性隧道结隧穿特性的自旋晶 体管. 关键词： 双势垒磁性隧道结 隧穿磁电阻 共振隧穿效应 自旋晶体管     

超导隧道结中的电流相位关系

计算了等自旋配对超导隧道结中的直流Josephson电流.结果表明,当两侧超导体中配对势的轨道对称性分别属于磁点群D₄的A不可约表示和 ²E不可约表示的情况下,电流相位关系是I∝sin4φ. 关键词： 超导隧道结 Josephson电流     

Spin-orbit torques induced by spin Hall and spin swapping currents of a separate ferromagnet in a magnetic trilayer

Spin-orbit torques (SOTs) have been investigated most widely in normal metal/ferromagnet bilayers where the spin Hall effect of normal metal is a main source of spin currents. Recently, ferromagnets are found to also serve as spin-current sources through spin-orbit coupling. In this work, we theoretically investigate SOT acting on ferromagnet₂ in ferromagnet₁/normal metal/ferromagnet₂ trilayers, which is caused by the spin Hall and spin swapping effects of ferromagnet₁. Our result provides an analytical expression of SOT in the trilayers, which may be useful for quantifying the spin Hall and spin swapping effects of ferromagnets and also for designing and interpreting SOT experiments where a ferromagnet is used as a spin-current source instead of a normal metal.     

Magnetic proximity effect induced spin splitting in two-dimensional antimonene/Fe3GeTe2 van der Waals heterostructures

Recently, two-dimensional van der Waals (vdW) magnetic heterostructures have attracted intensive attention since they can show remarkable properties due to the magnetic proximity effect. In this work, the spin-polarized electronic structures of antimonene/Fe₃GeTe₂ vdW heterostructures were investigated through the first-principles calculations. Owing to the magnetic proximity effect, the spin splitting appears at the conduction-band minimum (CBM) and the valence-band maximum (VBM) of the antimonene. A low-energy effective Hamiltonian was proposed to depict the spin splitting. It was found that the spin splitting can be modulated by means of applying an external electric field, changing interlayer distance or changing stacking configuration. The spin splitting energy at the CBM monotonously increases as the external electric field changes from -5 V/nm to 5 V/nm, while the spin splitting energy at the VBM almost remains the same. Meanwhile, as the interlayer distance increases, the spin splitting energies at the CBM and VBM both decrease. The different stacking configurations can also induce different spin splitting energies at the CBM and VBM. Our work demonstrates that the spin splitting of antimonene in this heterostructure is not singly dependent on the nearest Sb—Fe distance, which indicates that magnetic proximity effect in heterostructures may be modulated by multiple factors, such as hybridization of electronic states and the local electronic environment. The results enrich the fundamental understanding of the magnetic proximity effect in two-dimensional vdW heterostructures.     

Electrical control of valley and spin polarized current and tunneling magnetoresistance in a silicene-based magnetic tunnel junction

We investigate the electronic transport in a silicene-based ferromagnetic metal/ferromagnetic insulator/ferromagnetic metal tunnel junction. The results show that the valley and spin transports are strongly dependent on local application of a vertical electric field and effective magnetization configurations of the ferromagnetic layers. In particular, it is found that the fully valley and spin polarized currents can be realized by tuning the external electric field. Furthermore, we also demonstrate that the tunneling magnetoresistance ratio in such a full magnetic junction of silicene is very sensitive to the electric field modulation.     

Magnetoresistance in silicon based ferrite magnetic tunnel junction

We report magnetoresistance for silicon based magnetic tunnel junction. We used cobalt ferrite & cobalt nickel ferrite as free layer and pinned layer. The magnetoresistance measured at room temperature through silicon by fabricating FM/Si/FM magnetic tunnel junction. Magnetoresistance shows a loop type behavior with 3.7%. We have successfully demonstrated spin tunneling through silicon with ferrite junction that opens the door for potential candidate for spintronics devices. The spin-filtering effect for this double spin-filter junction is also discussed.     

Macroscopic spin and charge transport theory

According to the general principle of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, we propose a set of macroscopic transport equations for the spin transport and the charge transport. In particular, the spin torque is introduced as a generalized `current density' to describe the phenomena associated with the spin non-conservation in a unified framework. The Einstein relations and the Onsager relations between different transport phenomena are established. Specifically, the spin transport properties of the isotropic non-magnetic and the isotropic magnetic two-dimensional electron gases are fully described by using this theory, in which only the macroscopic-spin-related transport phenomena allowed by the symmetry of the system are taken into account.     

Parameter dependence of resonant spin torque magnetization reversal

We numerically study ultra fast resonant spin torque (ST) magnetization reversal in magnetic tunneling junctions (MTJ) driven by current pulses having a direct current (DC) and a resonant alternating current (AC) component. The precessional ST dynamics of the single domain MTJ free layer cell are modeled in the macro spin approximation. The energy efficiency, reversal time, and reversal reliability are investigated under variation of pulse parameters like direct and AC current amplitude, AC frequency and AC phase. We find a range of AC and direct current amplitudes where robust resonant ST reversal is obtained with faster switching time and reduced energy consumption per pulse compared to purely direct current ST reversal. However, for a certain range of AC and direct current amplitudes a strong dependence of the reversal properties on AC frequency and phase is found. Such regions of unreliable reversal must be avoided for ST memory applications.     

Self-consistent treatment of spin and magnetization dynamic effect in spin transfer switching

The effect of itinerant spin moment (m) dynamic in spin transfer switching has been ignored in most previous theoretical studies of the magnetization (M) dynamics. Thus in this paper, we proposed a more refined micromagnetic model of spin transfer switching that takes into account in a self-consistent manner of the coupled m and M dynamics. The numerical results obtained from this model further shed insight on the switching profiles of m and M, both of which show particular sensitivity to parameters such as the anisotropy field, the spin torque field, and the initial deviation between m and M.     

基于钴和坡莫合金纳磁体的全自旋逻辑器件开关特性研究

基于纳磁体动力学和自旋传输机理, 建立了全自旋逻辑(ASL)器件的自旋传输-磁动力学模型. 基于该模型分别研究了钴纳磁体构成的全自旋逻辑(CoASL)器件和坡莫合金纳磁体构成的全自旋逻辑(PyASL)器件在不同沟道长度和电源电压下的开关特性. 结果显示PyASL器件在开关延迟时间和功耗上要小于CoASL器件, 且能可靠工作的最大沟道长度要大于CoASL器件. 另外, 两种ASL器件的开关延迟时间可通过减小沟道长度或增加电源电压来减小; 而功耗可通过减小沟道长度或电源电压来减小. 同时, 减小沟道长度能有效抑制热噪声对开关延迟时间和功耗的影响, 但增大电源电压只能抑制热噪声对开关延迟时间的影响. 上述研究结果将为优化ASL器件磁性材料和器件结构提供重要的参数选择依据.     

Spin transfer torque in the semiconductor/ferromagnetic structure in the presence of Rashba effect

Spin transfer torque in magnetic structure occurs when the transverse component of the spin current that flows from the nonmagnetic medium to ferromagnetic medium is absorbed by the interface. In this paper, considering the Rashba effect on the semiconductor region, we discuss the spin transfer torque in semiconductor/ferromagnetic structure and obtain the components of spin-current density for two models:(i) single electron and(ii) the distribution of electrons. We show that no matter whether the difference in Fermi surface between semiconductor and Fermi spheres for the up and down spins in ferromagnetic increases, the transmission probability decreases. The obtained results for the values used in this article illustrate that Rashba effect increases the difference in Fermi sphere between semiconductor and Fermi sphere for the up and down spins in ferromagnetic. The results also show that the Rashba effect, brings an additional contribution to the components of spin transfer torque, which does not exist in the absence of the Rashba interaction. Moreover, the Rashba term has also different effects on the transverse components of the spin torque transfer.     

MoS2/Si tunnel diodes based on comprehensive transfer technique

Due to the pristine interface of the 2D/3D face-tunneling heterostructure with an ultra-sharp doping profile, the 2D/3D tunneling field-effect transistor (TFET) is considered as one of the most promising low-power devices that can simultaneously obtain low off-state current (I_OFF), high on-state current (I_ON) and steep subthreshold swing (SS). As a key element for the 2D/3D TFET, the intensive exploration of the tunnel diode based on the 2D/3D heterostructure is in urgent need. The transfer technique composed of the exfoliation and the release process is currently the most common approach to fabricating the 2D/3D heterostructures. However, the well-established transfer technique of the 2D materials is still unavailable. Only a small part of the irregular films can usually be obtained by mechanical exfoliation, while the choice of the chemical exfoliation may lead to the contamination of the 2D material films by the ions in the chemical etchants. Moreover, the deformation of the 2D material in the transfer process due to its soft nature also leads to the nonuniformity of the transferred film, which is one of the main reasons for the presence of the wrinkles and the stacks in the transferred film. Thus, the large-scale fabrication of the high-quality 2D/3D tunnel diodes is limited. In this article, a comprehensive transfer technique that can mend up the shortages mentioned above with the aid of the water and the thermal release tape (TRT) is proposed. Based on the method we proposed, the MoS₂/Si tunnel diode is experimentally demonstrated and the transferred monolayer MoS₂ film with the relatively high crystal quality is confirmed by atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Raman characterizations. Besides, the prominent negative differential resistance (NDR) effect is observed at room temperature, which verifies the relatively high quality of the MoS₂/Si heterojunction. The bilayer MoS₂/Si tunnel diode is also experimentally fabricated by repeating the transfer process we proposed, followed by the specific analysis of the electrical characteristics. This study shows the advantages of the transfer technique we proposed and indicates the great application foreground of the fabricated 2D/3D heterostructure for ultralow-power tunneling devices.     

Crystallization characteristics of a middle CoFeB layer in a double MgO barrier magnetic tunnel junction

The crystallization characteristics of a middle CoFeB free layer in a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) with double MgO barriers were investigated by tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) measurements of patterned cells across an 8-inch wafer. The MTJ structure was designed to have two CoFeB free layers and one bottom pinned layer, separated by MgO tunnel barriers. The observed resistance showed three types of TMR curves depending on the crystallization of the middle CoFeB layer. From the analysis of TMR curves, coherent crystallization of the middle CoFeB layer with the top and bottom MgO barriers was found to occur non-uniformly: About 80% of the MTJ cells in the wafer exhibited coherent crystallization of the middle CoFeB layers with the bottom MgO tunnel barrier, while others had coherent crystallization with the top MgO tunnel barrier or both barriers. This non-uniform crystallization of the middle CoFeB layer in a double MTJ was also clearly observed in tunneling electron microscopy images. Thus, control of the crystallization of the middle CoFeB layer is important for optimizing the MTJ with double MgO barriers, and especially for the fabrication of double barrier MTJ on a large area substrate.     

Spin-dependent thermoelectric effect and spin battery mechanism in triple quantum dots with Rashba spin-orbital interaction

We have studied spin-dependent thermoelectric transport through parallel triple quantum dots with Rashba spinorbital interaction(RSOI) embedded in an Aharonov-Bohm interferometer connected symmetrically to leads using nonequilibrium Green's function method in the linear response regime.Under the appropriate configuration of magnetic flux phase and RSOI phase,the spin figure of merit can be enhanced and is even larger than the charge figure of merit.In particular,the charge and spin thermopowers as functions of both the magnetic flux phase and the RSOI phase present quadruple-peak structures in the contour graphs.For some specific configuration of the two phases,the device can provide a mechanism that converts heat into a spin voltage when the charge thermopower vanishes while the spin thermopower is not zero,which is useful in realizing the thermal spin battery and inducing a pure spin current in the device.     

Hard layer demagnetization by soft layer cycling in a MgO-based perpendicular magnetic tunnel junction

We report here that in perpendicular tunnel junction the hard layer demagnetizes when the soft layer is cycled. This happens faster when the cycling field is closer to the reversal field of the hard layer. Magnetic force microscopy imaging done at different stages of the cycle after several loops show compact demagnetized areas surrounded by large saturated zones in the hard layer. A mechanism based on interlayer magnetostatic coupling induced by the stray field created by domain wall in the soft layer is presented.