Influence of freelayer in magnetic tunnel junction on switching of submicrometer magnetoresistive random access memory arrays

Yun Ki Lee; Byong Sun Chun; Young Keun Kim; Injun Hwang; Wanjun Park; Taewan Kim; Hongseog Kim; Jangeun Lee; Won Cheol Jeong

doi:10.1109/TMAG.2004.842079

Influence of freelayer in magnetic tunnel junction on switching of submicrometer magnetoresistive random access memory arrays

Yun Ki Lee, Byong Sun Chun, Young Keun Kim, Injun Hwang, Wanjun Park, Taewan Kim, Hongseog Kim, Jangeun Lee, Won Cheol Jeong

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

As magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) cells for magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) are reduced in size, the presence of a magnetization vortex seriously interferes with switching selectivity. We prepared 0.3 μm × 0.8 μm, nearly rectangular shape MTJs consisted of PtMn/CoFe/Ru/CoFe/AlOx/ NiFe t (t = 3, 4.5, and 6 nm). Both at-field and remanent state measurements at 0.4 V were conducted to distinguish kinks originating from vortex and domain wall pinning. In addition, we measured samples at various temperatures (from room temperature to 500 K), and with various hard axis fields (from 0 to 90 Oe). As temperature increased, average switching fields decreased, more rapidly for t = 6 nm junctions, but kinks were not eliminated completely. When the hard axis field reached about 40-60 Oe, nearly kink-free switching was possible for t = 6 nm MTJs.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	883-886
Number of pages	4
Journal	IEEE Transactions on Magnetics
Volume	41
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/TMAG.2004.842079
Publication status	Published - 2005 Feb

Keywords

Hard-axis field
Magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM)
Remanent-state
Switching field
Thermal effect

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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10.1109/TMAG.2004.842079

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title = "Influence of freelayer in magnetic tunnel junction on switching of submicrometer magnetoresistive random access memory arrays",

abstract = "As magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) cells for magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) are reduced in size, the presence of a magnetization vortex seriously interferes with switching selectivity. We prepared 0.3 μm × 0.8 μm, nearly rectangular shape MTJs consisted of PtMn/CoFe/Ru/CoFe/AlOx/ NiFe t (t = 3, 4.5, and 6 nm). Both at-field and remanent state measurements at 0.4 V were conducted to distinguish kinks originating from vortex and domain wall pinning. In addition, we measured samples at various temperatures (from room temperature to 500 K), and with various hard axis fields (from 0 to 90 Oe). As temperature increased, average switching fields decreased, more rapidly for t = 6 nm junctions, but kinks were not eliminated completely. When the hard axis field reached about 40-60 Oe, nearly kink-free switching was possible for t = 6 nm MTJs.",

keywords = "Hard-axis field, Magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), Remanent-state, Switching field, Thermal effect",

author = "Lee, {Yun Ki} and Chun, {Byong Sun} and Kim, {Young Keun} and Injun Hwang and Wanjun Park and Taewan Kim and Hongseog Kim and Jangeun Lee and Jeong, {Won Cheol}",

note = "Funding Information: Manuscript received August 31, 2004. This work was supported by the National Program for Tera-level Nanodevices of the Korean Ministry of Science, Technology as a 21st Century Frontier Programs. The work of Y. K. Kim was supported by the Dupont Young Professor Fellowship. Y. K. Lee, B. S. Chun, and Y. K. Kim are with Division of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-713, Korea (e-mail: ykim97@ korea.ac.kr). I. Hwang, W. Park, and T. Kim are with Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Suwon 440-600, Korea (e-mail: taewan2.kim@samsung.com). H. Kim is with Division of Information Technology, Paichai University, Dae-jeon 302-735, Korea (e-mail: khsau@pcu.ac.kr). J. Lee and W.-C. Jeong are with Samsung Electronics, Co., Ltd., Gyeonggi-Do 449-711, Korea (e-mail: wcjeong@samsung.com). Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TMAG.2004.842079",

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T1 - Influence of freelayer in magnetic tunnel junction on switching of submicrometer magnetoresistive random access memory arrays

AU - Lee, Yun Ki

AU - Chun, Byong Sun

AU - Kim, Young Keun

AU - Hwang, Injun

AU - Park, Wanjun

AU - Kim, Taewan

AU - Kim, Hongseog

AU - Lee, Jangeun

AU - Jeong, Won Cheol

N1 - Funding Information: Manuscript received August 31, 2004. This work was supported by the National Program for Tera-level Nanodevices of the Korean Ministry of Science, Technology as a 21st Century Frontier Programs. The work of Y. K. Kim was supported by the Dupont Young Professor Fellowship. Y. K. Lee, B. S. Chun, and Y. K. Kim are with Division of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-713, Korea (e-mail: ykim97@ korea.ac.kr). I. Hwang, W. Park, and T. Kim are with Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Suwon 440-600, Korea (e-mail: taewan2.kim@samsung.com). H. Kim is with Division of Information Technology, Paichai University, Dae-jeon 302-735, Korea (e-mail: khsau@pcu.ac.kr). J. Lee and W.-C. Jeong are with Samsung Electronics, Co., Ltd., Gyeonggi-Do 449-711, Korea (e-mail: wcjeong@samsung.com). Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TMAG.2004.842079

PY - 2005/2

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N2 - As magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) cells for magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) are reduced in size, the presence of a magnetization vortex seriously interferes with switching selectivity. We prepared 0.3 μm × 0.8 μm, nearly rectangular shape MTJs consisted of PtMn/CoFe/Ru/CoFe/AlOx/ NiFe t (t = 3, 4.5, and 6 nm). Both at-field and remanent state measurements at 0.4 V were conducted to distinguish kinks originating from vortex and domain wall pinning. In addition, we measured samples at various temperatures (from room temperature to 500 K), and with various hard axis fields (from 0 to 90 Oe). As temperature increased, average switching fields decreased, more rapidly for t = 6 nm junctions, but kinks were not eliminated completely. When the hard axis field reached about 40-60 Oe, nearly kink-free switching was possible for t = 6 nm MTJs.

AB - As magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) cells for magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) are reduced in size, the presence of a magnetization vortex seriously interferes with switching selectivity. We prepared 0.3 μm × 0.8 μm, nearly rectangular shape MTJs consisted of PtMn/CoFe/Ru/CoFe/AlOx/ NiFe t (t = 3, 4.5, and 6 nm). Both at-field and remanent state measurements at 0.4 V were conducted to distinguish kinks originating from vortex and domain wall pinning. In addition, we measured samples at various temperatures (from room temperature to 500 K), and with various hard axis fields (from 0 to 90 Oe). As temperature increased, average switching fields decreased, more rapidly for t = 6 nm junctions, but kinks were not eliminated completely. When the hard axis field reached about 40-60 Oe, nearly kink-free switching was possible for t = 6 nm MTJs.

KW - Hard-axis field

KW - Magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM)

KW - Remanent-state

KW - Switching field

KW - Thermal effect

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JO - IEEE Transactions on Magnetics

JF - IEEE Transactions on Magnetics

SN - 0018-9464

IS - 2

ER -

Influence of freelayer in magnetic tunnel junction on switching of submicrometer magnetoresistive random access memory arrays

Abstract

Keywords

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