MENU
  • Scitation Home
SUBMIT YOUR ARTICLE

Thank you

For your interest in the Applied Physics Letters (APL)

Check for updates on crossmark
Prev Next
Published Online: 04 January 2016
Accepted: December 2015

Ultra-low switching energy and scaling in electric-field-controlled nanoscale magnetic tunnel junctions with high resistance-area product

Appl. Phys. Lett. 108, 012403 (2016); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4939446
C. Grezes1, F. Ebrahimi1,2, J. G. Alzate1, X. Cai1, J. A. Katine3, J. Langer4, B. Ocker4, P. Khalili Amiri1,2, and K. L. Wang1
more...View Affiliations
Abstract
We report electric-field-induced switching with write energies down to 6 fJ/bit for switching times of 0.5 ns, in nanoscale perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with high resistance-area product and diameters down to 50 nm. The ultra-low switching energy is made possible by a thick MgO barrier that ensures negligible spin-transfer torque contributions, along with a reduction of the Ohmic dissipation. We find that the switching voltage and time are insensitive to the junction diameter for high-resistance MTJs, a result accounted for by a macrospin model of purely voltage-induced switching. The measured performance enables integration with same-size CMOS transistors in compact memory and logic integrated circuits.
This work was partially supported by the National Science Foundation Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Translational Applications of Nanoscale Multiferroic Systems (TANMS). The work at Inston was supported in part by a Phase II NSF Small Business Innovation Research award. We would also like to acknowledge the collaboration of this research with King Abdul-Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) via The Center of Excellence for Green Nanotechnologies (CEGN). The authors would like to thank the members of the UCLA Device Research Laboratory, TANMS, CEGN, and Inston for fruitful discussions.

References

  1. 1. J. Akerman, Science 308(5721), 508–511 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1110549, Google ScholarCrossref
  2. 2. J.-G. Zhu, Proc. IEEE 96(11), 1786–1798 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1109/JPROC.2008.2004313, Google ScholarCrossref
  3. 3. J. C. Slonczewski, J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 159, L1 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-8853(96)00062-5, Google ScholarCrossref
  4. 4. L. Berger, Phys. Rev. B 54, 9353 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.54.9353, Google ScholarCrossref
  5. 5. H. Liu, D. Bedau, D. Backes, J. A. Katine, J. Langer, and A. D. Kent, Appl. Phys. Lett. 97, 242510 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3527962, Google ScholarScitation, ISI
  6. 6. P. Khalili Amiri, Z. M. Zeng, P. Upadhyaya, G. Rowlands, H. Zhao, I. N. Krivorotov, J. P. Wang, H. W. Jiang, J. A. Katine, J. Langer, K. Galatsis, and K. L. Wang, IEEE Electron Device Lett. 32(1), 57–59 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1109/LED.2010.2082487, Google ScholarCrossref
  7. 7. F. B. Ren and D. Markovic, IEEE Trans. Electron Devices 57, 1023–1028 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1109/TED.2010.2043389, Google ScholarCrossref
  8. 8. S. Matsunaga, J. Hayakawa, S. Ikeda, K. Miura, H. Hasegawa, T. Endoh, H. Ohno, and T. Hanyu, Appl. Phys. Express 1, 091301 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1143/APEX.1.091301, Google ScholarCrossref
  9. 9. W. G. Wang, M. Li, S. Hageman, and C. L. Chien, Nat. Mater. 11(1), 64 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3171, Google ScholarCrossref
  10. 10. Y. Shiota, T. Nozaki, F. Bonell, S. Murakami, T. Shinjo, and Y. Suzuki, Nat. Mater. 11(1), 39 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3172, Google ScholarCrossref
  11. 11. J. G. Alzate, P. Khalili Amiri, P. Upadhyaya, S. S. Cherepov, J. Zhu, M. Lewis, R. Dorrance, J. A. Katine, J. Langer, K. Galatsis, D. Markovic, I. Krivorotov, and K. L. Wang, in IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (2012). Google Scholar
  12. 12. S. Kanai, M. Yamanouchi, S. Ikeda, Y. Nakatani, F. Matsukura, and H. Ohno, Appl. Phys. Lett. 101(12), 122403 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4753816, Google ScholarScitation, ISI
  13. 13. P. Khalili Amiri and K. L. Wang, Spin 2(3), 1240002 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1142/S2010324712400024, Google ScholarCrossref
  14. 14. K. L. Wang, J. G. Alzate, and P. Khalili Amiri, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 46(7), 074003 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/46/7/074003, Google ScholarCrossref
  15. 15. P. Khalili and K. L. Wang, IEEE Spectrum 52(7), 30 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1109/MSPEC.2015.7131692, Google ScholarCrossref
  16. 16. M. Weisheit, S. Fahler, A. Marty, Y. Souche, C. Poinsignon, and D. Givord, Science 315, 349 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1136629, Google ScholarCrossref
  17. 17. T. Maruyama, Y. Shiota, T. Nozaki, K. Ohta, N. Toda, M. Mizuguchi, A. A. Tulapurkar, T. Shinjo, M. Shiraishi, S. Mizukami, Y. Ando, and T. Suzuki, Nat. Nanotechnol. 4, 158 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2008.406, Google ScholarCrossref
  18. 18. M. Endo, S. Kanai, S. Ikeda, F. Matsukura, and H. Ohno, Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 212503 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3429592, Google ScholarScitation, ISI
  19. 19. D. Chiba, S. Fukami, K. Shimamura, N. Ishiwata, K. Kobayashi, and T. Ono, Nat. Mater. 10, 853 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3130, Google ScholarCrossref
  20. 20. T. Seki, M. Kohda, J. Nitta, and K. Takanashi, Appl. Phys. Lett. 98, 212505 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3595318, Google ScholarScitation, ISI
  21. 21. Y. Shiota, S. Miwa, T. Nozaki, F. Bonell, N. Mizuochi, T. Shinjo, H. Kubota, S. Yuasa, and Y. Suzuki, Appl. Phys. Lett. 101, 102406 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4751035, Google ScholarScitation, ISI
  22. 22. S. Kanai, Y. Nakatani, M. Yamanouchi, S. Ikeda, F. Matsukura, and H. Ohno, Appl. Phys. Lett. 103, 072408 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4818676, Google ScholarScitation
  23. 23. W. G. Wang and C. L. Chien, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 46, 074004 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/46/7/074004, Google ScholarCrossref
  24. 24. P. Khalili Amiri, J. Alzate, X. Cai, F. Ebrahimi, Q. Hu, K. Wong, C. Grezes, H. Lee, G. Yu, X. Li, M. Akyol, Q. Shao, J. Katine, J. Langer, B. Ocker, and K. L. Wang, IEEE Trans. Magn. 51(11), 3401507 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1109/TMAG.2015.2443124, Google ScholarCrossref
  25. 25. T. Nozaki, Y. Shiota, S. Miwa, S. Murakami, F. Bonell, S. Ishibashi, H. Kubota, K. Yakushiji, T. Saruya, A. Fukushima, S. Yuasa, T. Shinjo, and Y. Suzuki, Nat. Phys. 8, 491–496 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys2298, Google ScholarCrossref
  26. 26. J. Zhu, J. A. Katine, G. E. Rowlands, Y. Chen, Z. Duan, J. G. Alzate, P. Upadhyaya, J. Langer, P. Khalili Amiri, K. L. Wang, and I. N. Krivorotov, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 197203 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.197203, Google ScholarCrossref
  27. 27. J. Z. Sun, R. P. Robertazzi, J. Nowak, P. L. Trouilloud, G. Hu, D. W. Abraham, M. C. Gaidis, S. L. Brown, E. J. O'Sullivan, W. J. Gallagher, and D. C. Worledge, Phys. Rev. B 84, 064413 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.84.064413, Google ScholarCrossref
  28. 28. H. Sato, M. Yamanouchi, K. Miura, S. Ikeda, H. D. Gan, K. Mizunuma, R. Koizumi, F. Matsukura, and H. Ohno, Appl. Phys. Lett. 99, 042501 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3617429, Google ScholarScitation, ISI
  29. 29. H. Sato, E. C. I. Enobio, M. Yamanouchi, S. Ikeda, S. Fukami, S. Kanai, F. Matsukura, and H. Ohno, Appl. Phys. Lett. 105, 062403 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4892924, Google ScholarScitation, ISI
  30. 30. P. Khalili Amiri, P. Upadhyaya, J. G. Alzate, and K. L. Wang, J. Appl. Phys. 113, 013912 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4773342, Google ScholarScitation
  31. © 2016 AIP Publishing LLC.

Article Metrics

Views
3071
Citations
Crossref 83
Web of Science
ISI 86

Altmetric

Please Note: The number of views represents the full text views from December 2016 to date. Article views prior to December 2016 are not included.