High TMR for both in-plane and perpendicular magnetic field justified by CoFeB free layer thickness for 3-D MTJ sensors
Source abstract
Abstract
We systematically studied the characteristics and influence of free layer thickness in magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) with a perpendicular synthetic antiferromagnetic (p-SAF) reference layer on 8-inch wafer. The results show clearly that there is an optimal thickness of free layer to achieve the highest tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio of as high as 80.5% and 53.7% with perpendicular and in-plane magnetic field, respectively, while the resistance-area product (RA) reaches also highest value of 21.1 Ω*μm2. The thickness range of CoFeB to obtain perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) is determined. The variation of the magnetic moment of free layer indicates that the three-dimensional (3D) sensors can be designed by varying the thickness of the free layer and be controlled by the perpendicular and in-plane components through annealing under the in-plane magnetic field.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Magnetic properties of thin films · Magnetic Field Sensors Techniques · Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Beihang-Goertek Joint Microelectronics Institute, Qingdao Research Institute, Beihang University 1 , Qingdao 266000, China
Fert Beijing Institute, BDBC, School of Microelectronics, Beihang University 2 , Beijing 100191, China
Department of Physics, University of Idaho 3 , Moscow, Idaho 83844-0903, USA
School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Beihang University 4 , Beijing 100191, China
Goertek Inc. 5 , Weifang 261031, China
References (19)
Show source-provided references
1. Materials with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy for magnetic random access memory10.1002/pssr.201105420 ↗
2. A perpendicular-anisotropy CoFeB–MgO magnetic tunnel junction10.1038/nmat2804 ↗
3. Performance analysis of MgO-based perpendicularly magnetized tunnel junctions10.1063/1.4826563 ↗
4. Basic principles of STT-MRAM cell operation in memory arrays10.1088/0022-3727/46/7/074001 ↗
5. Spin torque switching of perpendicular Ta∣CoFeB∣MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions10.1063/1.3536482 ↗
6. Magnetic tunnel junctions with [Co/Pd]-based reference layer and CoFeB sensing layer for magnetic sensor10.1109/tmag.2016.2518188 ↗
7. The dependency of tunnel magnetoresistance ratio on nanoscale thicknesses of Co2Fe6B2 free and pinned layers for Co2Fe6B2/MgO-based perpendicular-magnetic-tunnel-junctions10.1039/c5nr01140j ↗
8. Thick CoFeB with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in CoFeB-MgO based magnetic tunnel junction10.1063/1.4771996 ↗
9. Influence of magnetic electrodes thicknesses on the transport properties of magnetic tunnel junctions with perpendicular anisotropy10.1063/1.4892450 ↗
10. Perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions using Co-based multilayers10.1063/1.3358242 ↗
11. Perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions with a synthetic storage or reference layer: A new route towards Pt- and Pd-free junctions10.1038/srep21246 ↗
12. Magnetic tunnel junction sensor with Co/Pt perpendicular anisotropy ferromagnetic layer10.1063/1.3126064 ↗
13. Low depinning fields in Ta-CoFeB-MgO ultrathin films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy10.1063/1.4826439 ↗
14. Effects of annealing temperature on sensing properties of magnetic-tunnel-junction-based sensors with perpendicular synthetic antiferromagnetic Co/Pt pinned layer10.7567/jjap.57.110308 ↗
15. Effect of Ta thickness on the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in MgO/CoFeB/Ta/[Co/Pd]n structures10.1063/1.4829915 ↗
16. The effects of deposition rate and annealing on CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions10.1109/tmag.2013.2239620 ↗
17. A CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB perpendicular magnetic tunnel junction coupled to an in-plane exchange-biased magnetic layer10.1063/1.4921967 ↗
18. Rotation angle sensors based on spin valve structures: A modeling approach10.1063/1.1467954 ↗
19. Strong interlayer exchange coupling and high post-annealing stability in perpendicularly magnetized [Pt/Co]/Ru/[Co/Pt] structures10.1063/1.4942206 ↗