TY - JOUR
T1 - Enhanced all-optical switching and domain wall velocity in annealed synthetic-ferrimagnetic multilayers
AU - Wang, Luding
AU - van Hees, Youri L.W.
AU - Lavrijsen, Reinoud
AU - Zhao, Weisheng
AU - Koopmans, Bert
PY - 2020/7/13
Y1 - 2020/7/13
N2 - All-optical switching (AOS) of the magnetization in synthetic ferrimagnetic Pt/Co/Gd stacks has received considerable interest due to its high potential toward integration with spintronic devices, such as magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs), to enable ultrafast memory applications. Post-annealing is an essential process in the MTJ fabrication to obtain an optimized tunnel magnetoresistance ratio. However, upon integrating AOS with an MTJ in prospect, the annealing effects on single-pulse AOS and domain wall (DW) dynamics in the Pt/Co/Gd stacks have not been systematically investigated yet. In this study, we experimentally explore the annealing effect on AOS and field-induced DW motion in Pt/Co/Gd stacks. The results show that the threshold fluence (F0) of AOS is reduced significantly as a function of annealing temperature (Ta) ranging from 100 °C to 300 °C. Specifically, a 28% reduction of F0 can be observed upon annealing at 300 °C, which is a critical Ta for MTJ fabrication. Finally, we also demonstrate a significant increase in the DW velocity in the creep regime upon annealing, which is attributed to annealing-induced Co/Gd interface intermixing. Our findings show that the annealed Pt/Co/Gd system facilitates ultrafast and energy-efficient AOS, as well as enhanced DW velocity, which is highly suitable toward opto-spintronic memory applications.
AB - All-optical switching (AOS) of the magnetization in synthetic ferrimagnetic Pt/Co/Gd stacks has received considerable interest due to its high potential toward integration with spintronic devices, such as magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs), to enable ultrafast memory applications. Post-annealing is an essential process in the MTJ fabrication to obtain an optimized tunnel magnetoresistance ratio. However, upon integrating AOS with an MTJ in prospect, the annealing effects on single-pulse AOS and domain wall (DW) dynamics in the Pt/Co/Gd stacks have not been systematically investigated yet. In this study, we experimentally explore the annealing effect on AOS and field-induced DW motion in Pt/Co/Gd stacks. The results show that the threshold fluence (F0) of AOS is reduced significantly as a function of annealing temperature (Ta) ranging from 100 °C to 300 °C. Specifically, a 28% reduction of F0 can be observed upon annealing at 300 °C, which is a critical Ta for MTJ fabrication. Finally, we also demonstrate a significant increase in the DW velocity in the creep regime upon annealing, which is attributed to annealing-induced Co/Gd interface intermixing. Our findings show that the annealed Pt/Co/Gd system facilitates ultrafast and energy-efficient AOS, as well as enhanced DW velocity, which is highly suitable toward opto-spintronic memory applications.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85088147918&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1063/5.0012269
DO - 10.1063/5.0012269
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85088147918
VL - 117
JO - Applied Physics Letters
JF - Applied Physics Letters
SN - 0003-6951
IS - 2
M1 - 022408
ER -