TY - JOUR
T1 - Switching field variation in MgO magnetic tunnel junction nanopillars
T2 - Experimental results and micromagnetic simulations
AU - Silva, Ana V.
AU - Leitao, Diana C.
AU - Hou, Zhiwei
AU - Macedo, Rita J.
AU - Ferreira, Ricardo
AU - Paz, Elvira
AU - Deepak, Francis Leonard
AU - Cardoso, Susana
AU - Freitas, Paulo P.
PY - 2013/7
Y1 - 2013/7
N2 - The switching field dependence on the size of nanometric magnetic tunnel junctions was studied. CoFe/Ru/CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB nano-pillars were fabricated down to 150,×, 300 nm2 and characterized, revealing a squared transfer curve with a sharp transition between magnetic states. A micromagnetic finite element tool was then used to simulate the magnetic behavior of the studied nanopillar. The simulations indicated a single-domain like state at remanence, also displaying a sharp transition between parallel/antiparallel free-layer configurations. Overall, the experimentally measured switching fields (Hsw) were smaller than those obtained from simulations. Such trend was consistent with the presence of a particular free layer profile, signature of the two angle etching step used for pillar definition. Further decrease of experimental Hsw was attributed to local defects and thermal activated processes. This study was able to validate this particular simulation tool for the control of the nanofabrication process.
AB - The switching field dependence on the size of nanometric magnetic tunnel junctions was studied. CoFe/Ru/CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB nano-pillars were fabricated down to 150,×, 300 nm2 and characterized, revealing a squared transfer curve with a sharp transition between magnetic states. A micromagnetic finite element tool was then used to simulate the magnetic behavior of the studied nanopillar. The simulations indicated a single-domain like state at remanence, also displaying a sharp transition between parallel/antiparallel free-layer configurations. Overall, the experimentally measured switching fields (Hsw) were smaller than those obtained from simulations. Such trend was consistent with the presence of a particular free layer profile, signature of the two angle etching step used for pillar definition. Further decrease of experimental Hsw was attributed to local defects and thermal activated processes. This study was able to validate this particular simulation tool for the control of the nanofabrication process.
KW - Magnetic tunnel junctions
KW - micromagnetic simulations
KW - nanofabrication
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84880812622&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/TMAG.2013.2252330
DO - 10.1109/TMAG.2013.2252330
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84880812622
SN - 0018-9464
VL - 49
SP - 4405
EP - 4408
JO - IEEE Transactions on Magnetics
JF - IEEE Transactions on Magnetics
IS - 7
M1 - 6559119
ER -