EE5440 Magnetic Data Storage for Big Data

Course overview
Introduction

Assoc. Prof. Hyunsoo YANG

Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
National University of Singapore
Office: E5-03-14
E-mail: eleyang@nus.edu.sg
Phone: 6516-7217

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Class hours
 Lecture: Tue 6-8:30 pm

 Office hour: Mon 5-6 pm, Tue 5-6 pm or by email

appointment @E5-03-14

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Module Description
 This module focuses on physics, materials and device
aspects of magnetic data storage, including both hard
disk drives and magnetic random access memory.
 The module is designed to equip students with the basic
knowledge of magnetism and magnetic materials
required for understanding magnetic data storage
devices and systems.
 Topics to be covered include fundamentals of
magnetism and magnetic materials, magnetostatics,
magnetization dynamics, spintronics, magnetic random
access memory, magnetic write and read head, and
read/write principles in both solid-state and disk based
storage.

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Syllabus: Part 1

1. Overview of information storage

Different types of information storage materials and devices: solid state
memory, magnetic random access memory (MRAM), optical disks,
magnetic recording, tape drive, emerging technologies.
2. Basics of magnetism for magnetic data storage
Magnetic field, magnetism of matter, spin, orbital and spin moments,
exchange coupling, ferromagnetic and anti-ferromagnetic materials,
magnetic anisotropy, demagnetizing field, magnetic domain, magnetic
hysteresis, superparamagnetism, magnetization dynamics,
micromagnetics.
3. MRAM
Tunnelling magnetoresistance (TMR) effect, magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ)
for MRAM, field switching MRAM, toggle-MRAM, spin transfer toque
(STT) effect, STT-MRAM, perpendicular STT-MRAM, domain wall
memory.

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Syllabus: Part 2 (Prof. Wu Yihong)
4. Magnetic write head and inductive read head
Basic magnetostatics, thin film write head, head field distribution, perpendicular
write head, inductive read head, readout signal calculation, spatial
frequency response of read head, pulse width of readout signal, limitation of
inductive reader.
5. Anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR), giant
magnetoresistance (GMR) and TMR read head
AMR effect, AMR sensor, magnetic bias of AMR sensor, AMR read head,
readout signal calculation, spatial frequency response of AMR read head,
GMR effect, current-in-plane (CIP) and current-perpendicular-to-plane
(CPP) GMR sensor, spin-valve, GMR read head, exchange bias, magnetic
bias design, readout signal calculation.
6. Magnetic recording media
Longitudinal media: macroscopic properties, crystallographic texture and
microstructure engineering, media noise, superparamagnetic limit,
antiferromagnetically coupled media; Perpendicular recording media: soft
underlayer, recording layer, noise issue, media for heat-assisted magnetic
recording (HAMR).
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Learning outcomes
 Perform micro-magnetic modelling of simple structures.
 Explain how spin-transfer toque can be used to construct
magnetic memory devices.
 Calculate the magnetic field of thin film write head.
 Calculate the readout signal for thin film inductive reader.
 Explain anisotropic, giant, and tunnelling
magnetoresistance.
 Design the magnetic bias for different types of magnetic
read heads.
 Explain the basic structure and role of each layer in
magnetic media.
 Relate head and media characteristics to read-write
performance of hard disk drives.
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Reference Books

 J.M.D.Coey, “Magnetism and Magnetic Materials”, Cambridge

 Shan X. Wang and Alexander M. Taratorin, “Magnetic information
storage technology”, Academic press.-HDD related ref.
 Robert C. O’Handley, “Modern magnetic materials: Principles and
Applications”, Wiley Interscience.—everything about magnetism
 B. D. Cullity, “Introduction to Magnetic Materials”, Wiley-IEEE
Press.– basic magnetism
 David C. Jiles, “Introduction to Magnetism and Magnetic Materials”,
CRC. – basic magnetism

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Assessments
 Final examination (60%)
 A4 formula sheet; written by student on both sides

 CA components (40%)
 Computer simulation project using OOMMF (part 1: 20%)
- http://math.nist.gov/oommf/
 Homework assignments (part 2: 20%)

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Teaching philosophy

 The only stupid question is question not asked.

 Understanding the underlying mechanism is important.

 Will try to make a balance between physics and real applications.

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Digital Big Bang

In the big data era, there is an explosive

growth of data in almost every field.

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Information explosion

www.emc.com/digital_universe

It has taken humans 300,000 years to accumulate 12 exabytes but it

took only 2.5 more years to pile up the next 12 exabytes of data.

In 2012, humans created 2,700 exabytes.

1 EB = 103 PB = 106 TB = 109 GB 11

How to store information?
magnetic recording solid state memory optical disks

biological quantum memory holographic memory

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Magnetic data storage Tape

MRAM
HDD

-Magnetic tape and hard-disk have been and continue to be the workhorse for
tertiary and secondary data storage.
-The emerging magnetic memory will further strength magnetic data storage’s
dominance in the data storage industry.

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IBM 305 RAMAC
Introduced on 1956
Random Access Method of Accounting and Control

5 Megabyte Capacity, 1200 rpm This drive could store

50 disks, each 24” in diameter 2,000 pages of text with
2,000 bits/in2 storage density 2,500 characters per page

$10 million per gigabyte 14

Modern 2.5” Disk Drive
 This 10,000 RPM drive
has a storage capacity
of 1000 Gbytes (1 TB)
 Can read or write the
complete works of
Shakespeare, 15 times,
in less than a second
 Can read or write more
than 200 records,
spread randomly over
the disc, in less than a
second

4 cents per gigabyte 15

HDD areal density evolution
3
10
2
10
Lab demos
Areal density (Gb/in2)

1
10
0
10
-1
10
-2
1st Thin Film Head
10
-3
10
-4
25% CAGR
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IBM Disk products
-5
10
-6
IBM RAMAC (1st Hard Disk Drive)
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1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Year
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Smaller and smaller
track width
w

Anisotropy keeps the moment l

pointing in the direction of bit length
the track

The transition width d is

affected by both the anisotropy
and the magnetization
d
2003
2000
1998 100 Gb/in2
2
20 Gb/in2
1996 6 Gb/in
1 Gb/in2

.01 m

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MTJ read sensors in HDD

GMR ~ 10%
TMR ~ 50-300%

http://www.research.ibm.com/research/demos/gmr/cyberdemo3.htm 18
Hard Disk Drive vs. Flash memory

E. Grochowski, Future Technology Challenges for NAND Flash and HDD Products, Flash Memory Summit, 2012.

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Longitudinal to perpendicular HDD media

Since 2006

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 Characteristics of non-volatile memories

Wanted
Attributes!
Non-Volatile
Flash  High endurance
New > 10 years lifetime
Memory > 1012 cycles
 Fast random access
- Read time ~ 10-100 ns
Density
- Write time ~ 10-100 ns
 High density
DRAM  Integration with conventional CMOS
 Low power (zero stand-by current)
Speed SRAM  Cheap!

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 Ideal usage of future NV memories
Cellular, Laptops, PDAs, MP3, digital cameras, smart cards…..

Current Generation Next Generation

EEPROM
Mobile Phone

SRAM

CPU
Flash New NV RAM
CPU

PDA
SDRAM

HDD

PC
Expensive Cheap
Big Small form factor
Huge power Low power
Slow Fast
Network Storage Less reliable! Highly reliable but non-volatile

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Emerging memory technologies
Quantity FRAM PFRAM SiC Bipolar Molecular NanoX’tal

Flow PCRAM PMC Polymer Perovskite 3DROM

Spin MRAM

 Many new NV memory technologies today

molecular, resistive, magnetic, ferroelectric, phase change
 No one NV memory has perfect set of attributes

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Comparison with commercial non-volatile memories

Latency 45 ns 50 s JPL (2013)

-Ferroelectric RAM: diffusion of Pb and Bi, fatigue, imprint issues

-Flash: endurance issue, long writing time (cannot replace CPU memory)

-Density is the only issue in STT-MRAM

-STT-MRAM has 100x smaller density than Flash

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MRAM products in the market
-Replacing backup SRAM
-No need for battery

http://www.everspin.com/

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 MRAM applications
Cross point architecture

Small capacity (64 Mb) limits applications

-Remote, military, avionics
-Health care, server buffer
-Motor control and robotics
-Power and energy management

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MRAM adoption acceleration
Toggle-MRAM STT-MRAM

STT-MRAM
Resistive RAM
International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors
(2012)

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Spin-transfer torque

Magnetization Switching

fixed free fixed free

electron flow electron flow

Free layer will align to fixed layer. Reflected e- will turn free layer
Stabilizing the Parallel orientation. away from fixed layer.
Destabilize the Parallel orientation.

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Field switching vs. spin-transfer torque MRAM

-Present STT-MRAM (Everspin) uses 40 nm node

-GF, TSMC, IBM, Samsung, TDK, Hynix,
Toshiba, Sony, Intel, Qualcomm…

Toggle-MRAM STT-MRAM April 15, 2016

STT-MRAM

Everspin with GlobalFoundries

16 Mb 256 Mb 30
 3D memory: Magnetic Race-Track Memory
domain
 Information stored as domain walls in
wall
vertical “race track”
 Reading and writing carried out along

Alternating layers of bottom of race track

two ferromagnetic  Electronics built under race track using
materials to pin conventional CMOS
domain walls
 Domains moved around track using nano
second long pulses of current
- Data stored in the third dimension in tall
columns of magnetic material
- Domains “race” around track for reading
and writing
- 10 to 100 times the storage capacity of
conventional solid state memory
- Could displace flash memory and hard
disk drives for many applications

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIjK1dMdTGY 31
Nanotechnology
 A prerequisite for the new information storage media is controling
nanometer scale materials.
 Nanotechnology is concerned with layers consisting of only a few
individual strata of atoms.
 Deep down at atomic level, matter behaves differently and therefore
nanometre-sized structures will often exhibit totally new material
properties.
 This is true not only for magnetism and electric conductivity, but also
for properties like strength or the chemical and optical qualities of a
material.
 In this sense, the nano-magnetism (spintronics) may also be
regarded as one of the first major applications of the
nanotechnology that is now so popular in a very diverse range of
fields.

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