Magnetic Tunnel Junction (MTJ)

or
Tunnel Magnetoresistance (TMR)
or
Junction Magneto- Resistance (JMR)
T.Stobiecki
Katedra Elektroniki AGH
11 wykad 13.12.2004

Spin Polarization, Density of States

Density of states 3d

Spin Polarization

Normal metal (Cu)

Ferromagnetic metal (Fe)

E

n n

EF
N

EF
n

n n
D OS

Material Polarizations

M a jo rity S p in M ino rity S p in

D OS
M a jor ity Sp in

M in o rity S pi n

Ni 33 %
Co 42 %
Fe 45 %
Ni80 Fe20 48 %
Co84 Fe16 55 %
CoFeB 60%

n ( EF ) n ( EF )

n ( EF ) n ( EF )

Tunneling in FM/I/FM junction

FM I (PI)

FM II (PII)

E
E

EF
N

eV

nn

Barrier

n I n I
PI
n I n I

EE
F F
n

D OS
M a jo rity S p in M ino rity S p in

D
DOS
OS

nII nII
PII
nII nII

M
ty S
p in
n
M aa jo
jori
rity
Sp
in M
M ino
ino rity
rity S
Sppiin

I M nI nII nInII

I II

I II

I M n n n n
TMR

I
I

I M I M
2 PI PII

I M
1 PI PII

R R
TMR
R

Type of MTJs
Standard junction

Spin valve junction

(SV- MTJ)

Double barrier junction

FM

FM

FM

FM

FM

FM

AF

FM

Application-Oriented Properties of S-V MTJ

Materials

SV-MTJ

I (Al-O,MgO..)
FM (Co, CoFe, NiFe)

Treatment
Preparation

AF (MnIr, PtMn, NiO)

Sputtering deposition

Buffer (Ta,Cu, NiFe)

Oxidation

Electric

Annealing
Field cooling

Magnetic

Interlayer coupling field HS

Tunnel Magnetoresistance -TMR

Exchange bias field HEXB

Resistance area product -RxA

Coercive field pinned HCP

and free HCF layer
Switching field HSF

Magnetic and Electric Parameters

FM I (Free)
I

Exchange coupling
HEXB

FM II (Pinned)

Interlayer coupling
HS

AF
B

HCF
HS

TMR
HCP

HEXB

HSF

HSF switching fields

R R
R

Applications of SV-MTJ

SENSORS

M-RAM

SV-MTJ

SPIN-LOGIC

READ HEADS

SV-MTJ Based MRAM

Memory Cell
Memory Matrix
IB

Bit lines

SV-MTJ

Reading current

IB

IR

Writing 1

IW

Writing 0

Writing - rotation of the free layer

IW

SV- MTJ as MRAM component must fulfill

requirements

Reading - detection of a resistance of a

junction
Critical switching fields Hx , Hy (S-W) asteroid

- Thermal stability
- Magnetic stability
- Single domain like switching behaviour
- Reproducibility of RxA, TMR and Asteroids
Motorola: S.Tehrani et al. PROCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE, VOL. 91, NO. 5, MAY 2003

Hy/H(0)

Word lines

-1
-1

- Non-volatility of FLASH with fast programming, no program endurance

limitation
- Density competitive with DRAM, with no refresh
- Speed competitive with SRAM
- Nondestructive read
- Resistance to ionization radiation
- Low power consumption (current pulses)

Features of M-RAM

Single 3.3 V power supply

Commercial temperature range (0C to 70C)
Symmetrical high-speed read and write with fast access time (15, 20 or 25 ns)
Flexible data bus control 8 bit or 16 bit access
Equal address and chip-enable access times
All inputs and outputs are transistor-transistor logic (TTL) compatible
Full nonvolatile operation with 10 years minimum data retention
Motorola: S.Tehrani et al. PROCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE, VOL. 91, NO. 5, MAY 2003

SV-MTJ Based Spin Logic Gates

VOUT= IS(RMTJ3 + RMTJ3 RMTJ1 RMTJ2)
(+, ) IA

RMTJ3

NAND
MTJ 1

RM TJ4

MTJ 2

NOR
MTJ 1

MTJ 2

2 VOUT

IS

SV-MTJs

Programing Inputs

RMTJ2

VO UT

IS

Logic Output

Logic Output

RMTJ1

Logic Inputs
(+, ) IB

1"
0
0"

-2 VOUT
(0,0)

SV- MTJ as spin logic gates must fulfill requirements

- Thermal stability
- Magnetic stability
- Centered minor loop
- Single domain like switching behaviour
- Reproducibility of R, TMR

iemens & Univ. Bielefeld: R. Richter et al. J. Magn.Magn. Mat. 240 (2002) 127129

(0,1) (1,0) (1,1) (0,0) (0,1) (1,0) (1,1)

Logic Inputs MTJ 3, MTJ 4

Features of Spin Logic Gates

- Programmable logic functions (reconfigurable computing)
- Non-volatile logic inputs and outputs
- Fast operation (up to 5 GHz)
- Low power consumption
- Compatibility to M-RAM

SV-MTJ Based Read Heads

SV-MTJ as a read sensor for high density (> 100Gb/in2)

must fulfill requirements
- Resistance area product (RxA) < 6 -m2
- High TMR at low RxA

A MTJsExperiments on SV -MTJs
B MTJs
Ta 5 nm
Au 25 nm

NiFe x nm

Ta 3 nm

Junction

Cu 30 nm

CoFe 2.5 nm

0
10
30
60
100

Al2O3 1.4 nm

Junctions size
(180180) m2

CoFe 2.5 nm
Ta 5 nm
MnIr 10 nm
NiFe 3 nm
Cu 5 nm

Junction

Al2O3 1.4 nm
CoFe t nm
MnIr 12 nm

3
6
10
30
50

NiFe 2 nm
Ta 5 nm
Cu 10 nm

Cu 25 nm
Ta 5 nm
Substrate Si (100)
SiO2
Substrate Si
(100)

A structure prof. G. Reiss laboratory University Bielefeld

B structure prof. T. Takahasi laboratory, Tohoku University

10 mm

Effect of Annealing on TMR

As deposited
14

Annealed

50

TMR = 13.4 %

TMR = 48 %

12

40

TMR [%]

TMR [%]

10
8
6

30

20

4
10
2
0
-150

-100

-50

H [kA/m]

50

100

150

-120

-40

40

80

120

H [kA/m]
40

100 nm (10 sec)

100 nm (13 sec)
100 nm (16 sec)
10 nm (10 sec)
10 nm (13 sec)
10 nm (16 sec)

35

H=80 kA/m

30

TMR [%]

25

10 mm

-80

20
15
10
5

annealing 1 hour in vacuum 10-6 hPa

0
100

150

200

250

300
o

Annealing temperature ( C)

350

Interlayer and Exchange Coupling Fields

Exchange coupling fields
A MTJs

10 nm
30 nm
60 nm
100 nm

1.0
0.8
0.6

Kerr rotation [min]

Kerr rotation [min]

1.2

3nm
6nm
10nm
30nm
50nm

Interlayer coupling fields

B MTJs

-1

0.4
0.2
0.0
-0.2
-0.4
-0.6

-2

-0.8
-3
-100

-75

-50

-25

50

-1.0
-3000 -2500 -2000 -1500 -1000

3nm
6nm
10nm
30nm
50nm

40

40

500

1000

1500

10 nm
100 nm

30

TMR[%]

30

-500

H [A/m]

H [kA/m]

50

TMR [%]

25

20

20

10

10
0

0
-100

-75

-50

-25

H [Oe]

25

50

-3000

-2000

-1000

0
H [Oe]

1000

2000

3000

Interlayer and Exchange Coupling

Fields
H EXB

J EXB

0 M P tP

Js
HS
0 M F tF

Temperature Dependence of TMR

60

30k
50k
70k
100k
150k
200k
250k
300k

40
30
20

TMR

10
0
-20

-15

-10

-5

H [Oe]

10

15

t=10nm (300 C)
30K
50K
70K
100K
150K
200K
250K
300K

40

20

G P G AP
G AP

TMR [%]

50

TMR[%]

50

t=100nm (270 C)

30
20
10
0
-40

-30

dG (T ) GP (T ) G AP (T )

P. Winiowski, M.Rams,... Temperature dependence of tunnel magnetoresistance of IrMn based MTJ, phys. stat. sol (2004)

-20

-10

H [Oe]

10

20

Total Conductance
G (1 , 2 , T ) GT (T )[1 P1 (T ) P2 (T ) cos(1 2 )] GSI (T )
G AP (T ) GT (T )[1 P1 (T ) P2 (T )] GSI (T )
TMR

GP (T ) GT (T )[1 P1 (T ) P2 (T )] GSI (T )
G P G AP
G AP

dG (T ) GP (T ) G AP (T ) 2GT (T ) P1 (T ) P2 (T )
GT (T ) G0CT / sin(CT )
Varies slightly with T

Negligible

P1 (T ) P2 (T ) P01 (1 b1T 3 / 2 ) P02 (1 b2T 3 / 2 )

Varies with T as magnetization does Bloch law

Dominant

Polarization, Bloch Law

dG (T ) 2GT (T ) P1 (T ) P2 (T )

M (T ) M 0 (1 BT 3 / 2 )
1. Set H= 2000 Oe
2. Cooling H= 500 Oe

1. Set H= 2000 Oe

3. Measured M (T)

2. Cooling H= 500 Oe
3. Measured M (T)

P
AP

P01 48 [%] b1 1.0 10

[K

3 / 2

P02 45 [%] b2 9.2 10 6 [ K 3 / 2 ]

100 nm

B 6.76 106 [ K 3 / 2 ]
B 6.99 10 6 [ K 3 / 2 ]

Spin Independent Conductance

GSI (GP G AP ) / 2 GT

G SI NT
N 3.21 10 6 [ SK ]
1.66
Hopping conductance, high level of defects

Hopping conductance, low level of defects

N 2.0 10 6 [ SK ]
1.33

TIMARIS: Tool status

Tool #1 process optimization on 200 mm wafers
since mid of March 03
Tool #2 The Worlds 1st 300 mm MRAM System is
Ready for Process in August 03
Clean room
Multi (10) Target
Module
Oxidation /
Pre-clean Module

Transport Module

Sputtering System
LL : wafer-in

Plasma
Oxidation

LL :
Bridge

Metal
depo.

Reactive
sputter :
surface smooth

MOKE

Measurements

R-VSM

MOKE with Orthogonal Coils

H x coils

H y coils
Sample