Faster and denser spin-tunneling random access memory (STram)

Author

Wang, Z.G. ; He, L.N. ; Mapps, D.J. ; Nakamura, Y. ; Clegg, W.W. ; Wilton, D.T.

Author_Institution

Centre for Res. in Inf. Storage Technol., Plymouth Univ., UK

Volume

33

Issue

5

fYear

1997

fDate

9/1/1997 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

3304

Lastpage

3306

Abstract

The spin tunneling junctions Co/Al₂O₃/Ni₈₀Fe₂₀ provide an excellent means of storing a binary datum in the hard component (Co), and sensing its remanent state by switching the soft component (NiFe) in such a way that the magnetic state of the hard component remains unaltered. In this paper, it is clarified by a dynamic model that the switching is caused by the incoherent rotation of the magnetization in the fine thin film pattern and the read access time for a micro-structured spin tunneling with area of 0.256 μm×0.256 μm is 0.9 ns. In addition, a magnetic flux closure design was found to reduce the crosstalk by about a factor of five, compared with a conventional keeper-less design, which will be the most favored approach for achieving 10⁹ bits/cm² areal density

Keywords

giant magnetoresistance; magnetic storage; magnetoresistive devices; random-access storage; tunnelling; Co-Al₂O₃-Ni₈₀Fe₂₀; areal density; crosstalk; dynamic model; magnetic flux closure design; magnetization rotation; remanent state; spin-tunneling random access memory; switching; thin film; Anisotropic magnetoresistance; Cobalt; Crosstalk; Iron; Magnetic anisotropy; Magnetic films; Magnetic flux; Magnetic switching; Magnetic tunneling; Magnetization; Magnetostatics; Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy; Random access memory; Saturation magnetization; Transistors; Tunneling;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/20.617925

Filename

617925