Ultra-low switching energy and scaling in electric-field-controlled nanoscale magnetic tunnel junctions with high resistance-area product

C. Grezes; F. Ebrahimi; J. G. Alzate; X. Cai; J. A. Katine; J. Langer; B. Ocker; P. Khalili Amiri; K. L. Wang

doi:10.1063/1.4939446

Ultra-low switching energy and scaling in electric-field-controlled nanoscale magnetic tunnel junctions with high resistance-area product

C. Grezes, F. Ebrahimi, J. G. Alzate, X. Cai, J. A. Katine, J. Langer, B. Ocker, P. Khalili Amiri, K. L. Wang

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

175 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report electric-field-induced switching with write energies down to 6 fJ/bit for switching times of 0.5 ns, in nanoscale perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with high resistance-area product and diameters down to 50 nm. The ultra-low switching energy is made possible by a thick MgO barrier that ensures negligible spin-transfer torque contributions, along with a reduction of the Ohmic dissipation. We find that the switching voltage and time are insensitive to the junction diameter for high-resistance MTJs, a result accounted for by a macrospin model of purely voltage-induced switching. The measured performance enables integration with same-size CMOS transistors in compact memory and logic integrated circuits.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	012403
Journal	Applied Physics Letters
Volume	108
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4939446
State	Published - Jan 4 2016

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

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10.1063/1.4939446

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title = "Ultra-low switching energy and scaling in electric-field-controlled nanoscale magnetic tunnel junctions with high resistance-area product",

abstract = "We report electric-field-induced switching with write energies down to 6 fJ/bit for switching times of 0.5 ns, in nanoscale perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with high resistance-area product and diameters down to 50 nm. The ultra-low switching energy is made possible by a thick MgO barrier that ensures negligible spin-transfer torque contributions, along with a reduction of the Ohmic dissipation. We find that the switching voltage and time are insensitive to the junction diameter for high-resistance MTJs, a result accounted for by a macrospin model of purely voltage-induced switching. The measured performance enables integration with same-size CMOS transistors in compact memory and logic integrated circuits.",

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T1 - Ultra-low switching energy and scaling in electric-field-controlled nanoscale magnetic tunnel junctions with high resistance-area product

AU - Grezes, C.

AU - Ebrahimi, F.

AU - Alzate, J. G.

AU - Cai, X.

AU - Katine, J. A.

AU - Langer, J.

AU - Ocker, B.

AU - Khalili Amiri, P.

AU - Wang, K. L.

PY - 2016/1/4

Y1 - 2016/1/4

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AB - We report electric-field-induced switching with write energies down to 6 fJ/bit for switching times of 0.5 ns, in nanoscale perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with high resistance-area product and diameters down to 50 nm. The ultra-low switching energy is made possible by a thick MgO barrier that ensures negligible spin-transfer torque contributions, along with a reduction of the Ohmic dissipation. We find that the switching voltage and time are insensitive to the junction diameter for high-resistance MTJs, a result accounted for by a macrospin model of purely voltage-induced switching. The measured performance enables integration with same-size CMOS transistors in compact memory and logic integrated circuits.

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Ultra-low switching energy and scaling in electric-field-controlled nanoscale magnetic tunnel junctions with high resistance-area product

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