Origin of the Resistance-Area-Product Dependence of Spin-Transfer-Torque Switching in Perpendicular Magnetic Random-Access Memory Cells

G. Mihajlović, N. Smith, T. Santos, J. Li, M. Tran, M. Carey, B.D. Terris, and J.A. Katine
Phys. Rev. Applied 13, 024004 – Published 4 February 2020

Abstract

We report on an experimental study of current-induced switching in perpendicular magnetic random-access memory (MRAM) cells with variable resistance-area products (RAs). Our results show that in addition to spin-transfer torque (STT), current-induced self-heating and voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy also contribute to switching and can explain the RA dependencies of the switching-current density and STT efficiency. Our findings suggest that thermal optimization of perpendicular MRAM cells can result in significant reduction of switching currents.

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  • Received 6 May 2019
  • Revised 23 October 2019
  • Accepted 20 December 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.13.024004

© 2020 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

G. Mihajlović*, N. Smith, T. Santos, J. Li, M. Tran, M. Carey, B.D. Terris, and J.A. Katine

  • Western Digital Research Center, Western Digital Corporation, San Jose, California 95119, USA

  • *goran.mihajlovic@wdc.com
  • jordan.katine@wdc.com

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Vol. 13, Iss. 2 — February 2020

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