In-plane current-driven spin-orbit torque switching in perpendicularly magnetized films with enhanced thermal tolerance
[2];
[2];
[2];
[3];
- Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Fudan Univ., Shanghai (China)
- Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China)
- Fudan Univ., Shanghai (China)
- Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Inston, Inc., Los Angeles, CA (United States)
Here, we study spin-orbit-torque (SOT)-driven magnetization switching in perpendicularly magnetized Ta/Mo/Co40Fe40B20 (CoFeB)/MgO films. The thermal tolerance of the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) is enhanced, and the films sustain the PMA at annealing temperatures of up to 430 C, due to the ultra-thin Mo layer inserted between the Ta and CoFeB layers. More importantly, the Mo insertion layer also allows for the transmission of the spin current generated in the Ta layer due to spin Hall effect, which generates a damping-like SOT and is able to switch the perpendicular magnetization. When the Ta layer is replaced by a Pt layer, i.e., in a Pt/Mo/CoFeB/MgO multilayer, the direction of the SOT-induced damping-like effective field becomes opposite because of the opposite sign of spin Hall angle in Pt, which indicates that the SOT-driven switching is dominated by the spin current generated in the Ta or Pt layer rather than the Mo layer. Quantitative characterization through harmonic measurements reveals that the large SOT effective field is preserved for high annealing temperatures. This work provides a route to applying SOT in devices requiring high temperature processing steps during the back-end-of-line processes.
- Research Organization:
- Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Spins and Heat in Nanoscale Electronic Systems (SHINES)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0012670
- OSTI ID:
- 1470344
- Journal Information:
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 108, Issue 21; Related Information: SHINES partners with University of California, Riverside (lead); Arizona State University; Colorado State University; Johns Hopkins University; University of California Irvine; University of California Los Angeles; University of Texas at Austin; ISSN 0003-6951
- Publisher:
- American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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