Heavy-ion-induced displacement damage effects in magnetic tunnel junctions with perpendicular anisotropy

Xiao, Tianyao Patrick; Bennett, Christopher H.; Mancoff, Frederick B.; Manuel, Jack E.; Hughart, David Russell; Jacobs-Gedrim, Robin B.; Bielejec, Edward S.; Vizkelethy, Gyorgy; Sun, Ji Jun; Aggarwal, Sanjeev; Arghavani, Reza; Marinella, Matthew

doi:10.1109/tns.2021.3057348

Title: Heavy-ion-induced displacement damage effects in magnetic tunnel junctions with perpendicular anisotropy

Journal Article · Mon Feb 08 00:00:00 EST 2021 · IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/tns.2021.3057348· OSTI ID:1772025

Xiao, Tianyao Patrick ^[1]; Bennett, Christopher H. ^[1]; Mancoff, Frederick B. ^[1]; Manuel, Jack E. ^[1]; Hughart, David Russell ^[1]; Jacobs-Gedrim, Robin B. ^[1]; Bielejec, Edward S. ^[1]; Vizkelethy, Gyorgy ^[1]; Sun, Ji Jun ^[1]; Aggarwal, Sanjeev ^[1]; Arghavani, Reza ^[1]; Marinella, Matthew ^[1]

Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Here, we evaluate the resilience of CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy to displacement damage induced by heavy ion irradiation. MTJs were exposed to 3 MeV Ta²⁺ ions at different levels of ion beam fluence spanning five orders of magnitude. The devices remained insensitive to beam fluences up to 10¹¹ ions/cm², beyond which a gradual degradation in the device magnetoresistance, coercive magnetic field, and spin-transfer-torque switching voltage were observed, ending with a complete loss of magnetoresistance at very high levels of displacement damage (>0.035 displacements per atom). The loss of magnetoresistance is attributed to structural damage at the MgO interfaces, which allows electrons to scatter among the propagating modes within the tunnel barrier and reduces the net spin polarization. Ion-induced damage to the interface also reduces the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. This study clarifies the displacement damage thresholds that lead to significant irreversible changes in the characteristics of spin-transfer-torque magnetic random access memory (STT-MRAM) and elucidates the physical mechanisms underlying the deterioration in device properties.

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Research Organization:: Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program

Grant/Contract Number:: AC04-94AL85000; NA0003525

OSTI ID:: 1772025

Report Number(s):: SAND-2021-2771J; 694647; TRN: US2206938

Journal Information:: IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, Vol. 68, Issue 5; ISSN 0018-9499

Publisher:: IEEECopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Title: Heavy-ion-induced displacement damage effects in magnetic tunnel junctions with perpendicular anisotropy

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