The disclosure relates to a perpendicular magnetized magnetic tunnel junction device including a multi-layer.
Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) spin-RAM have advantages such as an ability of minimization, a low power consumption, a high performance and a high reliability, and thus is very likely to become a mainstream technique of the next-generation new non-volatile memory. However, to enhance a magnetoresistance ratio of devices and to reduce write currents, a free layer still has to be mainly composed of films of perpendicularly magnetized CoFeB or CoFe. Nonetheless, since such free layer has a low equivalent magnetic anisotropy coefficient (Keff) and a small thickness, a thermal stability thereof is low; thus, the free layer fails to be a non-volatile memory.
The disclosure provides a perpendicularly magnetized magnetic tunnel junction device including at least one multi-layer. The multi-layer includes a first metal oxide layer, a first ferromagnetic layer, a first modified layer and a second ferromagnetic layer. The first ferromagnetic layer is located on the first metal oxide layer. The second ferromagnetic layer is located on the first ferromagnetic layer. The first modified layer is sandwiched between the first ferromagnetic layer and the second ferromagnetic layer.
Several exemplary embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below to further describe the disclosure in details.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide further understanding, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.
The perpendicular magnetized magnetic tunnel junction device of the disclosure maintains a high magnetic resistance (MR) and a low write current and enhances a device thermal stability.
Referring to
A material of the first metal oxide layer 10 includes metal oxides, such as magnesium oxide, aluminum oxide, hafnium oxide, titanium oxide, zinc oxide or any combination thereof. A thickness of the first metal oxide layer 10 ranges from 7 angstroms to 9 angstroms, for example.
The first ferromagnetic layer 12 is located on the first metal oxide layer 10. The first ferromagnetic layer 12 is a perpendicular magnetic material and has a dopant, such as boron, but the dopant is not limited to boron. A material of the first ferromagnetic layer 12 is, for example, FeB, CoFeB or CoFeSiB or any combination thereof. A thickness of the first ferromagnetic layer 12 ranges from 7 angstroms to 13 angstroms, for example.
The second ferromagnetic layer 16 is located on the first ferromagnetic layer 12. The second ferromagnetic layer 16 is a perpendicular magnetic material and has a dopant, such as boron, but the dopant is not limited to boron. A material of the second ferromagnetic layer 16 is, for example, FeB, CoFeB or CoFeSiB or any combination thereof. The material of the second ferromagnetic layer 16 may be the same as or different from the material of the first ferromagnetic layer 12. A thickness of the second ferromagnetic layer 16 ranges from 7 angstroms to 13 angstroms, for example.
The first modified layer 14 is sandwiched between the first ferromagnetic layer 12 and the second ferromagnetic layer 16. The first modified layer 14 (especially during an annealing process) absorbs the dopant in the first ferromagnetic layer 12 and/or the dopant in the second ferromagnetic layer 16 to enhance crystallinity of the first ferromagnetic layer 12 and/or the second ferromagnetic layer 16 and increase a magnetoresistance ratio. In addition, the first modified layer 14 may increase a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of an interface between the first ferromagnetic layer 12 and the first metal oxide layer 10 and/or an interface between the second ferromagnetic layer 16 and other metal oxide layers (such as a cap layer 18 or a tunnelling dielectric layer 20 in the following embodiments). Furthermore, the first modified layer 14 may also serve as a wetting layer to increase a continuity of a layer of the second ferromagnetic layer 16, so that the continuity of the layer of the second ferromagnetic layer 16 formed on the first modified layer 14 is better than a continuity of ferromagnetic layers formed on metal oxides directly.
In an embodiment, the materials of the first ferromagnetic layer 12 and the second ferromagnetic layer 16 include boron dopants, and the first modified layer 14 is of a material that absorbs boron. However, dopants that the first modified layer 14 of the disclosure absorbs are not limited to boron; anything that absorbs the dopants in the first ferromagnetic layer 12 and the second ferromagnetic layer 16 to enhance the crystallinity of the first ferromagnetic layer 12 and/or the second ferromagnetic layer 16 to increase the magnetoresistance ratio and the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of an interface between the first ferromagnetic layer 12 and neighbouring metal oxides and/or an interface between the second ferromagnetic layer 16 and neighbouring metal oxides falls in the scope covered by the disclosure. A material of the first modified layer 14 includes metals or metal alloys, such as refractory metals, like Ta, Ti, Hf, Nb, V or Zr or any combination thereof, or alloys thereof. A thickness of the first modified layer 14 is less than or equal to 5 angstroms. In one embodiment, a thickness of the first modified layer 14 ranges from 1.5 angstroms to 5 angstroms, for example. If the first modified layer 14 is too thick, decoupling is caused. The first modified layer 14 may be a single continuous layer (
The multi-layer 8 may be applied in a perpendicularly magnetized magnetic tunnel junction device and serve as a free layer. The multi-layer 8 applied in the perpendicularly magnetized magnetic tunnel junction device may serve as a free layer with a portion thereof or with the entirety thereof.
An embodiment of the multi-layer 8 applied in the perpendicularly magnetized magnetic tunnel junction device with a portion thereof serving as a free layer is illustrated with reference to
Referring to
The first metal oxide layer 10 serves as a tunnelling dielectric layer. The first ferromagnetic layer 12, the first modified layer 14 and the second ferromagnetic layer 16 serve as a free layer. The cap layer 18 is located on the multi-layer 8. A material of the cap layer 18 includes second metal oxides, such as magnesium oxide, aluminum oxide, hafnium oxide, titanium oxide, zinc oxide or any combination thereof. The (resistance area product, RA) of the first metal oxide layer 10 is greater than the RA of the second metal oxides of the cap layer 18, so that the first metal oxide layer 10 that serves as the tunnelling dielectric layer dominates the magnetoresistance ratio. An implementation way in which the RA of the first metal oxide layer 10 is greater than the RA of the second metal oxides of the cap layer 18 may be achieved by making a thickness of the first metal oxide layer 10 greater than a thickness of the cap layer 18.
An embodiment of the multi-layer 8 applied in the perpendicularly magnetized magnetic tunnel junction device with the entirety thereof serving as a free layer is illustrated with reference to
When the entirety of the multi-layer 8 serves as the free layer, the free layer may include one multi-layer structure or two multi-layer structures (as shown in
Referring to
The multi-layer 8 may be applied in the perpendicularly magnetized magnetic tunnel junction device with the entirety thereof serving as a portion of a free layer, and such an embodiment is illustrated with reference to
Referring to
The second modified layer 24 is located under one or multi-layers 8 (one is illustrated in
The second modified layer 24 absorbs the dopant in the third ferromagnetic layer 26 (for example, during an annealing process) to enhance crystallinity of the third ferromagnetic layer 26 to increase a magnetoresistance ratio and a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of an interface between the third ferromagnetic layer 26 and the first metal oxide layer 10. In an embodiment, the material of the third ferromagnetic layer 26 includes boron dopants, and the second modified layer 24 is of a material that absorbs boron. However, dopants that the second modified layer 24 of the disclosure absorbs are not limited to boron; anything that absorbs the dopants in the third ferromagnetic layer 26 to enhance the crystallinity of the third ferromagnetic layer 26 to increase the magnetoresistance ratio and the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of the interface between the third ferromagnetic layer 26 and the first metal oxide layer 10 falls in the scope covered by the disclosure. A material of the second modified layer 24 includes metals or metal alloys, such as refractory metals, like Ta, Ti, Hf, Nb, V or Zr or any combination thereof, or alloys thereof. A thickness of the second modified layer 24 ranges from 2 angstroms to 50 angstroms, for example. As described about the first modified layer 14, the second modified layer 24 may be a single continuous layer, a multilayer continuous layer, a non-continuous layer, a plurality of granules, clusters, or any combination thereof; however, the disclosure is not limited thereto.
In addition, the second modified layer 24 not only absorbs the dopants in the third ferromagnetic layer 26 but may also serve as a wetting layer to increase continuity of the film of the third ferromagnetic layer 26 above.
The structure of the perpendicularly magnetized magnetic tunnel junction device of the disclosure may from a plurality of interfaces between the ferromagnetic layers and the metal oxides to increase the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy.
In an embodiment, the perpendicularly magnetized magnetic tunnel junction device of the disclosure includes a MgO/CoFeB/M/CoFeB/MgO structure. A modified layer M is inserted between CoFeB in two MgO. The modified layer M are that during an annealing process, the modified layer M absorbs boron in CoFeB, so that crystallinity of CoFeB is enhanced to increase a magnetoresistance ratio and a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of interfaces between CoFeB and MgO. In addition, the modified layer M may also serve as a wetting layer, so that the continuity of the CoFeB film on the modified layer M is better than the continuity of the CoFeB film on MgO.
In an exemplary embodiment, the perpendicularly magnetized magnetic tunnel junction device of the disclosure includes a free stack layer composed of a 6-angstrom-thick MgO layer/a 10-angstrom-thick CoFeB layer/a 3-angstrom-thick Ta layer/a 8-angstrom-thick CoFeB layer, and a tunneling layer composed of a 9-angstrom-thick MgO layer. A protection layer composed of a 30-angstrom-thick Ru layer and a 100-angstrom-thick Ta layer is formed on the free stack layer. An equivalent magnetic anisotropy coefficient (Keff) of the perpendicularly magnetized magnetic tunnel junction device is about 1.4×106 erg/cm3.
In another exemplary embodiment, the perpendicularly magnetized magnetic tunnel junction device of the disclosure includes a free stack layer composed of a 30-angstrom-thick Ta layer/a 8-angstrom-thick CoFeB layer/a 6-angstrom-thick MgO layer/a 10-angstrom-thick CoFeB layer/a 3-angstrom-thick Ta layer/a 8-angstrom-thick CoFeB layer, and a tunneling layer composed of a 9-angstrom-thick MgO layer. A protection layer composed of a 30-angstrom-thick Ru layer and a 100-angstrom-thick Ta layer is formed on the free stack layer. An equivalent magnetic anisotropy coefficient (Keff) of the perpendicularly magnetized magnetic tunnel junction device is about 2.4×106 erg/cm3.
A 30-angstrom-thick Ta layer, a 9-angstrom-thick MgO layer, a 10-angstrom-thick CoFeB layer, a 2-angstrom-thick Ta layer, a 8-angstrom-thick CoFeB layer, a 9-angstrom-thick MgO layer, a 30-angstrom-thick Ru layer and a 600-angstrom-thick Ta layer are formed to manufacture a stack structure of Example 1. Examples 2-4 manufacture stack structures in a sequence similar to the sequence of Example 1, but Ta layers are manufactured to have different thicknesses (3 angstroms, 4 angstroms and 5 angstroms). Out-of-plane hysteresis loops of Examples 1-4 are as shown in
Comparative Examples 1-4 manufacture stack structures in a sequence similar to the sequence of Example 1, but the 10-angstrom-thick CoFeB layer, the 2-angstrom-thick Ta layer and the 8-angstrom-thick CoFeB layer are replaced by a CoFeB layer with different thicknesses (8 angstroms, 10 angstroms, 12 angstroms and 14 angstroms). Out-of-plane hysteresis loops of stack structures of Comparative Examples 1-4 as shown in
Results of
Results of
Results of Examples 1-4 and Comparative Examples 1-4 show that compared with CoFeB with a conventional thickness (about 12 angstroms), by sandwiching a Ta layer (a dopant absorption layer) between two CoFeB layers, a retention is increased to about 1.5 times of the retention when there is a single CoFeB layer.
In addition, Ms of the stack structure with Ta inserted into CoFeB is higher than Ms of the stack structure without Ta inserted into CoFeB. Ms of the former may reach about 1570 emu/cm3, and Ms of the latter is 1240 emu/cm3. Therefore, the Ta layer is indeed able to absorb boron of CoFeB, increase the crystallinity of CoFeB, and thereby increases the perpendicular anisotropy of the CoFeB/MgO interface.
A 30-angstrom-thick Ta layer, a 11.5-angstrom-thick MgO layer, a 11 to 17-angstrom-thick CoFeB layer, a 3-angstrom-thick Ta layer, a 8 to 14-angstrom-thick CoFeB layer, a 11.5-angstrom-thick MgO layer and a cap layer (30-angstrom-thick Ru/100-angstrom-thick Ta) are sequentially formed to manufacture a stack structure, and interface anisotropy constant (Ki), volume anisotropyconstant (Kv) and demagnetization energy thereof are as shown in Table 1.
A 30-angstrom-thick Ta layer, a 8 to 20-angstrom-thick CoFeB layer, a 11.5-angstrom-thick MgO layer and a cap layer (30-angstrom-thick Ru/100-angstrom-thick Ta) are sequentially formed to manufacture a stack structure, and Ki, Kv and demagnetization energy thereof are as shown in Table 1.
A 30-angstrom-thick Ta layer, a 11.5-angstrom-thick MgO layer, a 10 to 22-angstrom-thick CoFeB layer, a 11.5-angstrom-thick MgO layer and a cap layer (30-angstrom-thick Ru/100-angstrom-thick Ta) are formed to manufacture a stack structure, and Ki, Kv and demagnetization energy thereof are as shown in Table 1.
The definition of the equivalent anisotropy coefficient is as follows:
K
eff
=Kv−2πMs2+Ki/t
In this equation; Keff is an equivalent magnetic anisotropy coefficient; Kv is a volume anisotropy coefficient; Ki is an interface anisotropy coefficient; Ms is saturation magnetization; and t is an equivalent thickness of magnetic layers.
Results of Table 1 show that compared with Comparative Example 5, Example 5 has a greater Ki and a smaller Kv, which increases a thickness of the free layer of PMA and improves the retention and thermal stability of the device. Compared with Comparative Example 6, the demagnetization energy of Example 5 changes from −0.99 mJ/m3 to −1.55 mJ/m3, which shows that Example 5 has a higher crystallinity.
In summary of the above, the multi-layer structure of the disclosure includes the ferromagnetic layers with modified layers inserted therein, and the modified layers absorb the dopants in the ferromagnetic layers during the annealing process to enhance the crystallinity of the ferromagnetic layers, increase the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of the interfaces between the ferromagnetic layers and the metal oxide layers, and increase the total thickness of the ferromagnetic layers (the free layers) to increase the magnetic reversal energy barrier (Eb), so that the thermal stability and the retention of the device are enhanced.
Although the disclosure has been described with reference to the above embodiments, they are not intended to limit the disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the disclosed embodiments without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the disclosure cover modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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101138726 | Oct 2012 | TW | national |
This application claims the priority benefits of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/665,885, filed on Jun. 28, 2012 and Taiwan application serial no. 101138726, filed on Oct. 19, 2012. The entirety of each of the above-mentioned patent applications is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61665885 | Jun 2012 | US |