EE5440 Magnetic Data Storage for Big Data

Magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJ)

Tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) effect
Field switching MRAM

Prof. Hyunsoo Yang

Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
National University of Singapore
Office: E5-03-14
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 6516-7217
Resistance

 In a metal conductor, electric resistance is due to electrons

diverging from their straight path when they scatter on
irregularities and impurities in the material.
 The more the electrons scatter, the higher the resistance.

2
 Spin dependent conductivity in magnetic metals
Energy - in all ferro and ferri-magnetic systems
0.35 0.35 current is carried independently in two spin-
channels
Co
- conductivity in two channels can be very
different
3.3
5
Spin Spin can be described by spin-dependent mean
-down -up free paths or scattering times

Density current is spin-polarized

of states
4s 3d manipulate flow of spin polarized currents
 
useful sensors and memories
 
Neville Mott (1934)
4
Current in a metallic conductor

In a non-magnetic conductor, electrons scatter the same amount

regardless of spin as current flows.
How much they scatter determines the resistance of the device.

5
Current in a ferromagnetic conductor

In a ferromagnetic conductor, however, electrons scatter differently

depending on whether they are spin up or spin down.

In this case, the spin up electrons are scattered strongly while the
spin down electrons are scattered only weakly.

6
Giant Magnetoresistance (GMR)
 Non-magnetic metal sandwiched between two layers of
a magnetic metal.
 Within the magnetic material, and especially at the
interface between the magnetic and the non-magnetic
material, electrons with different spins are scattered
differently.
 Electrons scatter more, hence the resistance will be
larger, if their spin is anti-parallel to the general direction
of magnetization.
Parallel Anti-Parallel

7
Spin-Dependent Scattering
antiparallel state (AP)

If a non-magnetic conductor is sandwiched between two oppositely magnetized

ferromagnetic layers, a number of electrons will scatter strongly when they try to cross
between layers  this gives higher resistance.

parallel state (P)

If the ferromagnetic layers are magnetized in the same direction, far fewer electrons are
strongly scattered and more current flows (lower resistance)
 Useful for sensing magnetic fields or as a magnetic memory element

8
 Non-magnetic state vs. ferromagnetic state
N↑= N↓ N↑ > N↓, 0<P<1
P= (N↑ – N↓)/(N↑ + N↓)=0

occupied

 The electron density of states (DOS), n(E), which represents the number of electrons in
the system having energy E.
 In the ground state all the lowest energy levels are filled by electrons and the highest
occupied energy level is called the Fermi energy, EF.
 Non-magnetic 3d metal, has equally many electrons with spin up as with spin down, i.e.
there is no net magnetization.
 The spin polarization, P= (N↑ – N↓)/(N↑ + N↓),
where N↑ ( N↓) = number of electrons with spin up (down)
 Spin-polarization chosen to be in the up direction
(N↑ > N↓; blue area > orange area).

10
Ferromagnetic materials
 The vertical displacement between the spin up and spin down
densities of states exemplifies the exchange energy splitting
between the spin-up and spin-down energy bands.
 A transfer of spin-down electrons from the spin-down band into the
spin-up band leads to more exchange energy in the system, which
means a lowering of the total energy.
 In particular the density of states at the Fermi energy N(EF) can now
be very different for the two spin bands.
 This also means that for a ferromagnet the character of the state at
the Fermi energy is quite different for spin-up and spin-down
electrons.
 Above Curie temperature, TC, their magnetism is lost. For Fe, Co
and Ni, critical temperatures are far above room temperature, which
makes these material important for real applications.

11
 Half metals
 Magnetoresistance deals with electrical
conductivity
 Femi surface (defined by the Fermi
energy) is of primary interest.
 The more N↑ (EF) deviates from N↓
(EF), the more pronounced
magnetoelectronic effects to be.
 The name half-metal originates from the
particular feature that the spin down
band is metallic while the spin up band
is an insulator.
 100% spin polarization at the Fermi
level, but at low temperature.
 CrO2
12
Resistance
 The conduction electrons may be scattered by lattice vibration
(electron – phonon interaction).
 Scattering of electrons against impurities and defects is another
reason of resistance.
 The only electrons that participate in the electrical conduction
process are those at (or very close to) the Fermi level.
 There are two types of carriers, one made up from spin-up electrons
and one from spin-down electrons.
 For paramagnetic metals there is no difference between the spin-up
and spin-down electrons, and they contribute equally to the
resistance.
 In a ferromagnet since the density of states at the Fermi surface is
quite different for the two spin states, it follows that there is a
significant difference in resistance for the spin-up electrons and the
spin-down electrons  two independent currents flow in parallel.

13
Giant magnetoresistance (GMR)

RAP  RP
Py/Co/Cu/Co/Py MR(%) MR 
RP

multi-layer
R/R~110% at RT
Field ~10,000 Oe H (kOe)
-40 0 40

-metallic spacer between magnetic layers

-current flows in-plane of layers (CIP)
-discovered in the late 1980s by P. Gruenberg and A. Fert

14
 Discovery of Giant Magnetoresistance (GMR)
Grünberg’s group; trilayer system Fe/Cr/Fe. Fert’s group; multilayer system (Fe/Cr)n

Small effect at room temperature

patented the discovery.
~50% resistance change at 4.2K
Physical Review B (1989)
Physical Review Letters (1988)

 Thin film magnetism research completely changed direction into magnetoelectronics.

 A tremendous influence on the technique of data storage and magnetic sensors.

15
 Analogy with optics

-A second FM can act as a detector of the spin polarized current from the
first FM.
-A NM spacer enables independent switching the two layers.

16
Two current model

RP=2R↑R↓/(R↑+R↓) RAP = (1/2)(R↑+R↓).

ΔR = RP – RAP = – (1/2)(R↑ – R↓)2 /(R↑ + R↓)  RP < RAP

17
Spin-valve

 Although GMR multilayers exhibit very large MR these are not

useful structures for MR recording heads because the
saturation fields are too large.
 However, useful devices can be formed based on GMR and
taking advantage of oscillatory interlayer coupling, which are
very sensitive to small magnetic fields.
 This device, the spin-valve, is composed of two thin
ferromagnetic layers separated by a thin Cu layer.
 The device relies on the exchange-biasing of one of the
ferromagnetic layers to magnetically pin this layer.

21
 Exchange biasing

F thin film

F thin film HEX

AF layer

 AF layer is essentially rigid, and little perturbed by even large external magnetic
fields.
 The uncompensated magnetic moment in the outermost AF layer at AF/F
interface will give rise to an exchange field (HEX) which the F layer is subjected to.
 By heating the F/AF combination above the so-called blocking temperature of the
AF layer where the AF spin system is no longer rigid, and subsequently cooling
the bilayer couple in a magnetic field, an exchange bias field can be established
in the direction of the applied field.

22
Spin-valve

Antiferromagnet

To make a technologically useful device, a “pinning” layer is

added to make it harder to change the magnetization of one
layer than the other.
The pinning layer can be a simple layer of an antiferromagnetic
material.

23
 Exchange-biased spin valve
Magnetization M
Spin valve structure
using Exchange bias

Free
HEX
FM Field H

Cu

pinned
FM R
R

pinning
AFM

Field H

24
 Exchange-biased spin valve
Magnetization M
Spin valve structure
using Exchange bias

Free
HEX
FM Field H

Cu

pinned
FM R
R

pinning
AFM

Field H

25
 Exchange-biased spin valve
Magnetization M
Spin valve structure
using Exchange bias

Free
HEX
FM Field H

Cu

pinned
FM R
R

pinning
AFM

Field H

26
 Exchange-biased spin valve
Magnetization M
Spin valve structure
using Exchange bias

Free
HEX
FM Field H

Cu

pinned
FM R
R

pinning
AFM

Field H

27
 Exchange-biased spin valve
Magnetization M
Spin valve structure
using Exchange bias

Free
HEX
FM Field H

Cu

pinned
FM R
R

pinning
AFM

Field H

28
Spin valve
MR(%)

spin-valve
R/R~8-17% at RT
Field ~1 Oe H (Oe)
-40 0 40

 A step-wise change in the resistance of the sandwich in small

magnetic fields.
 The magnitude of the GMR in the sandwich is reduced because
there are only two magnetic layers, and the Cu spacer layer and the
magnetic layers themselves are relatively thick leading to increased
dilution of the GMR effect.

30
SSD vs. HDD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJMGAdpCLVg&feature=related

After watching this video, do you want to buy a

solid state drive instead of a HDD?

What are the decision factors?

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Drawbacks in HDD technology

 The HDD technology does have some inherent drawbacks

compared to solid-state memory.
 A particular disadvantage is the long access time of several
msec to access the first magnetic bit of information because
of the need to rotate the disk, a fairly massive object, to the
head.
 The data rates are also lower than possible with solid-state
memory.
 Disk drives also consume significant power, are noisy and are
less reliable than non-mechanical storage.
 But the capacity is unbeatable.

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MRAM & Magnetic Tunnel Junction memory cell
Freescale MRAM chip Cross point architecture

One cell (one bit)

high Low
Parallel M current Antiparallel M current
38
 Spin polarized electron tunneling: FM-Insulator-FM
Tunneling magnetoresistacne(TMR); current flows perpendicular to plane of layers (CPP)
E E
Imaj NS Imaj NS
Imin Imin
EF EF
eV eV
EF EF

RAP  RP 2 PP
MR   1 2

RP 1  PP
1 2

N  N
FM I FM FM I FM with P 
N  N
M M M M Julliere (1975)

I P  N1 N2  N1 N2 I AP  N1 N2  N1 N2  Need higher spin
polarization for higher MR

39
 Julliere model
 During tunneling process the spin of the electron is conserved e.g.
spin-up electrons can only tunnel into spin-up empty states and vice-
versa.
 When magnetizations of both electrodes are parallel, the spin up
(down) electrons of the first electrode tunnel to the spin up (down)
states available of the second electrode and the tunneling probability
based on two current model.
I P  N N   N  N 
1 2 1 2

 In the case of anti-parallel configuration, the spin up (down) electrons

tunnel to the spin down (up) state of the second electrode.
I AP  N1 N2  N1 N2
 In this simple model, the TMR is determined solely by the electronic
structure of the magnetic electrodes and is insensitive to the tunnel
barrier properties.   R R 2PP
TMR  P AP
 AP P
 1 2
 AP RP 1  PP
1 2

40
Is spin conserved?

How about spin relaxation time compared to that of

momentum?
 Spinning pool ball
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3IanL64fiM

 Table tennis ball spinning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2vrVwjqktg

 Spinning golf ball

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hd9gzwNA7YE

Spin relaxation time is much longer than momentum relaxation time.

41
 Exchange-Biased Magnetic Tunnel Junction (MTJ)

Bottom electrode
Free ferromagnet Tunnel barrier
TMRR/R Pinned ferromagnet (Al2O3 or MgO)
Antiferromagnet
Major loop Underlayer
Substrate

Magnetization Minor loop (Al2O3 barrier)

80

“”

TMR (%)
60

Field 40
H=0
20
“”
0

Non-Volatile Memory! -100-80 -60 -40 -20 0

Field (Oe)
20 40 60 80 100

43
Coherent tunneling through crystal barrier
Amorphous Al-O barrier Crystalline MgO (001) barrier
Incoherent Tunneling Coherent Tunneling
Δ1 Δ2,5 Δ1
Bloch State Symmetries Δ2,5
Fe(100) Fe(100)
s s

AlOx MgO (100)

Fe(100) Fe(100) Δ1
Δ2,5 Δ1

1 : s pz d3z2-r2
2 : dx2-y2
2’: dxy
5 : px py dxz dyz
Butler, et al. Phys. Rev. B 63, 054416 (2001) Structural differences between amorphous and crystalline barriers both 
schematically and using cross sectional TEM images 
44
TMR loop and MgO thickness dependence
MgO thickness dependence
TMR versus field (loop)

MgO tunnel barrier

 Very large TMR values (> 300%) can be achieved using MgO tunnel
barriers.
 Device resistance exponentially scales with MgO thickness.

46
Bias voltage dependent MgO tunneling resistances

Bias voltage dependence of RP, RAP, and TMR

 s

eV

With bias voltages, the effective

tunnel barrier height is reduced,
leading to a lower resistance.

RP shows almost a flat response with bias voltage (special MgO feature).
RAP reduces rapidly with bias voltage.
TMR curve follows RAP shape.

47
 MTJ Cross-Point MRAM: orthogonal bit and word lines

Read Zero

Bit lines
Word line

Crosspoint Array
49
 MTJ Cross-Point MRAM: orthogonal bit and word lines

Read One

Bit lines
Word line

Crosspoint Array
50
 MTJ Cross-Point MRAM: orthogonal bit and word lines

Bit lines
Word line

Word line only active

Crosspoint Array
51
 MTJ Cross-Point MRAM: orthogonal bit and word lines
Write One (intersecting fields)

Bit lines
Word line

Crosspoint Array
52
 MTJ Cross-Point MRAM: orthogonal bit and word lines

Bit lines
Word line

Write Two bits simultaneously (intersecting fields)

Crosspoint Array
53
Coincident Field Selection for Writing MRAM (Stoner-Wohlfarth)
• Vector sum of magnetic fields generated by WL
current and BL current must switch free layer.
• WL or BL field alone (half-select) must not
switch free layer.
• Nevertheless these half selected cells are
magnetically disturbed. (creep)
Bit
H_Hard
Lines
Word (I_WL)
Lines

Selected BL Write “0” Write “1”

Selected WL

Half- H_Easy
Select (I_BL)
Stoner-
Wohlfarth
Astroid
54
MTJ cells integrated with CMOS read and write circuits
Conventional CMOS circuits are
built beneath the MTJ cells to
provide the necessary circuits
to read and write individual
cells in the cross-point array.

57
Synthetic antiferromagnet storage layer in toggle MRAM

Single free layer is replaced by two magnetic layers separated by a

nonmagnetic spacer layer

58
Magnetization flop in SAF

Magnetization will be parallel to H !

59
 Toggle switching

Top view of a toggle bit Field applied along easy axis Box-field excursion

 In the scissored state the net moment is pointing in the direction

of the applied field.
 When a box field is applied, the moments rotate perpendicularly
to the field, thus toggling the state of the bit.

60
Stoner–Wohlfarth switching vs. spin-flop switching

WL Write Current (arb. units)

Switching
Region Conventional Writing

Non-
Switching

BL Write Current (arb. units)

L-shaped critical switching curve

The bit can now tolerate a half-

select field many times larger
than the smallest required full-
select field.

Toggle MRAM was commercialized by Everspin. 61