Mram device with octagon profile
US-2024135978-A1 · Apr 25, 2024 · US
Magnetic tunnel junction for MRAM applications
US9224940B2 · US · B2
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Publication number | US-9224940-B2 |
| Application number | US-201414315436-A |
| Country | US |
| Kind code | B2 |
| Filing date | Jun 26, 2014 |
| Priority date | Jan 19, 2011 |
| Publication date | Dec 29, 2015 |
| Grant date | Dec 29, 2015 |
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Abstract
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A MTJ in an MRAM array is disclosed with a composite free layer having a lower crystalline layer contacting a tunnel barrier and an upper amorphous NiFeX layer for improved bit switching performance. The crystalline layer is Fe, Ni, or FeB with a thickness of at least 6 Angstroms which affords a high magnetoresistive ratio. The X element in the NiFeX layer is Mg, Hf, Zr, Nb, or Ta with a content of 5 to 30 atomic %. NiFeX thickness is preferably between 20 to 40 Angstroms to substantially reduce bit line switching current and number of shorted bits. In an alternative embodiment, the crystalline layer may be a Fe/NiFe bilayer. Optionally, the amorphous layer may have a NiFeM 1 /NiFeM 2 configuration where M 1 and M 2 are Mg, Hf, Zr, Nb, or Ta, and M1 is unequal to M2. Annealing at 300° C. to 360° C. provides a high magnetoresistive ratio of about 150%.
First claim
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We claim: 1. A MTJ element in a magnetic device, comprising: at least a pinned layer/tunnel barrier layer/free layer configuration wherein the tunnel barrier layer has a first interface with the pinned layer, and the free layer is a stack of three layers with a Fe/NiFe/NiFeX configuration wherein Fe and NiFe are crystalline magnetic layers, the Fe layer interfaces with the tunnel barrier layer, and the NiFeX layer wherein X is one of Hf, Zr, Nb, Ta, or Mg, is amorphous and contact…
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Classifications
Physics · mapped topic
- H01L43/02Primary
Electricity · mapped topic
Electricity · mapped topic
Electricity · mapped topic
Electricity · mapped topic
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- What does patent US9224940B2 cover?
- A MTJ in an MRAM array is disclosed with a composite free layer having a lower crystalline layer contacting a tunnel barrier and an upper amorphous NiFeX layer for improved bit switching performance. The crystalline layer is Fe, Ni, or FeB with a thickness of at least 6 Angstroms which affords a high magnetoresistive ratio. The X element in the NiFeX layer is Mg, Hf, Zr, Nb, or Ta with a conten…
- Who is the assignee on this patent?
- Headway Technologies Inc
- What technology area does this patent fall under?
- Primary CPC classification H01L43/02. Mapped technology areas include Electricity.
- When was this patent published?
- Publication date Tue Dec 29 2015 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) (B2). Legal status and post-grant events are not shown on this page.
- What related patents are in patentsdb?
- We list 8 related publications on this page (citations in our corpus or others sharing the same primary CPC).