Title :
Study of intermediate magnetization states in deep submicrometer MRAM cells
Author :
Min, Tai ; Wang, Po-Kang ; Chen, Mao-Ming ; Horng, Cheng ; Shi, Xizeng ; Guo, Yimin ; Hong, Liubo ; Voegelli, Otto ; Chen, Qiang ; Le, Son
Author_Institution :
Headway Technol. Inc, Milpitas, CA, USA
Abstract :
The irregularities appeared in the R-H curves of MRAM cell were identified as caused by the existence of free layer magnetization vortex (type "V") and horseshoe (type "H") configurations. Both states can appear intermittently during repeat measurements and cause different types of MRAM write operation failure. Methods to reduce these states were proposed. The SAL-MRAM design can eliminate the vortex state at lower aspect ratio and thicker free layer than the conventional design.
Keywords :
magnetic storage; magnetic tunnelling; magnetisation; micromagnetics; random-access storage; MRAM cells; MTJ; R-H curves; free layer magnetization; intermediate magnetization state; micro-magnetic modeling; Anisotropic magnetoresistance; Electrical resistance measurement; Magnetic field measurement; Magnetic switching; Magnetic tunneling; Magnetization; Metastasis; Micromagnetics; Random access memory; Shape; Horseshoe; MRAM; MTJ; intermediate magnetization state; micro-magnetic modeling; vortex;
Journal_Title :
Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TMAG.2005.854940
