Title :
Thermo-magnetic random access memory: a new route for low power applications
Author :
Redon, O. ; Prejbeanu, I.L. ; Sousa, Ricardo C. ; Kerekes, M. ; Dieny, B. ; Nozières, J.P. ; Freitas, P.P.
Author_Institution :
SPINTEC, CEA-CNRS, Grenoble, France
Abstract :
The concept of thermo-magnetic writing was demonstrated and important features such as selectivity and the protection against stray fields were confirmed. Moreover, submicron size magnetic tunnel junctions can be written using 5 ns heating pulses proving that the thermo-magnetic approach is competitive with the conventional schemes in terms of write speed. In this approach, both magnetic electrodes of the tunnel junction are exchange-biased with antiferromagnetic layers, the reference layer having a much higher blocking temperature. During the write operation, the selection transistor is opened and a current pulse is sent through the stack. The heat generated in the vicinity of the tunnel barrier allows reaching the blocking temperature of the storage layer without affecting the reference layer. The system is then cooled under a magnetic field, larger than the coercive field of the storage layer.
Keywords :
antiferromagnetism; coercive force; high-speed optical techniques; magnetic cooling; magnetic tunnelling; random-access storage; thermomagnetic recording; antiferromagnetic layers; blocking temperature; coercive field; current pulse; exchange biasing; heating pulses; low power application; magnetic cooling; magnetic electrodes; protection against stray fields; reference layer; selection transistor; selectivity; storage layer; submicron size magnetic tunnel junctions; thermo-magnetic random access memory; thermo-magnetic writing; write speed; Electrical resistance measurement; Magnetic field measurement; Magnetic fields; Magnetic shielding; Pulse measurements; Random access memory; Resistance heating; Space vector pulse width modulation; Temperature; Writing;
Conference_Titel :
Magnetics Conference, 2005. INTERMAG Asia 2005. Digests of the IEEE International
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-9009-1
DOI :
10.1109/INTMAG.2005.1463446