Toward Wafer Scale Inductive Characterization of Spin-Transfer Torque Critical Current Density of Magnetic Tunnel Junction Stacks

Author

Sievers, S. ; Liebing, N. ; Serrano-Guisan, S. ; Ferreira, R. ; Paz, E. ; Caprile, A. ; Manzin, A. ; Pasquale, M. ; Skowronski, W. ; Stobiecki, T. ; Rott, K. ; Reiss, G. ; Langer, J. ; Ocker, B. ; Schumacher, H.W.

Author_Institution

Phys.-Tech. Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig, Germany

Volume

51

Issue

1

fYear

2015

fDate

Jan. 2015

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

4

Abstract

We explore the prospects of wafer-scale inductive probing of the critical current density j^c0 for spin-transfer torque (STT) switching of CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB magnetic tunnel junctions with varying MgO thickness. From inductive measurements, magnetostatic parameters and effective damping are derived and j^c0 is calculated based on STT equations. The inductive values compare well with the values derived from current-induced switching measurements on individual nanopillars. Using a wafer-scale inductive probe head could enable wafer probe station-based metrology of j^c0 in the future.

Keywords

boron alloys; cobalt alloys; critical currents; damping; iron alloys; magnesium compounds; magnetic switching; magnetic tunnelling; magnetisation reversal; CoFeB-MgO-CoFeB; STT equations; critical current density; current-induced switching measurements; damping; inductive measurements; magnetic tunnel junction stacks; magnetostatic parameters; spin-transfer torque critical current density; spin-transfer torque switching; wafer probe station-based metrology; wafer scale inductive characterization; wafer-scale inductive probe head; wafer-scale inductive probing; Damping; Magnetic resonance; Magnetic tunneling; Magnetization; Magnetomechanical effects; Magnetostatics; Materials; Critical current density; magnetic random access memory (MRAM); spin-transfer torque (STT);

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TMAG.2014.2357808

Filename

7029231