Spin transfer switching current reduction in magnetic tunnel junction based dual spin filter structures

Abstract

Spin-transfer-driven magnetization switching was studied in single magnetic tunneling junctions (MTJ: Ta∕PtMn∕CoFe∕Ru∕CoFeB∕Al2O3∕CoFeB∕Ta) and dual spin filters (DSF: Ta∕PtMn∕CoFe∕Ru∕CoFeB∕Al2O3∕CoFeB∕spacer∕CoFe∕PtMn∕Ta) having resistance-area (RA) product in the range of 10–30Ωμm2 and tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) of 15%–30%. The intrinsic critical current density (Jc0) was estimated by extrapolating experimentally obtained critical current density (Jc) versus pulse width (τ) data to a pulse width of 1ns. Jc, extrapolated to τ of 1ns (∼Jc0), was 7×106 and 2.2×106A∕cm2, respectively, for the MTJ and improved DSF samples having identical free layers. Thus, a significant enhancement of the spin transfer switching efficiency is seen for DSF structures compared to the single MTJ case.