THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERPENDICULAR MAGNETIC TUNNELING JUNCTIONS

Abstract

This paper reviews the progress made over the last few years in understanding the development of perpendicular magnetic tunneling junctions (pMTJs). The material systems for making pMTJs, including rare-earth/transition metal alloys, L1 0 -ordered (Co, Fe)–Pt alloys, Co/(Pd, Pt) multilayers, and CoFeB–MgO crystallized structures, are briefly introduced. The fabrication processes of the MTJ devices are focused on, consisting of open-trench, etch-back and self-aligned techniques. The authors also propose a spin-torque nano-oscillator based on pMTJ, for application in GHz range telecommunications.