Magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ), a spintronics device, has been intensively developed in the past couple of decades because of its high potential in terms of non-volatility, fast operation, virtually infinite endurance, scalability, and compatibility with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) integrated circuits as well as their process and circuits. Today, high-volume manufacturing of spin-transfer torque magnetoresistive random access memory based on MTJ has been initiated for embedded memory applications in CMOS logic. Whether MTJ is scalable along with the advancement of CMOS technology is critical for the technology's future. Here, we review the scaling of MTJ technology, from in-plane anisotropy MTJs to perpendicular interfacial- or shape-anisotropy MTJs. We also discuss challenges and prospects in the future 1X- and X-nm era.
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20 April 2020
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April 20 2020
Scaling magnetic tunnel junction down to single-digit nanometers—Challenges and prospects
Butsurin Jinnai
;
Butsurin Jinnai
a)
1
WPI Advanced Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University
, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
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Kyota Watanabe
;
Kyota Watanabe
2
Laboratory for Nanoelectronics and Spintronics, Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University
, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
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Shunsuke Fukami
;
Shunsuke Fukami
1
WPI Advanced Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University
, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
2
Laboratory for Nanoelectronics and Spintronics, Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University
, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
3
Center for Innovative Integrated Electronic Systems, Tohoku University
, Sendai 980-0845, Japan
4
Center for Spintronics Research Network, Tohoku University
, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
5
Center for Science and Innovation in Spintronics, Tohoku University
, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
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Hideo Ohno
Hideo Ohno
1
WPI Advanced Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University
, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
2
Laboratory for Nanoelectronics and Spintronics, Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University
, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
3
Center for Innovative Integrated Electronic Systems, Tohoku University
, Sendai 980-0845, Japan
4
Center for Spintronics Research Network, Tohoku University
, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
5
Center for Science and Innovation in Spintronics, Tohoku University
, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
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a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
Appl. Phys. Lett. 116, 160501 (2020)
Article history
Received:
February 12 2020
Accepted:
March 23 2020
Citation
Butsurin Jinnai, Kyota Watanabe, Shunsuke Fukami, Hideo Ohno; Scaling magnetic tunnel junction down to single-digit nanometers—Challenges and prospects. Appl. Phys. Lett. 20 April 2020; 116 (16): 160501. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0004434
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