• Zink, Brandon R.
• Zhou, Bowei
• Khanal, Pravin
• Jia, Qi
• Wang, Weigang
• Gopman, Daniel B.
• Habiboglu, Ali T.
• Wang, Jian Ping
• Shoup, Jenae E.
• Lyu, Deyuan

Abstract

<p>L1₀ FePd is increasingly recognized as a potential candidate for magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs), yet there remains room for enhancing device performance. In this work, we fabricated fully-integrated L1₀ FePd-based perpendicular MTJ devices and achieved a significant increase in tunnel magnetoresistance, reaching ∼65%, compared to the previous record of 25%. Notably, we observed bi-directional switching with a low switching current density of about 1.4 × 10⁵ A/cm², which outperforms the typical spin-transfer torque (STT) MTJ by about one order of magnitude. We propose two possible mechanisms to elucidate the switching process and associated device performance: (1) The voltage-controlled exchange coupling-driven switching of the bottom CoFeB layer; (2) The STT-driven switching of the exchange-coupled L1₀ FePd-CoFeB composite. While additional research is necessary, these findings may further advance the integration of L1₀ FePd into spintronic devices, potentially enabling low-energy memory and logic technologies.</p>

Topics

• density
• impedance spectroscopy
• composite
• current density