Failure Analysis in Magnetic Tunnel Junction Nanopillar with Interfacial Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy

Weisheng Zhao; Xiaoxuan Zhao; Boyu Zhang; Kaihua Cao; Lezhi Wang; Wang Kang; Qian Shi; Mengxing Wang; Yu Zhang; You Wang; Shouzhong Peng; Jacques-Olivier Klein; Lirida Alves de Barros Naviner; Dafine Ravelosona

doi:10.3390/ma9010041

Failure Analysis in Magnetic Tunnel Junction Nanopillar with Interfacial Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy

Materials (Basel). 2016 Jan 12;9(1):41. doi: 10.3390/ma9010041.

Authors

Weisheng Zhao^{1

2}, Xiaoxuan Zhao^{3

4}, Boyu Zhang^{5

6}, Kaihua Cao^{7

8}, Lezhi Wang^{9

10}, Wang Kang^{11

12}, Qian Shi^{13

14}, Mengxing Wang^{15

16}, Yu Zhang^{17

18

19}, You Wang^{20

21}, Shouzhong Peng^{22

23}, Jacques-Olivier Klein²⁴, Lirida Alves de Barros Naviner²⁵, Dafine Ravelosona²⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China. weisheng.zhao@buaa.edu.cn.
² Spintronics Interdisciplinary Center, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China. weisheng.zhao@buaa.edu.cn.
³ School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China. xiaoxuan.zhao@buaa.edu.cn.
⁴ Spintronics Interdisciplinary Center, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China. xiaoxuan.zhao@buaa.edu.cn.
⁵ School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China. boyu.zhang@buaa.edu.cn.
⁶ Spintronics Interdisciplinary Center, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China. boyu.zhang@buaa.edu.cn.
⁷ School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China. kaihua.cao@buaa.edu.cn.
⁸ Spintronics Interdisciplinary Center, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China. kaihua.cao@buaa.edu.cn.
⁹ School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China. buaawlz@buaa.edu.cn.
¹⁰ Spintronics Interdisciplinary Center, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China. buaawlz@buaa.edu.cn.
¹¹ School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China. wang.kang@buaa.edu.cn.
¹² Spintronics Interdisciplinary Center, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China. wang.kang@buaa.edu.cn.
¹³ School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China. qian.shi@buaa.edu.cn.
¹⁴ Spintronics Interdisciplinary Center, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China. qian.shi@buaa.edu.cn.
¹⁵ School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China. wangmx_0615@buaa.edu.cn.
¹⁶ Spintronics Interdisciplinary Center, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China. wangmx_0615@buaa.edu.cn.
¹⁷ School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China. yu_zhang@buaa.edu.cn.
¹⁸ Spintronics Interdisciplinary Center, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China. yu_zhang@buaa.edu.cn.
¹⁹ Institut d'Electronique Fondamentale, CNRS UMR 8622, University of Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay, France. yu_zhang@buaa.edu.cn.
²⁰ Institut d'Electronique Fondamentale, CNRS UMR 8622, University of Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay, France. you.wang@telecom-paristech.fr.
²¹ Laboratoire Traitement et Communication de l'Information, Institut MINES-TELECOM, TELECOM ParisTech, Paris 75634, France. you.wang@telecom-paristech.fr.
²² School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China. shouzhong.peng@buaa.edu.cn.
²³ Spintronics Interdisciplinary Center, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China. shouzhong.peng@buaa.edu.cn.
²⁴ Institut d'Electronique Fondamentale, CNRS UMR 8622, University of Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay, France. Jacques-olivier.klein@u-psud.fr.
²⁵ Laboratoire Traitement et Communication de l'Information, Institut MINES-TELECOM, TELECOM ParisTech, Paris 75634, France. lirida.naviner@telecom-paristech.fr.
²⁶ Institut d'Electronique Fondamentale, CNRS UMR 8622, University of Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay, France. dafine.ravelosona@u-psud.fr.

Abstract

Magnetic tunnel junction nanopillar with interfacial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA-MTJ) becomes a promising candidate to build up spin transfer torque magnetic random access memory (STT-MRAM) for the next generation of non-volatile memory as it features low spin transfer switching current, fast speed, high scalability, and easy integration into conventional complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) circuits. However, this device suffers from a number of failure issues, such as large process variation and tunneling barrier breakdown. The large process variation is an intrinsic issue for PMA-MTJ as it is based on the interfacial effects between ultra-thin films with few layers of atoms; the tunneling barrier breakdown is due to the requirement of an ultra-thin tunneling barrier (e.g., <1 nm) to reduce the resistance area for the spin transfer torque switching in the nanopillar. These failure issues limit the research and development of STT-MRAM to widely achieve commercial products. In this paper, we give a full analysis of failure mechanisms for PMA-MTJ and present some eventual solutions from device fabrication to system level integration to optimize the failure issues.

Keywords: STT-MRAM; barrier breakdown; interfacial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy; magnetic tunnel junction; process variation; stochastic behavior.

Publication types

Review