Magnetic Tunnel Junctions (MTJs) and

MRAM WANG LAB

Colin Figgins

1

Motivation❏ In ~15 years, transistor will

become too small to remain reliable

❏ Low energy switching❏ Reduce heat runoff and

volatility (likelihood of electrons to tunnel through trans. gate)

http://acceleratingevolution.info/CS/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/moores.law_.technological.evolution.jpg

http://ixbtlabs.com/articles2/intel-65nm/

2

Intro to the MTJ● Use spin of

electron rather than Charge

http://www.kylepounds.com/Education%20-%20Sizes%20of%20Things.html

3

1976

Julliere’s Model

http://theo.physik.uni-konstanz.de/uli/files/magentic_tunneling_junction.pdf

TMR of 161.7% at Room Temperature

TMR of 231.4% at Room Temperature

4

Nano-Fabrication 5

Photolithography

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/02/prweb505378.htm

6

Nano-sphere lithography

Use for samples smaller than 1um

7

Argon Etching 8

Thin Layer Deposition 9

Final full pattern piece 10

Probe Station 11

Ni-MgO-CoFeB modelCoFeB allows for Voltage controlled magnetic properties

+500mV -500mVApplied Magnetic Field (Oe) Applied Magnetic Field (Oe)

Res

ista

nce

(Ohm

s)

Res

ista

nce

(Ohm

s)

12

Future of MTJs - Magnetic Random Access Memory

Energy Efficient

Non Volatile

Long Term Memory

Resistant to Radiation and Power loss

http://www.southampton.ac.uk/~rpb/thesis/img280.png

13

Summary

http://www.spacex.com/news/2014/07/14/falcon-9-launches-orbcomm-og2-satellites-orbit

http://ixbtlabs.com/articles2/intel-65nm/

14

Acknowledgements ● Weigang Wang ● Hamid Almasi● Marcus Rosales● Srinivas Manne● Rebekah Cross● Amanda Halawani● Nikita Kirnosov

15

Questions 16