Spin transfer switching in TbCoFe/CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB/TbCoFe magnetic tunnel junctions with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy

Spin transfer (ST) switching in the TbCoFe/CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB/TbCoFe magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) was studied. The TbCoFe/CoFeB free layer with a large coercive field of 1.2 kOe and a large thermal stability factor of 107 at room temperature was switched by a 100 ns pulse current with a current density of 4.7 MA/cm(2). This is the first report of ST switching in a MTJ with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. The temperature dependence of the coercive field was also investigated to estimate the magnetic anisotropy in the case of rising temperature due to the Joule heating effect. The measured coercive field at 87 degrees C, which was the simulated temperature during the switching pulse current, was about 0.34 kOe. The ratio of the switching current density to the coercive field under the switching current in the MTJ with the TbCoFe/CoFeB free layer is smaller than that in a typical MTJ with an in-plane magnetized CoFeB free layer. This result indicates that a MTJ with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy is advantageous for realizing low switching current magnetoresistive random access memory. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.