Spin-orbit torque induced magnetization switching in Ta/Co20Fe60B20/MgO structures under small in-plane magnetic fields

Spin-orbit torque (SOT)-induced magnetization switching under small in-plane magnetic fields in as-deposited and annealed Ta/CoFeB/MgO structures is studied. For the as-deposited samples, partial SOT-induced switching behavior is observed under an in-plane field of less than 100 Oe. Conversely, for the annealed samples, an in-plane field of 10Oe is large enough to achieve full deterministic magnetization switching. The Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction at the Ta/CoFeB interface is believed to be the main reason for the discrepancy of the requisite in-plane magnetic fields for switching in the as-deposited and annealed samples. In addition, asymmetric field dependence behavior of SOT-induced magnetization switching is observed in the annealed samples. Deterministic magnetization switching in the absence of an external magnetic field is obtained in the annealed samples, which is extremely important to develop SOT-based magnetoresistive random access memory. Published by AIP Publishing.