Origin of interfacial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in MgO/CoFe/metallic capping layer structures

Abstract

Spin-transfer-torque magnetic random access memory (STT-MRAM) attracts extensive attentions due to its non-volatility, high density and low power consumption. The core device in STT-MRAM is CoFeB/MgO-based magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ), which possesses a high tunnel magnetoresistance ratio as well as a large value of perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA). It has been experimentally proven that a capping layer coating on CoFeB layer is essential to obtain a strong PMA. However, the physical mechanism of such effect remains unclear. In this paper, we investigate the origin of the PMA in MgO/CoFe/metallic capping layer structures by using a first-principles computation scheme. The trend of PMA variation with different capping materials agrees well with experimental results. We find that interfacial PMA in the three-layer structures comes from both the MgO/CoFe and CoFe/capping layer interfaces, which can be analyzed separately. Furthermore, the PMAs in the CoFe/capping layer interfaces are analyzed through resolving the magnetic anisotropy energy by layer and orbital. The variation of PMA with different capping materials is attributed to the different hybridizations of both d and p orbitals via spin-orbital coupling. This work can significantly benefit the research and development of nanoscale STT-MRAM.

6 pages with 5 figures

References in corpus (3)

• Switching of perpendicular magnetization by spin-orbit torques in the absence of external magnetic fields
• Angular and temperature dependence of current induced spin-orbit effective fields in Ta/CoFeB/MgO nanowires
• Enhancement of Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy and Transmission of Spin-Hall-Effect-Induced Spin Currents by a Hf Spacer Layer in W/Hf/CoFeB/MgO Layer

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