Picosecond all-optical switching of magnetic tunnel junctions

Abstract

Control of magnetism without using magnetic fields enables large-scale integration of spintronic devices for memory, computation and communication in the beyond-CMOS era. Mechanisms including spin torque transfer, spin Hall effect, and electric field or strain assisted switching have been implemented to switch magnetization in various spintronic devices. Their operation speed, however, is fundamentally limited by the spin precession time to be longer than 10-100 picoseconds. Overcoming such a speed constraint is critical for the prospective development of spintronics. Here we report the demonstration of picosecond all-optical switching of a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ)- the building block of spintronic logic and memory -only using single telecom-band, infrared laser pulses. This first optically switchable MTJ uses ferrimagnetic GdFeCo as the free layer, and its switching is directly readout by measuring its tunneling magnetoresistance with a DR/R ratio of 0.6%. An instrument limited switching repetition rate at MHz has been demonstrated, but the fundamental limit should be higher than tens of GHz. This result represents an important step toward integrated opto-spintronic devices that combines spintronics and photonics technologies to enable ultrafast conversion between fundamental information carriers of electron spins and photons.

arXiv comment17 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (5)

• Spin torque switching with the giant spin Hall effect of tantalum
• All-optical control of ferromagnetic thin films and nanostructures
• Light-induced magnetization reversal of high-anisotropy TbCo alloy films
• Two types of all-optical magnetization switching mechanisms using femtosecond laser pulses
• Exchange Bias and Bistable Magneto-Resistance States in Amorphous TbFeCo thin Films

Cited by in corpus (22)

• Ultrafast Magnetization Reversal by Picosecond Electrical Pulses
• Single shot ultrafast all optical magnetization switching of ferromagnetic Co/Pt multilayers
• Picosecond Switching of Optomagnetic Tunnel Junctions
• Unifying femtosecond and picosecond single-pulse magnetic switching in GdFeCo
• Roles of heating and helicity in ultrafast all-optical magnetization switching in TbFeCo
• Universal criteria for single femtosecond pulse ultrafast magnetization switching in ferrimagnets
• Helicity-independent all-optical switching of magnetization in ferrimagnetic alloys
• Design of an integrated hybrid plasmonic-photonic device for all-optical switching and reading of spintronic memory
• Enhanced all-optical switching and domain wall velocity in annealed synthetic-ferrimagnetic multilayers
• X-ray magnetic linear dichroism as a probe for non-collinear magnetic state in ferrimagnetic single layer exchange bias systems
• First-principles and model simulation of all-optical spin reversal
• Electrical generation and detection of terahertz signal based on spin-wave emission from ferrimagnets
• Understanding all-optical spin switching: Comparison between experiment and theory
• Ultra-low energy threshold engineering for all-optical switching of magnetization in dielectric-coated Co/Gd based synthetic-ferrimagnet
• Optical Switching in Tb/Co-Multilayer Based Nanoscale Magnetic Tunnel Junctions
• Atomistic spin model of single pulse toggle switching in Mn${}_2$Ru${}_x$Ga Heusler alloys
• Influence of interlayer exchange coupling on ultrafast laser-induced magnetization reversal in ferromagnetic spin valves
• Ultrafast single-pulse all-optical switching in synthetic ferrimagnetic Tb/Co/Gd multilayers
• Sense current dependent coercivity and magnetization relaxation in Gd-Fe-Co Hall bar
• Heat-Assisted Multiferroic Solid-State Memory
• Impact of Boron doping to the tunneling magnetoresistance of Heusler alloy Co2FeAl
• Integrated magneto-photonic non-volatile multi-bit memory