Bidirectional switching assisted by interlayer exchange coupling in asymmetric magnetic tunnel junctions

Abstract

We study the combined effects of spin transfer torque, voltage modulation of interlayer exchange coupling and magnetic anisotropy on the switching behavior of perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions (p-MTJs). In asymmetric p-MTJs, a linear-in-voltage dependence of interlayer exchange coupling enables the effective perpendicular anisotropy barrier to be lowered for both voltage polarities. This mechanism is shown to reduce the critical switching current and effective activation energy. Finally, we analyze the possibility of having switching via interlayer exchange coupling only.

References in corpus (5)

• Spin Transfer Torques
• Bias-driven large power microwave emission from MgO-based tunnel magnetoresistance devices
• Anomalous Bias Dependence of Spin Torque in Magnetic Tunnel Junctions
• Bias dependence of magnetic exchange interactions: application to interlayer exchange coupling in spin valves
• Voltage Dependence of Spin Transfer Torque in Magnetic Tunnel Junctions