AIP Advances (Feb 2024)

L10 FePd-based perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions with 65% tunnel magnetoresistance and ultralow switching current density

  • Deyuan Lyu,
  • Jenae E. Shoup,
  • Ali T. Habiboglu,
  • Qi Jia,
  • Pravin Khanal,
  • Brandon R. Zink,
  • Yang Lv,
  • Bowei Zhou,
  • Daniel B. Gopman,
  • Weigang Wang,
  • Jian-Ping Wang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1063/9.0000818
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 2
pp. 025019 – 025019-6

Abstract

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L10 FePd is increasingly recognized as a potential candidate for magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs), yet there remains room for enhancing device performance. In this work, we fabricated fully-integrated L10 FePd-based perpendicular MTJ devices and achieved a significant increase in tunnel magnetoresistance, reaching ∼65%, compared to the previous record of 25%. Notably, we observed bi-directional switching with a low switching current density of about 1.4 × 105 A/cm2, which outperforms the typical spin-transfer torque (STT) MTJ by about one order of magnitude. We propose two possible mechanisms to elucidate the switching process and associated device performance: (1) The voltage-controlled exchange coupling-driven switching of the bottom CoFeB layer; (2) The STT-driven switching of the exchange-coupled L10 FePd–CoFeB composite. While additional research is necessary, these findings may further advance the integration of L10 FePd into spintronic devices, potentially enabling low-energy memory and logic technologies.