Role of oxygen migration on the thermal stability of the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in bottom and top structures

Wei Du; Mengli Liu; Fengxuan Han; Hua Su; Huaiwu Zhang; Bo Liu; Hao Meng; Xiaoli Tang

doi:10.1063/5.0076579

APL Materials (Jan 2022)

Role of oxygen migration on the thermal stability of the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in bottom and top structures

Wei Du,
Mengli Liu,
Fengxuan Han,
Hua Su,
Huaiwu Zhang,
Bo Liu,
Hao Meng,
Xiaoli Tang

Affiliations

Wei Du: State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China
Mengli Liu: State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China
Fengxuan Han: State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China
Hua Su: State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China
Huaiwu Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China
Bo Liu: Key Laboratory of Spintronics Materials, Devices and Systems of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 311305, China
Hao Meng: Key Laboratory of Spintronics Materials, Devices and Systems of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 311305, China
Xiaoli Tang: State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0076579
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 10, no. 1
pp. 011101 – 011101-8

Abstract

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The effect of interfacial oxygen migration on the thermal stability of the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) in bottom and top structures was investigated in detail. By controlling the diffusion of thermally activated oxygen atoms, PMA with high thermal stability was achieved in the top structure. Compared with the bottom structure, the range of annealing temperature for which PMA was observed was extended to higher temperature (60 °C higher) via the strong Fe–O bonding in the top structure. Through detailed x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses, the chemical states of different elements in CoFeB/MgO layers and the oxygen atom diffusion were investigated to understand the mechanisms behind the obtained high thermal stability of the PMA. It was found that the absence of thermally activated oxygen atom migration in the top structure is the main reason for the high thermal stability of the PMA. This study provides a promising way to obtain PMA with high thermal stability in CoFeB–MgO-based spintronic devices, which is significant to improve the compatibility of magnetic memories with the semiconductor integrated technology.

Published in APL Materials

ISSN: 2166-532X (Online)
Publisher: AIP Publishing LLC
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Technology: Chemical technology: Biotechnology; Science: Physics
Website: http://aplmaterials.aip.org

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