Reversing exchange bias in thermally assisted magnetic random access memory cell by electric current heating pulses

Аннотация

Exchange bias phenomenon,1,2 leading to the pinning of the magnetization of a ferromagnetic
F layer in contact with an antiferromagnetic
AF layer, has been extensively used in spin valves, magnetic tunnel junctions
MTJs and other spintronic devices to create reference direction for the spin of the electrons.3 The same principle is used in thermally assisted magnetic random access memory
TAMRAM, where each memory element consists of a MTJ comprising a storage layer exchange biased by an AF.4–7 In this case, the magnetization direction of the F/AF storage layer is set by heating the tunnel junction to a setting temperature Tset with an electric current pulse flowing through the junction in the direction perpendicular-to-plane, in the presence of a magnetic field.