TY - JOUR
T1 - Giant voltage manipulation of MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions via localized anisotropic strain
T2 - A potential pathway to ultra-energy-efficient memory technology
AU - Zhao, Zhengyang
AU - Jamali, Mahdi
AU - D'Souza, Noel
AU - Zhang, Delin
AU - Bandyopadhyay, Supriyo
AU - Atulasimha, Jayasimha
AU - Wang, Jian Ping
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Author(s).
PY - 2016/8/29
Y1 - 2016/8/29
N2 - Voltage control of magnetization via strain in piezoelectric/magnetostrictive systems is a promising mechanism to implement energy-efficient straintronic memory devices. Here, we demonstrate giant voltage manipulation of MgO magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJ) on a Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)0.7Ti0.3O3 piezoelectric substrate with (001) orientation. It is found that the magnetic easy axis, switching field, and the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) of the MTJ can be efficiently controlled by strain from the underlying piezoelectric layer upon the application of a gate voltage. Repeatable voltage controlled MTJ toggling between high/low-resistance states is demonstrated. More importantly, instead of relying on the intrinsic anisotropy of the piezoelectric substrate to generate the required strain, we utilize anisotropic strain produced using a local gating scheme, which is scalable and amenable to practical memory applications. Additionally, the adoption of crystalline MgO-based MTJ on piezoelectric layer lends itself to high TMR in the strain-mediated MRAM devices.
AB - Voltage control of magnetization via strain in piezoelectric/magnetostrictive systems is a promising mechanism to implement energy-efficient straintronic memory devices. Here, we demonstrate giant voltage manipulation of MgO magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJ) on a Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)0.7Ti0.3O3 piezoelectric substrate with (001) orientation. It is found that the magnetic easy axis, switching field, and the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) of the MTJ can be efficiently controlled by strain from the underlying piezoelectric layer upon the application of a gate voltage. Repeatable voltage controlled MTJ toggling between high/low-resistance states is demonstrated. More importantly, instead of relying on the intrinsic anisotropy of the piezoelectric substrate to generate the required strain, we utilize anisotropic strain produced using a local gating scheme, which is scalable and amenable to practical memory applications. Additionally, the adoption of crystalline MgO-based MTJ on piezoelectric layer lends itself to high TMR in the strain-mediated MRAM devices.
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U2 - 10.1063/1.4961670
DO - 10.1063/1.4961670
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84984994803
SN - 0003-6951
VL - 109
JO - Applied Physics Letters
JF - Applied Physics Letters
IS - 9
M1 - 092403
ER -