On the Temperature-dependent Characteristics of Perpendicular Shape Anisotropy-Spin Transfer Torque-Magnetic Random Access Memories (PSA-STT-MRAMs)

TL;DR

This paper investigates how temperature influences the magnetic properties and stability of PSA-STT-MRAMs, emphasizing the importance of temperature-dependent shape and interfacial anisotropies for device performance.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of temperature effects on PSA-STT-MRAMs, including modeling and comparison of various temperature-dependent parameters and their impact on stability and switching.

Findings

Temperature significantly affects shape anisotropy and magnetic stability.

Nontrivial corrections to thermal stability factor are identified.

Temperature-dependent properties influence coercivity and switching characteristics.

Abstract

The perpendicular shape anisotropy-spin transfer torque-magnetic random access memories (PSASTT-MRAMs) takes advantage of the nanopillar free-layer geometry for securing a good thermal stability factor from the shape anisotropy of the nanomagnet. Such a concept is particularly well-suited for small junctions down to a few nanometers. At such a volume size, the nanopillar can be effectively modeled as a Stoner-Wohlfarth (SW) particle, and the shape anisotropy scales with the spontaneous magnetization by ~ Ms^2. For almost all ferromagnets, Ms is a strong function of temperature, therefore, the temperature-dependent shape anisotropy is an important factor to be considered in any modeling of the temperature-dependent performance of PSA-STT-MRAMs. In this work, we summarize and discuss various possible temperature-dependent contributions to the thermal stability factor and coercivity of the PSA-STT-MRAMs by modeling and comparing different temperature scaling and parameters. We reveal nontrivial corrections to the thermal stability factor by considering both temperature-dependent shape and interfacial anisotropies. The coercivity, blocking temperature, and electrical switching characteristics that resulted from incorporating such a temperature dependence are also discussed, in conjugation with the nanomagnet dimension and coherence volume.