Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to provide a magnetic memory and electronic equipment, which are used for solving the problem that high tunnel magnetic resistance and low power consumption cannot be achieved in the prior art.
In order to solve the technical problems, the invention provides a magnetic memory, which sequentially comprises a magnetic spin valve, a coupling layer and a magnetic tunnel junction from top to bottom;
the magnetic spin valve sequentially comprises a spin reference layer, a nonmagnetic spacer layer and a spin free layer from top to bottom;
The magnetic tunnel junction sequentially comprises a tunnel free layer, a barrier layer and a tunnel reference layer from top to bottom;
the magnetic tunnel junction is magnetically coupled with the magnetic spin valve through the coupling layer.
Optionally, in the magnetic memory, the coupling layer includes a first coupling layer, a vertical strengthening layer, and a second coupling layer sequentially from top to bottom;
The vertical strengthening layer is used for providing vertical anisotropy.
Optionally, in the magnetic memory, the spin reference layer and/or the spin free layer is a heusler alloy layer.
Optionally, in the magnetic memory, the magnetic memory further includes a top pinning layer and a third coupling connection layer;
the top pinned layer is magnetically coupled to the magnetic spin valve through the third coupling connection layer for providing perpendicular anisotropy.
Optionally, in the magnetic memory, the magnetic memory further includes a bottom pinning layer and a fourth coupling connection layer;
The bottom pinned layer is magnetically coupled with the magnetic tunnel junction through the fourth coupling connection layer for providing perpendicular anisotropy.
Optionally, in the magnetic memory, the coupling connection layers of the magnetic memory are all antiferromagnetic coupling layers.
Optionally, in the magnetic memory, the coupling layer of the magnetic memory is at least one of a ruthenium metal layer, an iridium metal layer, a tantalum metal layer, a molybdenum metal layer, or a tungsten metal layer.
Optionally, in the magnetic memory, the non-magnetic spacer layer is at least one of a silver metal layer, a gold metal layer, a copper metal layer, a chromium metal layer, a vanadium metal layer, a tungsten metal layer, or a niobium metal layer.
Optionally, in the magnetic memory, the tunnel free layer and/or the tunnel reference layer is at least one of a cobalt alloy layer, an iron alloy layer, or a nickel alloy layer.
An electronic device comprising a magnetic memory as claimed in any one of the above.
The magnetic memory provided by the invention sequentially comprises a magnetic spin valve, a coupling layer and a magnetic tunnel junction from top to bottom, wherein the magnetic spin valve sequentially comprises a spin reference layer, a nonmagnetic spacer layer and a spin free layer from top to bottom, the magnetic tunnel junction sequentially comprises a tunnel free layer, a barrier layer and a tunnel reference layer from top to bottom, and the magnetic tunnel junction is magnetically coupled with the magnetic spin valve through the coupling layer. According to the invention, the combined structure of the double magnetic tunnel junctions in the prior art is improved into a magnetic spin valve and a magnetic tunnel junction, the magnetic spin valve provides additional spin transfer torque for the magnetic memory, the STT efficiency is greatly improved, the magnetic memory can be driven to turn over by using smaller current, the power consumption of the magnetic memory is remarkably reduced, and in addition, the influence of the magnetic spin valve on the tunnel magnetic resistance of the whole device is smaller, so that the device can still maintain high tunnel magnetic resistance. The invention also provides the electronic equipment with the beneficial effects.
Detailed Description
In order to better understand the aspects of the present invention, the present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and detailed description. It will be apparent that the described embodiments are only some, but not all, embodiments of the invention. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the invention without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the invention.
The core of the present invention is to provide a magnetic memory, a schematic structural diagram of one embodiment of which is shown in fig. 1, which is referred to as embodiment one, and includes, from top to bottom, a magnetic spin valve, a coupling layer 20, and a magnetic tunnel junction in that order;
The magnetic spin valve comprises a spin reference layer 11, a nonmagnetic spacer layer 12 and a spin free layer 13 from top to bottom in sequence;
the magnetic tunnel junction sequentially comprises a tunnel free layer 33, a barrier layer 32 and a tunnel reference layer 31 from top to bottom;
the magnetic tunnel junction is magnetically coupled to the magnetic spin valve through the coupling layer 20.
It should be noted that the coupling layer 20 may be a single-layer coupling layer, or may be a composite layer, such as two coupling layers including two ends, and other structural layers sandwiched between the coupling layers.
As a specific embodiment, the coupling layer of the magnetic memory is at least one of a ruthenium metal layer, an iridium metal layer, a tantalum metal layer, a molybdenum metal layer, or a tungsten metal layer, and of course, an alloy of the above materials may be used, or other suitable materials may be selected according to actual situations.
The non-magnetic spacer layer 12 is at least one of a silver metal layer, a gold metal layer, a copper metal layer, a chromium metal layer, a vanadium metal layer, a tungsten metal layer, and a niobium metal layer, and of course, an alloy of the above materials may be used, or other suitable materials may be selected according to practical situations.
The tunnel free layer 33 and/or the tunnel reference layer 31 may be at least one of a cobalt alloy layer, an iron alloy layer, and a nickel alloy layer, and the barrier layer 32 may be made of a material such as magnesium oxide or aluminum oxide, although other suitable materials may be selected according to practical situations.
The magnetic memory provided by the invention sequentially comprises a magnetic spin valve, a coupling layer 20 and a magnetic tunnel junction from top to bottom, wherein the magnetic spin valve sequentially comprises a spin reference layer 11, a nonmagnetic spacer layer 12 and a spin free layer 13 from top to bottom, the magnetic tunnel junction sequentially comprises a tunnel free layer 33, a barrier layer 32 and a tunnel reference layer 31 from top to bottom, and the magnetic tunnel junction is magnetically coupled with the magnetic spin valve through the coupling layer 20. According to the invention, the combined structure of the double magnetic tunnel junctions in the prior art is improved into a magnetic spin valve and a magnetic tunnel junction, the magnetic spin valve provides additional spin transfer torque for the magnetic memory, the STT efficiency is greatly improved, the magnetic memory can be driven to turn over by using smaller current, the power consumption of the magnetic memory is remarkably reduced, and in addition, the influence of the magnetic spin valve on the tunnel magnetic resistance of the whole device is smaller, so that the device can still maintain high tunnel magnetic resistance.
Based on the first embodiment, the magnetic memory is further improved to obtain a second embodiment, and the schematic structure of the second embodiment is shown in fig. 2, and the second embodiment sequentially comprises a magnetic spin valve, a coupling layer 20 and a magnetic tunnel junction from top to bottom;
The magnetic spin valve comprises a spin reference layer 11, a nonmagnetic spacer layer 12 and a spin free layer 13 from top to bottom in sequence;
the magnetic tunnel junction sequentially comprises a tunnel free layer 33, a barrier layer 32 and a tunnel reference layer 31 from top to bottom;
the magnetic tunnel junction is magnetically coupled to the magnetic spin valve through the coupling layer 20;
The coupling layer 20 comprises a first coupling layer 21, a vertical reinforcing layer 22 and a second coupling layer 23 from top to bottom in sequence;
the vertical strengthening layer 22 is used to provide vertical anisotropy.
In this embodiment, the perpendicular strengthening layer 22 is disposed between the magnetic spin valve and the magnetic tunnel junction, where the perpendicular strengthening layer 22 is made of a material with strong perpendicular anisotropy, so that the perpendicular anisotropy of the whole device can be effectively improved, and the magnetic moment direction of the whole device is biased to be perpendicular, that is, when the magnetic field is reversed, the magnetic field component in the perpendicular direction is more, which is more beneficial to improving the storage density.
Still further, the spin reference layer 11 and/or the spin free layer 13 are heusler alloy layers, and it should be noted that the heusler alloy may also be a related semi-metal, specifically, at least one of CoFeAlSi, coFeAl, coFeSi, coCrFeSi, coMnSi, coFeMnSi, coFeGeGa, niMnSb materials. The heusler alloy has a smaller damping coefficient, and is beneficial to reducing the overall damping coefficient of the device, so that the working current of the device is further reduced, and the power consumption of the magnetic memory is reduced.
Based on the second embodiment, the magnetic memory is further improved to obtain a third embodiment, and the schematic structure of the magnetic memory is shown in fig. 3 to 5, and the magnetic memory sequentially comprises a magnetic spin valve, a coupling layer 20 and a magnetic tunnel junction from top to bottom;
The magnetic spin valve comprises a spin reference layer 11, a nonmagnetic spacer layer 12 and a spin free layer 13 from top to bottom in sequence;
the magnetic tunnel junction sequentially comprises a tunnel free layer 33, a barrier layer 32 and a tunnel reference layer 31 from top to bottom;
the magnetic tunnel junction is magnetically coupled to the magnetic spin valve through the coupling layer 20;
The coupling layer 20 comprises a first coupling layer 21, a vertical reinforcing layer 22 and a second coupling layer 23 from top to bottom in sequence;
The vertical strengthening layer 22 is used to provide vertical anisotropy;
the magnetic memory further includes a top pinning layer 41 and a third coupling connection layer 42;
the top pinned layer 41 is magnetically coupled to the magnetic spin valve through the third coupling connection layer 42 for providing perpendicular anisotropy;
the magnetic memory further includes a bottom pinning layer 51 and a fourth coupling connection layer 52;
The bottom pinned layer 51 is magnetically coupled to the magnetic tunnel junction through the fourth coupling connection layer 52 for providing perpendicular anisotropy.
In this embodiment, pinning layers are added at two ends of the magnetic memory, the top pinning layer 41 and the bottom pinning layer 51 may provide additional vertical anisotropy for the device, so as to further improve the precision and sensitivity of the device, and it should be noted that, although the top pinning layer 41 and the bottom pinning layer 51 are simultaneously provided in this embodiment, the top pinning layer 41 and the bottom pinning layer 51 may also be separately provided, and the two settings are not necessarily related.
The top pinning layer 41 and the bottom pinning layer 51 in this embodiment are made of a material with higher vertical anisotropy, and the vertical anisotropy of the whole magnetic memory is improved in one pass, specifically, at least one of FeNi, fePd, coNi, fePt, coPt material systems may be used, and of course, the vertical strengthening layer 22 mentioned above may also be used.
As a preferred embodiment, the coupling connection layers of the magnetic memory are all antiferromagnetically coupled layers 20. The antiferromagnetic coupling layer 20 has relatively low cost of raw materials, and because all coupling connection layers in the device are the same-property coupling layer 20, the antiferromagnetic coupling layer can be made of the same material, the process flow is simplified, and the production efficiency is improved.
In addition, the third coupling connecting layer and the fourth coupling connecting layer are antiferromagnetic coupling layers, and antiferromagnetic coupling is helpful for the stray fields of the pinning layer and the reference layer to cancel each other, so that the influence on magnetization inversion of the free layer is reduced.
Of course, if the coupling layer 20 is a single-layer coupling layer, in order to ensure that the spin transfer torques of the magnetic spin valve and the magnetic tunnel junction overlap each other, when the coupling layer between the magnetic spin valve and the magnetic tunnel junction is an antiferromagnetic coupling layer 20, the magnetic spin valve and the magnetic tunnel junction are disposed in the same direction (i.e., the spin reference layer 11 and the tunnel reference layer 31 are in the same direction), and when the coupling layer between the magnetic spin valve and the magnetic tunnel junction is a ferromagnetic coupling layer 20, the magnetic spin valve and the magnetic tunnel junction are disposed in opposite directions (i.e., the spin reference layer 11 and the tunnel reference layer 31 are in opposite directions).
In this embodiment, the coupling layer 20 includes two coupling connection layers, that is, the first coupling connection layer 21 and the second coupling connection layer 23, so as to ensure that the spin transfer torques of the magnetic spin valve and the magnetic tunnel junction can be superimposed, including three cases (directions of layers are indicated by arrows in the figure):
First, as shown in fig. 3, the first coupling layer 21 and the second coupling layer 23 are ferromagnetic coupling, the third coupling layer 42 and the fourth coupling layer 52 are antiferromagnetic coupling, and the magnetic spin valve is opposite to the magnetic tunnel junction.
The second type is shown in fig. 4, in which the first coupling layer 21, the third coupling layer 42 and the fourth coupling layer 52 are antiferromagnetically coupled, the second coupling layer 23 is ferromagnetically coupled, and the magnetic spin valve and the magnetic tunnel junction are in the same direction.
Third, as shown in fig. 5, all of the first coupling layer 21, the second coupling layer 23, the third coupling layer 42 and the fourth coupling layer 52 are antiferromagnetically coupled, and the magnetic spin valve is opposite to the magnetic tunnel junction.
An electronic device comprising a magnetic memory as claimed in any one of the above. The magnetic memory provided by the invention sequentially comprises a magnetic spin valve, a coupling layer 20 and a magnetic tunnel junction from top to bottom, wherein the magnetic spin valve sequentially comprises a spin reference layer 11, a nonmagnetic spacer layer 12 and a spin free layer 13 from top to bottom, the magnetic tunnel junction sequentially comprises a tunnel free layer 33, a barrier layer 32 and a tunnel reference layer 31 from top to bottom, and the magnetic tunnel junction is magnetically coupled with the magnetic spin valve through the coupling layer 20. According to the invention, the combined structure of the double magnetic tunnel junctions in the prior art is improved into a magnetic spin valve and a magnetic tunnel junction, the magnetic spin valve provides additional spin transfer torque for the magnetic memory, the STT efficiency is greatly improved, the magnetic memory can be driven to turn over by using smaller current, the power consumption of the magnetic memory is remarkably reduced, and in addition, the influence of the magnetic spin valve on the tunnel magnetic resistance of the whole device is smaller, so that the device can still maintain high tunnel magnetic resistance.
In this specification, each embodiment is described in a progressive manner, and each embodiment is mainly described in a different point from other embodiments, so that the same or similar parts between the embodiments are referred to each other. For the device disclosed in the embodiment, since it corresponds to the method disclosed in the embodiment, the description is relatively simple, and the relevant points refer to the description of the method section.
It should be noted that in this specification, relational terms such as first and second, and the like are used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. Moreover, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one does not exclude the presence of other like elements in a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises an element.
The magnetic memory and the electronic device provided by the invention are described in detail above. The principles and embodiments of the present invention have been described herein with reference to specific examples, the description of which is intended only to facilitate an understanding of the method of the present invention and its core ideas. It should be noted that it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and adaptations of the invention can be made without departing from the principles of the invention and these modifications and adaptations are intended to be within the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.