Magnetic memory driven by topological insulators

Hao Wu; Aitian Chen; Peng Zhang; Haoran He; John Nance; Chenyang Guo; Julian Sasaki; Takanori Shirokura; Pham Nam Hai; Bin Fang; Seyed Armin Razavi; Kin Wong; Yan Wen; Yinchang Ma; Guoqiang Yu; Gregory P. Carman; Xiufeng Han; Xixiang Zhang; Kang L. Wang

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-26478-3

Magnetic memory driven by topological insulators

Hao Wu, Aitian Chen, Peng Zhang, Haoran He, John Nance, Chenyang Guo, Julian Sasaki, Takanori Shirokura, Pham Nam Hai, Bin Fang, Seyed Armin Razavi, Kin Wong, Yan Wen, Yinchang Ma, Guoqiang Yu, Gregory P. Carman, Xiufeng Han, Xixiang Zhang, Kang L. Wang

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Giant spin-orbit torque (SOT) from topological insulators (TIs) provides an energy efficient writing method for magnetic memory, which, however, is still premature for practical applications due to the challenge of the integration with magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs). Here, we demonstrate a functional TI-MTJ device that could become the core element of the future energy-efficient spintronic devices, such as SOT-based magnetic random-access memory (SOT-MRAM). The state-of-the-art tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio of 102% and the ultralow switching current density of 1.2 × 105 A cm−2 have been simultaneously achieved in the TI-MTJ device at room temperature, laying down the foundation for TI-driven SOT-MRAM. The charge-spin conversion efficiency θSH in TIs is quantified by both the SOT-induced shift of the magnetic switching field (θSH = 1.59) and the SOT-induced ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR) (θSH = 1.02), which is one order of magnitude larger than that in conventional heavy metals. These results inspire a revolution of SOT-MRAM from classical to quantum materials, with great potential to further reduce the energy consumption.

Original language	English (US)
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	12
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26478-3
State	Published - Oct 29 2021

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2021-11-01
Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): CRF-2017-3427-CRG6, OSR
Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the NSF Award Nos. 1935362, 1909416, 1810163 and 1611570, the Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Translational Applications of Nanoscale Multiferroic Systems (TANMS), the U.S. Army Research Office MURI program under Grants No. W911NF-16-1-0472 and No. W911NF-15-1-10561. The work at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) was supported by KAUST Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) under award No. CRF-2017-3427-CRG6. The work at Tokyo Tech. was supported by the CREST program (No. JPMJCR18T5) of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), and the Spintronics Research Network of Japan (Spin-RNJ). H.W. acknowledges the help of the schematic design from Chin-Chung Chen.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
General Chemistry
General Physics and Astronomy

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1038/s41467-021-26478-3

https://repository.kaust.edu.sa/bitstream/10754/673009/1/s41467-021-26478-3.pdf

Cite this

@article{a53be3e757c647c1b2138577609708b8,

title = "Magnetic memory driven by topological insulators",

abstract = "Giant spin-orbit torque (SOT) from topological insulators (TIs) provides an energy efficient writing method for magnetic memory, which, however, is still premature for practical applications due to the challenge of the integration with magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs). Here, we demonstrate a functional TI-MTJ device that could become the core element of the future energy-efficient spintronic devices, such as SOT-based magnetic random-access memory (SOT-MRAM). The state-of-the-art tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio of 102% and the ultralow switching current density of 1.2 × 105 A cm−2 have been simultaneously achieved in the TI-MTJ device at room temperature, laying down the foundation for TI-driven SOT-MRAM. The charge-spin conversion efficiency θSH in TIs is quantified by both the SOT-induced shift of the magnetic switching field (θSH = 1.59) and the SOT-induced ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR) (θSH = 1.02), which is one order of magnitude larger than that in conventional heavy metals. These results inspire a revolution of SOT-MRAM from classical to quantum materials, with great potential to further reduce the energy consumption.",

author = "Hao Wu and Aitian Chen and Peng Zhang and Haoran He and John Nance and Chenyang Guo and Julian Sasaki and Takanori Shirokura and Hai, {Pham Nam} and Bin Fang and Razavi, {Seyed Armin} and Kin Wong and Yan Wen and Yinchang Ma and Guoqiang Yu and Carman, {Gregory P.} and Xiufeng Han and Xixiang Zhang and Wang, {Kang L.}",

note = "KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2021-11-01 Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): CRF-2017-3427-CRG6, OSR Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the NSF Award Nos. 1935362, 1909416, 1810163 and 1611570, the Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Translational Applications of Nanoscale Multiferroic Systems (TANMS), the U.S. Army Research Office MURI program under Grants No. W911NF-16-1-0472 and No. W911NF-15-1-10561. The work at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) was supported by KAUST Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) under award No. CRF-2017-3427-CRG6. The work at Tokyo Tech. was supported by the CREST program (No. JPMJCR18T5) of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), and the Spintronics Research Network of Japan (Spin-RNJ). H.W. acknowledges the help of the schematic design from Chin-Chung Chen.",

year = "2021",

month = oct,

day = "29",

doi = "10.1038/s41467-021-26478-3",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "12",

journal = "Nature Communications",

issn = "2041-1723",

publisher = "Nature Research",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Magnetic memory driven by topological insulators

AU - Wu, Hao

AU - Chen, Aitian

AU - Zhang, Peng

AU - He, Haoran

AU - Nance, John

AU - Guo, Chenyang

AU - Sasaki, Julian

AU - Shirokura, Takanori

AU - Hai, Pham Nam

AU - Fang, Bin

AU - Razavi, Seyed Armin

AU - Wong, Kin

AU - Wen, Yan

AU - Ma, Yinchang

AU - Yu, Guoqiang

AU - Carman, Gregory P.

AU - Han, Xiufeng

AU - Zhang, Xixiang

AU - Wang, Kang L.

N1 - KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2021-11-01 Acknowledged KAUST grant number(s): CRF-2017-3427-CRG6, OSR Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the NSF Award Nos. 1935362, 1909416, 1810163 and 1611570, the Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Translational Applications of Nanoscale Multiferroic Systems (TANMS), the U.S. Army Research Office MURI program under Grants No. W911NF-16-1-0472 and No. W911NF-15-1-10561. The work at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) was supported by KAUST Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) under award No. CRF-2017-3427-CRG6. The work at Tokyo Tech. was supported by the CREST program (No. JPMJCR18T5) of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), and the Spintronics Research Network of Japan (Spin-RNJ). H.W. acknowledges the help of the schematic design from Chin-Chung Chen.

PY - 2021/10/29

Y1 - 2021/10/29

N2 - Giant spin-orbit torque (SOT) from topological insulators (TIs) provides an energy efficient writing method for magnetic memory, which, however, is still premature for practical applications due to the challenge of the integration with magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs). Here, we demonstrate a functional TI-MTJ device that could become the core element of the future energy-efficient spintronic devices, such as SOT-based magnetic random-access memory (SOT-MRAM). The state-of-the-art tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio of 102% and the ultralow switching current density of 1.2 × 105 A cm−2 have been simultaneously achieved in the TI-MTJ device at room temperature, laying down the foundation for TI-driven SOT-MRAM. The charge-spin conversion efficiency θSH in TIs is quantified by both the SOT-induced shift of the magnetic switching field (θSH = 1.59) and the SOT-induced ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR) (θSH = 1.02), which is one order of magnitude larger than that in conventional heavy metals. These results inspire a revolution of SOT-MRAM from classical to quantum materials, with great potential to further reduce the energy consumption.

AB - Giant spin-orbit torque (SOT) from topological insulators (TIs) provides an energy efficient writing method for magnetic memory, which, however, is still premature for practical applications due to the challenge of the integration with magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs). Here, we demonstrate a functional TI-MTJ device that could become the core element of the future energy-efficient spintronic devices, such as SOT-based magnetic random-access memory (SOT-MRAM). The state-of-the-art tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio of 102% and the ultralow switching current density of 1.2 × 105 A cm−2 have been simultaneously achieved in the TI-MTJ device at room temperature, laying down the foundation for TI-driven SOT-MRAM. The charge-spin conversion efficiency θSH in TIs is quantified by both the SOT-induced shift of the magnetic switching field (θSH = 1.59) and the SOT-induced ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR) (θSH = 1.02), which is one order of magnitude larger than that in conventional heavy metals. These results inspire a revolution of SOT-MRAM from classical to quantum materials, with great potential to further reduce the energy consumption.

UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10754/673009

UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26478-3

U2 - 10.1038/s41467-021-26478-3

DO - 10.1038/s41467-021-26478-3

M3 - Article

C2 - 34716324

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 12

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

IS - 1

ER -

Magnetic memory driven by topological insulators

Abstract

Bibliographical note

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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