Electric-field-assisted non-volatile magnetic switching in a magnetoelectronic hybrid structure

oleh: Yuanjun Yang, Zhenlin Luo, Shutong Wang, Wenyu Huang, Guilin Wang, Cangmin Wang, Yingxue Yao, Hongju Li, Zhili Wang, Jingtian Zhou, Yongqi Dong, Yong Guan, Yangchao Tian, Ce Feng, Yonggang Zhao, Chen Gao, Gang Xiao

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: Elsevier 2021-07-01

Deskripsi

Summary: Electric-field (E-field) control of magnetic switching provides an energy-efficient means to toggle the magnetic states in spintronic devices. The angular tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) of an magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ)/PMN-PT magnetoelectronic hybrid indicates that the angle-dependent switching fields of the free layer can decrease significantly subject to the application of an E-field. In particular, the switching field along the major axis is reduced by 59% from 28.0 to 11.5 Oe as the E-field increases from 0 to 6 kV/cm, while the TMR ratio remains intact. The switching boundary angle decreases (increases) for the parallel (antiparallel) to antiparallel (parallel) state switch, resulting in a shrunk switching window size. The non-volatile and reversible 180° magnetization switching is demonstrated by using E-fields with a smaller magnetic field bias as low as 11.5 Oe. The angular magnetic switching originates from competition among the E-field-induced magnetoelastic anisotropy, magnetic shape anisotropy, and Zeeman energy, which is confirmed by micromagnetic simulations.