Spintronics aims at extending the possibility of conventional electronics by using not only the charge of the electron, but also its spin. The resulting spintronic devices, combining the front-end CMOS technology of electronics with a magnetic backend technology, employ Magnetic Tunnel Junctions (MTJs) as core elements. With the intent of simulating a circuit without fabricating it first, a reliable MTJ electrical model which is applicable to the standard SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis) simulator is required. Since such a model was lacking so far, we present an accurate MTJ SPICE model whose magnetic state is written by using the Spin-Transfer Torque (STT) effect. This model has been developed in C language and validated on the Cadence Virtuoso Platform with Spectre simulator. Its operation is similar to those of the standard BSIM (Berkeley Short-channel IGFET Model) SPICE model of the MOS transistor and fully compatible with the SPICE electrical simulator. In order to illustrate the model performance, we studied the tunneling conductance and STT-driven magnetization dynamics by comparing our simulation results with theoretical macrospin calculations and results found in the literature.
The general purpose of spin-electronics is to take advantage of the spin of the electrons in addition to their electrical charge to conceive innovative electronic components. These components combine magnetic materials which are used as spin-polarizer or analyzer together with semiconductors or insulators. SPINTEC Laboratory works on the development of these components and their integration in innovative hybrid CMOS/magnetic architectures. We study in particular the use of Magnetic Tunnel Junctions (MTJ) for the design of Magnetic Random Access Memories (MRAM), Magnetic FPGA (MFPGA) and non-reprogrammable logical devices (transceivers, adders, decoders). The design of these hybrid architectures requires to develop electrical equivalent models of the magnetic elementary components (magnetic tunnel junctions, spin-valves, Hall crosses) compatible with SPICE-like simulators. Complete simulations of the hybrid devices are performed before experimental realization and testing.
The general purpose of spin electronics is to take advantage of the electron’s spin in addition to its electrical charge to build innovative electronic devices. These devices combine magnetic materials which are used as spin polarizer or analyzer together with semiconductors or insulators, resulting in innovative hybrid CMOS/magnetic (Complementary MOS) architectures. In particular, magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) can be used for the design of magnetic random access memories [S. Tehrani, Proc. IEEE 91, 703 (2003)], magnetic field programmable gate arrays [Y. Guillement, International Journal of Reconfigurable Computing, 2008], low-power application specific integrated circuits [S. Matsunaga, Appl. Phys. Express 1, 091301 (2008)], and rf oscillators. The thermally assisted switching (TAS) technology requires heating the MTJ before writing it by means of an external field. It reduces the overall power consumption, solves the data writing selectivity issues, and improves the thermal stability of the written information for high density applications. The design of hybrid architectures requires a MTJ compact model, which can be used in standard electrical simulators of the industry. As a result, complete simulations of CMOS/MTJ hybrid circuits can be performed before experimental realization and testing. This article presents a highly accurate model of the MTJ based on the TAS technology. It is compatible with the Spectre electrical simulator of Cadence design suite.
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