All-Optical Switching of Magnetic Tunnel Junctions with Single Subpicosecond Laser Pulses

Chen, Junyang; He, Lenian; Wang, Jian Ping; Li, Mo

doi:10.1103/physrevapplied.7.021001

Cited by 88 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…An important milestone in the technological exploitation of AOS 27 was achieved by Chen et al 5 . In that work, an optically-switchable GdFeCo layer was integrated within a micron-sized p-MTJ pillar showing TMR values of 0.6% upon exposure to a single single ultrashort laser pulse.…”

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confidence: 99%

Single-shot all-optical switching of magnetization in Tb/Co multilayer-based electrodes

Avilés-Félix

Olivier

Li³

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Ever since the first observation of all-optical switching of magnetization in the ferrimagnetic alloy GdFeCo using femtosecond laser pulses, there has been significant interest in exploiting this process for data-recording applications. in particular, the ultrafast speed of the magnetic reversal can enable the writing speeds associated with magnetic memory devices to be potentially pushed towards tHz frequencies. this work reports the development of perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions incorporating a stack of tb/co nanolayers whose magnetization can be all-optically controlled via helicity-independent single-shot switching. toggling of the magnetization of the tb/co electrode was achieved using either 60 femtosecond-long or 5 picosecond-long laser pulses, with incident fluences down to 3.5 mJ/cm 2 , for co-rich compositions of the stack either in isolation or coupled to a cofeBelectrode/Mgo-barrier tunnel-junction stack. Successful switching of the cofeB-[tb/co] electrodes was obtained even after annealing at 250 °c. After integration of the [tb/co]-based electrodes within perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions yielded a maximum tunneling magnetoresistance signal of 41% and RxA value of 150 Ωμm 2 with current-in-plane measurements and ratios between 28% and 38% in nanopatterned pillars. these results represent a breakthrough for the development of perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions controllable using single laser pulses, and offer a technologically-viable path towards the realization of hybrid spintronic-photonic systems featuring tHz switching speeds. Ferrimagnetic systems based on rare earth (RE)-transition metal (TM) alloys and multilayers have been extensively studied in recent decades, largely due to their potential application in the field of magneto-optical recording 1. The strong perpendicular magnetocrystalline anisotropy inherent to amorphous RE-TM systems have allowed these alloys to play a key role in the historical transition from longitudinal to perpendicular magnetic recording structures 2 , and made them ideal for handling magnetic bit instabilities arising from superparamagnetic effects 3. Binary and ternary RE-TM systems such as GdFeCo, GdCo, TbCo or GdFe are still driving forward new developments pertaining to spintronic devices, including spin valves for magnetic read heads 4 , perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions (p-MTJs) 5,6 or spin-orbit-torque phenomena 7. Recent works in this field have also revealed that RE-TM-based films (amorphous or multilayered) represent ideal materials for the observation and study of the phenomena of all-optical switching (AOS) 8-10. In these systems, it is possible to switch the magnetization using suitable laser pulses without the application of any external magnetic field. Depending on whether the laser-pulses need to be circularly-polarized, AOS of magnetization can be classed as either helicity-dependent (HD-AOS) or helicity-independent (HI-AOS). Furthermore, subject to the material in question, the switching process can be achieved with either a...

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Single-shot all-optical switching of magnetization in Tb/Co multilayer-based electrodes

Avilés-Félix

Olivier

Li³

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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“…Hence, in our simulations, we have considered the resonator to be made of titanium nitride (TiN) and the substrate to be MgO. We have performed simulations with two well-known magnetic PMA materials Bi-substituted iron garnet (BIG) [18] and Gallodinium Iron Cobalt (GdFeCo) [19]. Whereas we recognize that the magnetic properties of current BIG materials need to be improved to meet the thermal stability requirements for PMA nanomagnets, our goal in this paper in using BIG is to emphasize the potential improvements that can be obtained by employing dielectric nanomagnets.…”

Section: Structure and Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surface-plasmon opto-magnetic field enhancement for all-optical magnetization switching

Dutta

Kildishev

Shalaev

et al. 2017

Opt. Mater. Express

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The demand for faster magnetization switching speeds and lower energy consumption has driven the field of spintronics in recent years. The magnetic tunnel junction is the most developed spintronic memory device in which the magnetization of the storage layer is switched by spin-transfer-torque or spin-orbit torque interactions. Whereas these novel spin-torque interactions exemplify the potential of electron-spinbased devices and memory, the switching speed is limited to the ns regime by the precessional motion of the magnetization. All-optical magnetization switching, based on the inverse Faraday effect, has been shown to be an attractive method for achieving magnetization switching at ps speeds. Successful magnetization reversal in thin films has been demonstrated by using circularly polarized light. However, a method for all-optical switching of on-chip nanomagnets in high density memory modules has not been described. In this work we propose to use plasmonics, with CMOS compatible plasmonic materials, to achieve on-chip magnetization reversal in nanomagnets. Plasmonics allows light to be confined in dimensions much smaller than the diffraction limit of light. This in turn, yields higher localized electromagnetic field intensities. In this work, through simulations, we show that using localized surface plasmon resonances, it is possible to couple light to nanomagnets and achieve significantly higher optomagnetic field values in comparison to free space light excitation.

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“…circuit energies as well as by running large synchronous systems using PICs and improving speed when switching from electrons to photons [4]. The novel approach for optically-enabled magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) presented in the scope of the EU SPICE project [5] aims to integrate mature silicon PICs with all-optically switchable (AOS) materials [6] integrated in magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) [7]. The heterogeneous integration approach is illustrated in Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Out-of-Plane Focusing Grating Couplers for Silicon Photonics Integration With Optical MRAM Technology

Becker

Krückel

Thourhout

et al. 2020

IEEE J. Select. Topics Quantum Electron.

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We present the design methodology and experimental characterization of compact out-of-plane focusing grating couplers for integration with magnetoresistive random access memory technology. Focusing grating couplers have recently found attention as layer-couplers for photonic-electronic integration. The components we demonstrate are designed for a wavelength of 1550 nm, fabricated in a standard 220 nm SOI photonic platform and optimized given the fabrication restrictions for standard 193-nm UV lithography. For the first time, we extend the design based on the phase matching condition to a two-dimensional (2-D) grating design with two optical input ports. We further present the experimental characterization of the focusing behaviour by spatially probing the emitted beam with a tapered-and-lensed fiber and demonstrate the polarization controlling capabilities of the 2-D FGCs.

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All-Optical Switching of Magnetic Tunnel Junctions with Single Subpicosecond Laser Pulses

Abstract: An instrument limited switching repetition rate at MHz has been demonstrated, but the fundamental limit should be higher than tens of GHz. This result represents an important step toward integrated opto-spintronic devices that combines spintronics and photonics

Cited by 88 publications

References 43 publications

Single-shot all-optical switching of magnetization in Tb/Co multilayer-based electrodes

Single-shot all-optical switching of magnetization in Tb/Co multilayer-based electrodes

Surface-plasmon opto-magnetic field enhancement for all-optical magnetization switching

Out-of-Plane Focusing Grating Couplers for Silicon Photonics Integration With Optical MRAM Technology

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