A team of Tohoku University researchers recently investigated a cobalt-manganese-iron alloy thin film that demonstrates a high perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) - key aspects for fabricating MRAM devices using spintronics.
"This is the first time a cobalt-manganese-iron alloy has strongly shown large PMA," says Professor Shigemi Mizukami from Tohoku University, "We previously discovered this alloy showed a high tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) effect, but it is rare that an alloy potentially shows both together." For example, Iron-cobalt-boron alloys, which are conventionally used for MRAM, possess both traits, but their PMA is not strong enough.
MRAM devices use magnetic storage elements instead of an electric charge to store data, which gives it several advantages such as reduced power consumption. Ideally, alloys for MRAM devices have both a high TMR and PMA, which allow them to integrate a large number of bits with high capacity and high thermal stability.
In order to find new, alternative materials to solve the issues seen with currently used alloys, researchers at Tohoku University have investigated the PMA of cobalt-manganese-iron alloy thin films, which were shown to have high TMR in their previous research. Remarkably, the alloy they produced was found to exhibit high PMA. They also demonstrated that the PMA in their multilayer films was large enough to be capable of its intended end purpose: large memory capacity for MRAM devices using a simulation.
The results of this research could offer a new candidate for memory materials, and contribute to the continuous development of novel spintronics memory devices.