Avalanche Technology, Inc.

Seagate Technology Incorporated

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.v.

International Business Machines Corporation

Sandisk 3d LLC

Western Digital (fremont), Inc.

Applied Cells Inc.

Bing K Yen

Yiming Huai

Yuchen Zhou

Huadong Gan

Zihui Wang

Xiaobin Wang

Xiaojie Hao

Hongxin Yang

Jing Zhang

Kimihiro Satoh

Dong Ha Jung

Richard Longstreth White

David S Kuo

Kim Yang Lee

Jan-Ulrich Thiele

Daryl J Pocker

Ebrahim Abedifard

Parviz Keshtbod

Dieter Klaus Weller

Koichi R Wago

Roger Klas Malmhall

Qing Dai

Er-Xuan Ping

Mehdi Asnaashari

Tanmay Kumar

George Samachisa

Bruno Jean Marchon

Yung-Tin Chen

Chun-Ming Wang

Hai Sun

Steven Patrick Maxwell

Hoa Van Do

Mark Ostrowski

Dujiang Wan

Huiwen Xu

Hongping Yuan

Xiying Chen

Xianzhong Zeng

Shih-Fu Lee

Ling Wang

Eric Steck Freeman

Dat Nguyen

Min Xiao

Mahmood Mozaffari

Bond-Yen Ting

Jim Hennessey

Michael Andrew Scarpulla

Pengfa Xu

A microfluidic device for sorting biological objects includes a microfluidic chip including a planar substrate having first and second planar surfaces, the planar substrate including first and second networks of channels recessed respectively from the first and second planar surfaces and fluidically connected by way of at least a through-hole in the planar substrate; a first lid attached to the first planar surface of the planar substrate and substantially covering the first network of channels; and a second lid attached to the second planar surface of the planar substrate and substantially covering the second network of channels; and one or more piezoelectric transducers attached to the first lid and/or the second lid and configured to generate first and second acoustic standing waves in a first linear channel of the first network of channels and a second linear channel of the second network of channels, respectively.

Microfluidic chip for acoustic separation of biological objects

The present invention is directed to a memory cell array comprising an array of magnetic memory elements arranged in rows and columns; a plurality of electrodes, each of which is formed adjacent to a respective one of the array of magnetic memory elements; a plurality of first conductive lines, each of which is connected to a respective row of the array of magnetic memory elements along a row direction; and a plurality of composite lines. Each composite line includes a volatile switching layer connected to a respective column of the plurality of electrodes along a column direction; an electrode layer formed adjacent to the volatile switching layer; and a second conductive line formed adjacent to the electrode layer. The dimension of the volatile switching layer may be substantially larger than the size of the magnetic memory element along the row direction.

Magnetic memory array incorporating selectors and method for manufacturing the same

The present invention is directed to a memory cell that includes a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) memory element and a two-terminal selector element coupled in series. The MTJ memory element includes a magnetic free layer structure and a magnetic reference layer structure with an insulating tunnel junction layer interposed therebetween. The magnetic reference layer structure includes one or more magnetic reference layers having a first invariable magnetization direction substantially perpendicular to layer planes thereof. The two-terminal selector element includes a first inert electrode and a second inert electrode with a volatile switching layer interposed therebetween; a first active electrode formed adjacent to the first inert electrode; and a second active electrode formed adjacent to the second inert electrode. The volatile switching layer includes at least one conductor layer interleaved with insulating layers.

Magnetic memory cell including two-terminal selector device

The present invention is directed to a memory cell that includes a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) memory element and a two-terminal selector element coupled in series. The MTJ memory element includes a magnetic free layer structure and a magnetic reference layer structure with an insulating tunnel junction layer interposed therebetween. The magnetic reference layer structure includes one or more magnetic reference layers having a first invariable magnetization direction substantially perpendicular to layer planes thereof. The two-terminal selector element includes a first inert electrode and a second inert electrode with a volatile switching layer interposed therebetween; a first active electrode formed adjacent to the first inert electrode; and a second active electrode formed adjacent to the second inert electrode. The volatile switching layer includes a plurality of metal-rich particles or clusters embedded in a matrix or at least one conductor layer interleaved with insulating layers.

The present invention is directed to a memory cell that includes a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) memory element, which has a low resistance state and a high resistance state, and a two-terminal selector coupled to the MTJ memory element in series. The MTJ memory element includes a magnetic free layer and a magnetic reference layer with an insulating tunnel junction layer interposed therebetween. The two-terminal selector has an insulative state and a conductive state. The two-terminal selector in the conductive state has substantially lower resistance when switching the MTJ memory element from the low to high resistance state than from the high to low resistance state. The voltages applied to the memory cell to respectively switch the MTJ memory element from the low to high resistance state and from the high to low resistance state may be substantially same.

Selector device having asymmetric conductance for memory applications

The present invention is directed to a magnetic structure, which includes a magnetic fixed layer structure formed on top of a seed layer structure. The seed layer structure includes one or more layers of a first transition metal, which may be platinum, palladium, nickel, or iridium, interleaved with one or more layers of a second transition metal, which may be tantalum, titanium, vanadium, molybdenum, chromium, tungsten, zirconium, hafnium, or niobium. The magnetic fixed layer structure has a first invariable magnetization direction substantially perpendicular to a layer plane thereof and includes layers of a first magnetic material interleaved with layers of the first transition metal. The first magnetic material may be made of cobalt.

Magnetic memory element with multilayered seed structure

The present invention is directed to a method for manufacturing a memory cell that includes a magnetic memory element electrically connected to a two-terminal selector. The method includes the steps of depositing a selector film stack on a substrate; depositing a magnetic memory element film stack on top of the selector film stack; etching the magnetic memory element film stack with an etch mask formed thereon to remove at least an insulating tunnel junction layer in the magnetic memory element film stack not covered by the etch mask, thereby forming a magnetic memory element pillar; depositing a first conforming dielectric layer over the magnetic memory element pillar, including a sidewall thereof, and surrounding surface; etching a portion of the first conforming dielectric layer covering the surrounding surface to form a first protective sleeve around at least the insulating tunnel junction layer of the magnetic memory element pillar; and etching the selector film stack using the etch mask and the first protective sleeve as a composite mask to form a memory cell pillar.

Method for manufacturing magnetic memory cells

The present invention is directed to a method for manufacturing a memory cell that includes a magnetic memory element electrically connected to a two-terminal selector. The method includes the steps of depositing a magnetic memory element film stack on a substrate; depositing a selector film stack on top of the magnetic memory element film stack; etching the selector film stack with an etch mask formed thereon to remove at least a switching layer in the selector film stack not covered by the etch mask, thereby forming a selector pillar; depositing a first conforming dielectric layer over the selector pillar and surrounding surface; etching a portion of the first conforming dielectric layer covering the surrounding surface to form a first protective sleeve around at least the switching layer of the selector pillar; and etching the magnetic memory element film stack using the etch mask and the first protective sleeve as a composite mask to form a memory cell pillar.

The present invention is directed to a magnetic memory element including a magnetic free layer structure having a variable magnetization direction perpendicular to a layer plane thereof; an oxide layer formed adjacent to the magnetic free layer structure; an insulating tunnel junction layer formed adjacent to the magnetic free layer structure opposite the oxide layer; a first magnetic reference layer formed adjacent to the insulating tunnel junction layer opposite the magnetic free layer structure; a second magnetic reference layer separated from the first magnetic reference layer by a perpendicular enhancement layer; an antiferromagnetic coupling layer formed adjacent to the second magnetic reference layer; and a magnetic fixed layer structure formed adjacent to the antiferromagnetic coupling layer. The first and second magnetic reference layers have a first invariable magnetization direction substantially perpendicular to layer planes thereof. The magnetic fixed layer structure has a second invariable magnetization direction substantially opposite to the first invariable magnetization direction.

Magnetic memory element with perpendicular enhancement layer

The present invention is directed to an MTJ memory element, which comprises a magnetic fixed layer structure formed on top of a seed layer structure that includes a first seed layer and a second seed layer. The first seed layer includes one or more layers of nickel interleaved with one or more layers of a transition metal, which may be tantalum, titanium, or vanadium. The second seed layer is made of an alloy or compound comprising nickel and another transition metal, which may be chromium, tantalum, or titanium. The magnetic fixed layer structure has a first invariable magnetization direction substantially perpendicular to a layer plane thereof and includes layers of a first type material interleaved with layers of a second type material with at least one of the first and second type materials being magnetic. The first and second type materials may be cobalt and nickel, respectively.

Magnetic structure with multilayered seed

The present invention is directed to a magnetic memory element including a magnetic free layer structure having a variable magnetization direction perpendicular to a layer plane thereof; an insulating tunnel junction layer formed adjacent to the magnetic free layer structure; a first magnetic reference layer comprising cobalt, iron, and boron formed adjacent to the insulating tunnel junction layer; a second magnetic reference layer comprising cobalt separated from the first magnetic reference layer by a molybdenum layer; an iridium layer formed adjacent to the second magnetic reference layer; and a magnetic fixed layer structure formed adjacent to the iridium layer. The magnetic free layer structure includes a first and a second magnetic free layers with a perpendicular enhancement layer interposed therebetween. The first and second magnetic reference layers have a first invariable magnetization direction perpendicular to layer planes thereof. The magnetic fixed layer structure has a second invariable magnetization direction opposite to the first invariable magnetization direction.

Magnetic memory element with iridium anti-ferromagnetic coupling layer

The present invention is directed to an MTJ memory element including a magnetic free layer structure which includes one or more magnetic free layers that have a same variable magnetization direction substantially perpendicular to layer planes thereof; an insulating tunnel junction layer formed adjacent to the magnetic free layer structure; a magnetic reference layer structure comprising a first magnetic reference layer formed adjacent to the insulating tunnel junction layer and a second magnetic reference layer separated therefrom by a perpendicular enhancement layer with the first and second magnetic reference layers having a first fixed magnetization direction substantially perpendicular to layer planes thereof; an anti-ferromagnetic coupling layer formed adjacent to the second magnetic reference layer opposite the perpendicular enhancement layer; and a magnetic fixed layer comprising first and second magnetic fixed sublayers with the second magnetic fixed sublayer formed adjacent to the anti-ferromagnetic coupling layer opposite the second magnetic reference layer.

Magnetic memory element with composite fixed layer

The present invention is directed to a magnetic random access memory element that includes a multilayered seed structure formed by interleaving multiple layers of a first transition metal with multiple layers of a second transition metal; and a first magnetic layer formed on top of the multilayered seed structure. The first magnetic layer has a multilayer structure formed by interleaving layers of the first transition metal with layers of a magnetic material and has a first fixed magnetization direction substantially perpendicular to a layer plane thereof. The first transition metal is platinum or palladium, while the second transition metal is selected from the group consisting of tantalum, titanium, zirconium, hafnium, vanadium, niobium, chromium, molybdenum, and tungsten.

Multilayered seed structure for perpendicular MTJ memory element

The present invention is directed to an MTJ memory element comprising a magnetic free layer structure including one or more magnetic free layers that have a variable magnetization direction substantially perpendicular to layer planes thereof; an insulating tunnel junction layer formed adjacent to the magnetic free layer structure; a magnetic reference layer structure including a first magnetic reference layer and a second magnetic reference layer with a perpendicular enhancement layer interposed therebetween, the first and second magnetic reference layers having a first fixed magnetization direction substantially perpendicular to layer planes thereof; an anti-ferromagnetic coupling layer formed adjacent to the second magnetic reference layer; and a magnetic fixed layer formed adjacent to the anti-ferromagnetic coupling layer. The non-magnetic perpendicular enhancement layer includes a first perpendicular enhancement sublayer formed adjacent to the first magnetic reference layer and a second perpendicular enhancement sublayer formed adjacent to the second magnetic reference layer.

Magnetic memory element with composite perpendicular enhancement layer

The present invention is directed to a memory device including a first layer of memory cells with each cell of the first layer of memory cells including a two-terminal selection element coupled to a memory element in series; a plurality of first local wiring lines connected to one ends of the first layer of memory cells along a first direction with each of the first local wiring lines being electrically connected to two first line selection transistors at two ends thereof; and a plurality of second local wiring lines connected to other ends of the first layer of memory cells along a second direction substantially orthogonal to the first direction with each of the second local wiring lines being electrically connected to two second line selection transistors at two ends thereof.

Three dimensional memory arrays and stitching thereof

Growing community of inventors

Cupertino, CA, United States of America

Bing K Yen