The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 04, 2013
Filed:
Sep. 15, 2009
Cheng T. Horng, San Jose, CA (US);
Ru-ying Tong, Los Gatos, CA (US);
Cheng T. Horng, San Jose, CA (US);
Ru-Ying Tong, Los Gatos, CA (US);
MagIC Technologies, Inc., Milpitas, CA (US);
Abstract
A MTJ that minimizes spin-transfer magnetization switching current (Jc) in a Spin-RAM to <1×10A/cmis disclosed. The MTJ has a CoFeB/MgO/CoFeBconfiguration where the CoFeB AP1 pinned and free layers are amorphous and the crystalline MgO tunnel barrier is formed by a ROX or NOX process. The capping layer preferably is a Hf/Ru composite where the lower Hf layer serves as an excellent oxygen getter material to reduce the magnetic 'dead layer' at the free layer/capping layer interface and thereby increase dR/R, and lower He and Jc. The annealing temperature is lowered to about 280° C. to give a smoother CoFeB/MgO interface and a smaller offset field than with a 350° C. annealing. In a second embodiment, the AP1 layer has a CoFeB/CoFe configuration wherein the lower CoFeB layer is amorphous and the upper CoFe layer is crystalline to further improve dR/R and lower RA to ≦10 ohm/μm.