Researchers in AIST developed a magnetic tunnel junction element (hereafter, “MTJ element”) with a new structure using a tunnel barrier layer that combines lithium fluoride (LiF) and magnesium oxide (MgO) and successfully enhanced perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, which is an indicator of the memory retention characteristics of magnetic memory (MRAM). It was found that by introducing an extremely thin LiF layer only 1 or 2 atoms thick between iron (Fe) and MgO, the magnetization direction of the Fe can be stabilized in the direction perpendicular to the film surface, and the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy is increased to approximately twice that of the conventional structure using only MgO.
This MTJ element consists of a structure in which a tunnel barrier layer around 1 nm thick is sandwiched by a magnetic thin film and can store data semi-permanently according to the magnetization direction of the magnetic thin film. Utilization of this characteristic achieves non-volatile memory that does not require standby power, and studies are underway for application not only to existing Neumann-type computing, but also to brain-type computing that aims for advanced data processing by mimicking the structure and data processing method of the brain.
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