Electric breakdown in ultrathin MgO tunnel barrier junctions for spin-transfer torque switching

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Publication Details

Output type: Journal article

Author list: Schafers M, Drewello V, Reiss G, Thomas A, Thiel K, Eilers G, Munzenberg M, Schuhmann H, Seibt M

Publisher: American Institute of Physics

Publication year: 2009

Journal: Applied Physics Letters (0003-6951)

Volume number: 95

Issue number: 23

ISSN: 0003-6951

eISSN: 1077-3118

Languages: English-Great Britain (EN-GB)

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Open access status: green

Full text URL: https://arxiv.org/pdf/0907.3579

Abstract

Magnetic tunnel junctions for spin-transfer torque (STT) switching are prepared to investigate the dielectric breakdown. Intact and broken tunnel junctions are characterized by transport measurements prior to transmission electron microscopy analysis. The comparison to our previous model for thicker MgO tunnel barriers reveals a different breakdown mechanism arising from the high current densities in a STT device: instead of local pinhole formation at a constant rate, massive electromigration and heating leads to displacement of the junction material and voids are appearing. This is determined by element resolved energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy and three dimensional tomographic reconstruction. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3272268]

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