SBIR Phase I: Reduction Of The Critical Current In Spin Transfer Switching Through Anisotropy Engineering.

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project addresses decreasing the Spin Transfer Switching (STS) critical current through the innovative application of magnetic materials. STS allows for the manipulation of the magnetic order parameter of nano-scale ferromagnets without the use of external magnetic fields and is recognized as a key component for scalability of magnetic random access memory (MRAM). One of the major technical barriers to realize practical spin dependent electronic devices based on STS is the large current needed for switching. One approach to reduce the STS critical current is to magnetically engineer ferromagnets to have precisely the characteristics needed to enable switching. This critical current has been reduced to 10^6 A/cm2, however, a further order of magnitude reduction is needed. Magnetically engineering the out-of-plane anisotropy of thin sub-micron ferromagnetic through further innovative materials research could lead to this reduction. Control of the magnetic anisotropy through innovative materials research has been studied but applying these to practical devices has not. Reduction of the STS critical current is vital to the enabling a spin-dependant electronic devices for storage, logic, and oscillator devices. These solid-state devices have the potential to drive improvements in electronics, and create an entire new sector of the semiconductor industry.