Perpendicular magnetic tunneling junction switching dynamic modes, extreme events, and performance scaling

Abstract

The performance of the state-of-the-art perpendicular magnetic tunneling junction (pMTJ) device is fundamentally determined by the physics of material “extreme events.” A dynamic mode approach is used to study “extreme events” of stochastic nonlinear magnetization switching, including magnetic interactions and non-uniform magnetization dynamics. Our theory and experiment show that the magnetization switching “extreme events” are well characterized by the dynamic modes of interacting magnetic systems. The dynamic modes provide a clear understanding of the physical processes of the magnetization switching “extreme events.” We predict markedly different pMTJ scaling behaviors for spin transfer torque, spin-orbit-interaction torque, and thermal fluctuations at different operation speeds and bit error rate conditions. Understanding these scaling behaviors is critical for existing and emerging pMTJ device applications.