Researchers at Japan's Kyushu University have developed a new SOT-MRAM memory cell based on thulium iron garnet (TmIG). The researchers say that this material can enhance the efficiency of the memory cell.
The researchers say that TmIG, originally developed in Japan in 2012, is promising, but it requires a very high quality thin film deposition to be used in a memory device. The team has managed to now produce the material in this high quality, using an established mass production method called on-axis sputtering.
Using this method, a very thin three nm layer of platinum was deposited on the TmIG. They have shown that the magnetic orientation can be changed by simply passing a small current through the platinum layer. The data writing efficiency was 0.7 x 1011 A/m2 and is comparable to films fabricated using conventional methods.
