• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.124-127
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• 2007

Magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs), which consisted of amorphous CoFeSiB layers, were investigated. The CoFeSiB layers were used to substitute for the traditionally used CoFe and/or NiFe layers with an emphasis given on understanding the effect of the amorphous free layer on the switching characteristics of the MTJs. CoFeSiB has a lower saturation magnetization ($M_s\;:\;560\;emu/cm^3$) and a higher anisotropy constant ($K_u\;:\;2800\;erg/cm^3$) than CoFe and NiFe, respectively. An exchange coupling energy ($J_{ex}$) of $-0.003\;erg/cm^2$ was observed by inserting a 1.0 nm Ru layer in between CoFeSiB layers. In the Si/$SiO_2$/Ta 45/Ru 9.5/IrMn 10/CoFe 7/$AlO_x$/CoFeSiB 7 or CoFeSiB (t)/Ru 1.0/CoFeSiB (7-t)/Ru 60 (in nm) MTJs structure, it was found that the size dependence of the switching field originated in the lower $J_{ex}$ using the experimental and simulation results. The CoFeSiB synthetic antiferromagnet structures were proved to be beneficial for the switching characteristics such as reducing the coercivity ($H_c$) and increasing the sensitivity in micrometer size, even in submicrometer sized elements.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.276-278
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• 2006

The switching characteristics of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) comprising amorphous ferromagnetic CoFeSiB free layer have been investigated. CoFeSiB was used for the free layer to enhance the switching characteristics. The typical junction structure was $Si/SiO_{2}/Ta$ 45/Ru 9.5/IrMn 10/CoFe $7/AlO_{x}/CoFeSiB\;(t)/Ru\;60\;(in\;nm)$. CoFeSiB has low saturation magnetization ($M_{s}$) of $560\;emu/cm^{3}$ and high anisotropy constant ($K_{u}$) of $2800\;erg/cm^{3}$. These properties caused low coercivity ($H_{c}$) and high sensitivity in MTJs, and it also confirmed in submicrometer-sized elements by micromagnetic simulation based on the Landau-Lisfschitz-Gilbert equation. By increasing CoFeSiB free layer thickness, the switching characteristics became worse due to increase of the demagnetization field.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.315-319
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• 2005

To obtain low switching field ($H_{SW}$) we introduced amorphous ferromagnetic $Co_{70.5}Fe_{4,5}Si_{15}B_{10}$ single and synthetic antiferromagnet (SAF) free layers in magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs). The switching characteristics for MTJs with structures $Si/SiO_2/Ta$ 45/Ru 9.5/IrMn 10/CoFe 7/AlOx/CoFeSiB 7 or CoFeSiB (t)/Ru 1.0/CoFeSiB (7-t)/Ru 60 (in nm) were investigated and compared to MTJs with $Co_{75}Fe_{25}$ and $Ni_{80}Fe_{20}$ free layers. CoFeSiB showed a lower saturation magnetization of $560 emu/cm^3$ and a higher anisotropy constant of $2800\;erg/cm^3$ than CoFe and NiFe, respectively. An exchange coupling energy ($J_{ex}$) of $-0.003erg/cm^2$ was observed by inserting a 1.0 nm Ru layer in between CoFeSiB layers. In the CoFeSiB single and SAF free layer MTJs, it was frond that the size dependence of the $H_{SW}$ originated from the lower $J_{ex}$ experimentally and by micromagnetic simulation based on the Landau-Lisfschitz-Gilbert equation. The CoFeSiB SAF structures showed lower $H_{SW}$ than that of NiFe, CoFe and CoFeSiB single structures. The CoFeSiB SAF structures were proved to be beneficial far the switching characteristics such as reducing the coercivity and increasing the sensitivity in micrometer to submicrometer-sized elements.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.122-125
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• 2013

Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) is the phenomenon of magnetic thin film which is preferentially magnetized in a direction perpendicular to the film's plane. Amorphous multilayer with PMA has been studied as the good candidate to realization of high density STT-MRAM (Spin Transfer Torque-Magnetic Random Access Memory). The current issue of high density STT-MRAM is a decrease in the switching current of the device and an application of amorphous materials which are most suitable devices. The amorphous ferromagnetic material has low saturated magnetization, low coercivity and high thermal stability. In this study, we presented amorphous ferromagnetic multilayer that consists of an amorphous alloy CoSiB and a nonmagnetic material Pd. We investigated the change of PMA of the $[CoSiB\;t_{CoSiB}/Pd\;1.3nm]_5$ multilayer ($t_{CoSiB}$ = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6 nm, and $t_{Pd}$ = 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6 nm) and $[CoSiB\;0.3nm/Pd\;1.3nm]_n$ multilayer (n = 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13). This multilayer is measured by VSM (Vibrating Sample Magnetometer) and analyzed magnetic properties like a coercivity ($H_c$) and a magnetization ($M_s$). The coercivity in the $[CoSiB\;t_{CoSiB}\;nm/Pd\;1.3nm]_5$ multi-layers increased with increasing $t_{CoSiB}$ to reach a maximum at $t_{CoSiB}$ = 0.3 nm and then decreased for $t_{CoSiB}$ > 0.3 nm. The lowest saturated magnetization of $0.26emu/cm^3$ was obtained in the $[CoSiB\;0.3nm/Pd\;1.3nm]_3$ multilayer whereas the highest coercivity of 0.26 kOe was obtained in the $[CoSiB\;0.3nm/Pd\;1.3nm]_5$ mutilayer. Additional Pd layers did not contribute to the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. The single domain structure evolved in to a striped multi-domain structure as the bilayer repetition number n was increased above 7 after which (n > 7) the hysteresis loops had a bow-tie shapes.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.147-151
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• 2007

We have investigated the half-metallicity and magnetism for the Heusler ferromagnet $Co_2$ZrSi interfaced with semiconductor ZnTe along the (001) plane by using the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave (FLAPW) method. We considered low types of possible interfaces: ZrSi/Zn, ZrSi/Te, Co/Zn, and Co/Te, respectively. From the calculated density of states, it was found that the half-metallicity was lost at all the interfaces, however for the Co/Te system the value of minority spin density of states was close to zero at the Fermi level. These facts are due to the interface states, appeared in the minority spin gap in bulk $Co_2$ZrSi, caused by the changes of the coordination and symmetry and the hybridizations between the interface atoms. At the Co/Te interface, the magnetic moments of Co atoms are 0.68 and $0.78{\mu}_B$ for the "bridge" and "antibridge" sites, respectively, which are much reduced with respect to that ($1.15{\mu}_B$) of the bulk $Co_2$ZrSi. In the case of Co/Zn, Co atoms at the "bridge" and "antibridge" sites have magnetic moments of 1.16 and $0.93{\mu}_B$, respectively, which are almost same or slightly decreased compared to that of the bulk $Co_2$ZrSi. On the other hand, for the ZrSi/Zn and ZrSi/Te systems, the magnetic moments of Co atoms at the sub-interface layers are in the range of $1.13{\sim}1.30\;{\mu}_B$, which are almost same or slightly increased than that of the bulk $Co_2$ZrSi.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.76-80
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• 2016

CoSiB is the amorphous ferromagnetic material and multilayer consisting of CoSiB and Pd has perpendicular magnetic anisotropic property. PMA has strong advantages for STT-MRAM. Moreover, amorphous materials have two advantages more than crystalline materials: no grain boundary and good thermal stability. Therefore, we studied the magnetic properties of multilayers consisting of the $Co_{75}Si_{15}B_{10}$ with PMA. In this study, we investigated the magnetic property of the [CoSiB (3, 4, 5, and 6) ${\AA}$/Pd(11, 13, 15, 17, 19,and $24{\AA})]_5$ multilayers and found the annealing temperature dependence of the magnetic property. The annealing temperature range is from room temperature to $500^{\circ}C$. The coercivity and the saturation magnetization of the CoSiB/Pd multilayer system have a close association with the annealing temperature. Moreover, the coercivity especially shows a sudden increasing at the specific annealing temperature.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.279-282
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• 2006

Magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs), which consisted of amorphous ferromagnetic NiFeSiB free layers, were investigated. The NiFeSiB layers were used to substitute for the traditionally used CoFe and/or NiFe layers with the emphasis being given to obtaining an understanding of the effect of the amorphous free layer on the switching characteristics of the MTJs. $Ni_{16}Fe_{62}Si_{8}B_{14}$ has a lower saturation magnetization ($M_{s}:\;800\;emu/cm^{3}$) than $Co_{90}Fe_{10}$ and a higher anisotropy constant ($K_{u}:\;2700\;erg/cm^{3}$) than $Ni_{80}Fe_{20}$. The $Si/SiO_{2}/Ta$ 45/Ru 9.5/IrMn 10/CoFe $7/AlO_{x}/CoFeSiB\;(t)/Ru\;60\;(in\;nanometers)$structure was found to be beneficial for the switching characteristics of the MTJ, leading to a reduction in the coercivity ($H_{c}$) and an increase in the sensitivity resulted from its lower saturation magnetization and higher uniaxial anisotropy. Furthermore, by inserting a very thin CoFe layer at the tunnel barrier/NiFeSiB interface, the TMR ratio and switching squareness were improved more with the increase of NiFeSiB layer thickness up to 11 nm.

• Proceedings of the Korean Magnestics Society Conference
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• 1994.03a
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• pp.68-69
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• 1994

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.189-194
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• 1998

The redistribution behavior of boron during Co silicidation annealing in the Co/metal/Si system was investigated using SIMS. Ti, Nb and Hf films were used as epitaxy promoting metal layers. After annealing treatment the boron peak height was about 1 order lowered in Co/Ti/Si and Co/Nb/Si systems but the relative peak position from the surface did not change. The distribution of boron was very similar to those of Ti and Nb, because of the strong affinities of boron with them. Also, the position of the main boron peak in the Co/Hf/Si system was almost the same as that of Hf, but the distribution feature of the Co/Hf/Si system somewhat differed from those of Co/Ti/Si and Co/Nb/Si systems. This implies that the affinity between B and Hf is weaker than those of B-Ti and B-Nb. Boron tends to be depleted at the silicidelsi interface while it tends to be piled-up at the Co-metal/Co silicide interface during silicidation annealing.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.389-393
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• 2000

Effects of Co addition and heat treatment on the magnetic properties of Fe-Si-B thin films were investigated. The compositions of metalloids, i.e, B and Si, in the alloys were kept 10 at.% each. Heat treatments were carried out in the temperature range from 100 to $300^{\circ}C$ for up to 60 min. Amorphous thin films of FeCoSiB were deposited on the water-cooled substrates by dc magnetron sputtering. The composition of thin films was controlled by placing proper number of pellets of alloying elements and analyzed by ICP, resulting in $Fe_{80-X}Co_ XB_{10}Si_{10}$ (X=8~18 at.%). Saturation magnetization of the alloys increased as Co concentration increased up to 10 at.% and then decreased with further increase of Co concentration. However, coercive force of the films decreased with the increase of Co concentration. Furthermore, the coercive force was also reduced by the annealing due to the residual stress relief.