A multi-state memory device based on the unidirectional spin Hall magnetoresistance

We report on a memory device concept based on the recently discovered unidirectional spin Hall magnetoresistance (USMR), which can store multiple bits of information in a single ferromagnetic heterostructure. We show that the USMR with possible contribution of Joule heating-driven magnetothermal eff...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gambardella, Pietro (Author), Avci, Can Onur (Contributor), Mann, Maxwell (Contributor), Tan, Aik Jun (Contributor), Beach, Geoffrey Stephen (Contributor)
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering (Contributor)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AIP Publishing, 2018-06-15T17:07:45Z.
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Summary:We report on a memory device concept based on the recently discovered unidirectional spin Hall magnetoresistance (USMR), which can store multiple bits of information in a single ferromagnetic heterostructure. We show that the USMR with possible contribution of Joule heating-driven magnetothermal effects in ferromagnet/normal metal/ferromagnet (FM/NM/FM) trilayers gives rise to four different 2nd harmonic resistance levels corresponding to four magnetization states (¶, ⇄, ⇆, ¶) in which the system can be found. Combined with the possibility of controlling the individual FMs by spin-orbit torques, we propose that it is possible to build an all-electrical lateral two-terminal multi-bit-per-cell memory device.