Electric-field-induced magnetization switching in CoFeB/MgO magnetic tunnel junctions

Abstract

The electric-field effect on magnetic anisotropy provides a low-energy scheme for magnetization switching in magnetic tunnel junctions. We review our recent works on the electric-field-induced magnetization switching in CoFeB/MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions. We show that the switching with a higher speed and a lower energy than the spin-transfer switching can be realized using the electric-field effect. The increase of the electric-field modulation ratio is expected to result in a marked reduction of the switching energy as well as in the improvement of the switching reliability for magnetic tunnel junctions with a high thermal stability factor. Further study is necessary to improve the modulation ratio.