Download Magnetism and spintransport in the heterostructure of Ferroelectric/ferromagnetic films

NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering
Research Project Write-up
Title of Project :
Magnetism and spintransport in the heterostructure of
Ferroelectric/ferromagnetic films
Name of Supervisor :
CHEN Jingsheng
Contact Details:
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: (+65)6516-7574
Fax: (+65)6776-3604
Office: E2-05-19
Short Description
Project (CRP): NEW APPROACH TO LOW POWER INFORMATION
STORAGE: ELECTRIC-FIELD CONTROLLED MAGNETIC MEMORIES
The operation of the current generation magnetic memories is based on the control
of magnetization by a magnetic field generated by a current through wires or a local
magnetic field generated from current through the spin-torque transfer. These two
approaches unfortunately suffer from significant energy dissipation, thus consuming
power and producing heat due to the large current required. In this collaborative
program, we aim to develop a new generation of magnetic memories that will be
controlled by an electric field through an applied voltage. The proposed electric field
controlled non-volatile magnetic memory is based on magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ)
with a ferroelectric spacer to replace the non-polar dielectric tunnel spacer. The
switching of the polarization with an electric field will lead to the change in
magnetoresistance and it has negligible currents, resulting in lower power
consumption. The investigation of this new generation of memory devices will focus
on both scientific and technological understandings of the suitable ferroelectricferromagnetic constituents and their heterostructures, the ferroelectric and
ferromagnetic coupling and their interactions at the nanometer scales In the present
program, our objective is to develop electric field controlled non-volatile magnetic
memories operating at room temperature based on the ferroelectric- magnetic
tunnel junction (FMTJ) by the development of the new materials/heterostructures
of magnetic layers and ferroelectric barrier.