February 2022

Researchers from National Taiwan University in collaboration with TSMC developed a new SOT-MRAM device structure, that features sizable orbital currents. This research promises a pathway for enhancing SOT-MRAM performance by harnessing both the conventional spin currents and the emergent orbital currents.

The new device is based on 3d light transition metals (such as V and Cr) that are incorporated into the classical spin Hall metal Pt. The Pt-Cr alloy enhances the charge-to-spin conversion efficiency which can realize high spin-orbital Hall conductivity, beyond the conventional spin Hall limit.

Researchers from the Tokyo Institute of Technology developed an ultrahigh-efficiency SOT magnetization switching in fully sputtered BiSb(Co/Pt) multilayers with large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA).

The new device offers a large spin Hall angle and high electrical conductivity, thus satisfying all the three requirements for SOT-MRAM implementation. The researchers managed to achieve robust SOT magnetization at a low current density despite the large PMA field.

Hprobe, a developer of testing equipment for magnetic devices, announced a significant order from a tier-1 semiconductor manufacturer in Korea for a wafer-level magnetic tester.

Hprobe's IBEX platform is compatible with 200mm and 300mm automated wafer probers, and is dedicated to testing MRAM magnetic tunnel junctions, bit cells based on STT-MRAM, SOT-MRAM, and Voltage Controlled (VC-MRAM) technologies.