US 10,854,256 B2Granted

Storage element and storage apparatus

AssigneeSony Corporation

InventorsYutaka Higo, Masanori Hosomi, Hiroyuki Ohmori, Kazuhiro Bessho, Tetsuya Asayama, Kazutaka Yamane, Hiroyuki Uchida

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Abstract

A storage element includes a layer structure including a storage layer having a direction of magnetization which changes according to information, a magnetization fixed layer having a fixed direction of magnetization, and an intermediate layer disposed therebetween, which intermediate layer contains a nonmagnetic material. The magnetization fixed layer has at least two ferromagnetic layers having a direction of magnetization tilted from a direction perpendicular to a film surface, which are laminated and magnetically coupled interposing a coupling layer therebetween. This configuration may effectively prevent divergence of magnetization reversal time due to directions of magnetization of the storage layer and the magnetization fixed layer being substantially parallel or antiparallel, reduce write errors, and enable writing operation in a short time.

Claims10

Dependent claims

A storage element comprising:

a storage layer;
a magnetization layer including a first ferromagnetic layer, a second ferromagnetic layer and a coupling layer between the first ferromagnetic layer and the second ferromagnetic layer, the magnetization layer having a film surface extending in a first direction, the first ferromagnetic layer, the coupling layer and the second ferromagnetic layer being arranged in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, the first ferromagnetic layer having a first magnetization direction, the second ferromagnetic layer having a second magnetization direction, the first magnetization and the second magnetization direction being oblique to the first direction and the second direction, the first magnetization direction being different from the second magnetization direction;
and
an intermediate layer containing a nonmagnetic material disposed between the storage layer and the magnetization layer.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 16/777,222Filed 30 Jan 2020 · continuation
Priority: JP 2011-26152030 Nov 2011
Published: US 2020/0168262 A128 May 2020
Granted: 1 Dec 2020
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification19 codes

G11C 11/161
Using elements in which the storage effect is based on magnetic spin effect: details concerning the memory cell structure, e.g. the layers of the…
G11B 5/3906
Using magnetic thin film layers or their effects, the films being part of integrated structures: details related to the use of magnetic thin film…
G11B 5/3909
Details related to the use of magnetic thin film layers or to their effects: arrangements using a magnetic tunnel junction
G11C 11/15
Using thin-film elements: using multiple magnetic layers

Family

PCT/JP2012/006989Parent of this continuation · filed 31 Oct 2012
Application15/233,468Parent of this continuation · filed 10 Aug 2016
US 9,444,034 B2Parent of this continuation · filed 13 Sep 2016
Application15/658,862Parent of this continuation · filed 25 Jul 2017
US 9,748,470 B2Parent of this continuation · filed 29 Aug 2017
Application15/943,361Parent of this continuation · filed 2 Apr 2018
US 9,997,698 B2Parent of this continuation · filed 12 Jun 2018
Application16/408,840Parent of this continuation · filed 10 May 2019
US 10,332,577 B2Parent of this continuation · filed 25 Jun 2019
US 2020/0168262 A1Pre-grant publication · published 28 May 2020
US 10,580,471 B2Parent of this continuation
Application14/354,760Parent of this continuation
US 2014/0284741 A1Published application
US 2016/0351794 A1Published application
US 2017/0324026 A1Published application
US 2018/0240507 A1Published application
US 2019/0267063 A1Published application
US 10,854,256 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.