Magnetic memory device with balancing synthetic anti-ferromagnetic layer

A magnetic memory device, comprising:

• a free layer;
• a reference layer disposed on a first side of the free layer and separated from the free layer by a tunneling barrier layer;
• and
• a balancing synthetic anti-ferromagnetic (SyAF) layer disposed on a second side of the free layer opposite to the first side, the balancing synthetic anti-ferromagnetic (SyAF) layer including a pair of pinning layers having opposite magnetization directions and separated by a spacer layer.

An integrated circuit, comprising:

• a semiconductor substrate;
• an interconnect structure disposed over the semiconductor substrate, and including a plurality of dielectric layers and a plurality of metal layers stacked over one another, wherein the plurality of metal layers include a lower metal layer and an upper metal layer disposed over the lower metal layer;
• a magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) cell arranged over the upper metal layer, the MRAM cell comprising:
• a bottom electrode disposed over and in electrical contact with the lower metal layer;
• a top electrode disposed under and in electrical contact with the upper metal layer;
• a free layer and a reference layer disposed between the bottom electrode and the top electrode, stacked, and separated by a tunneling barrier layer;
• a first pinning layer on one side of the reference layer opposite to the free layer;
• and
• a balancing synthetic anti-ferromagnetic (SyAF) layer disposed on a second side of the free layer opposite to the reference layer, the balancing synthetic anti-ferromagnetic (SyAF) layer including a pair of pinning layers having opposite magnetization directions and separated by a spacer layer.