Nitride seed layer with high thermal stability for growth of perpendicularly magnetized Heusler films
AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
InventorsJaewoo Jeong, Ikhtiar, Panagiotis Charilaos Filippou, Chirag Garg, See-Hun Yang, Mahesh Samant
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Abstract
A magnetic memory device includes a substrate, a thermally stable nitride seed layer substantially oriented in a (001) direction above the substrate, a chemical templating layer above the thermally stable nitride seed layer, and a magnetic layer above the chemical templating layer. The chemical templating layer includes a binary alloy having a CsCl prototype structure, and the magnetic layer includes a Heusler compound having perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA).
Claims22
A magnetic memory device comprising:
- a substrate;
- a thermally stable nitride seed layer above the substrate, the thermally stable nitride seed layer having a (001) crystal orientation;
- a chemical templating layer above the thermally stable nitride seed layer, the chemical templating layer comprising a binary alloy having a CsCl prototype structure;
- and
- a magnetic layer above the chemical templating layer, the magnetic layer comprising a Heusler compound having perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA).
A method of forming a magnetic memory device, the method comprising:
- growing a thermally stable nitride seed layer substantially oriented in a (001) direction above a substrate;
- growing a chemical templating layer above the thermally stable nitride seed layer, the chemical templating layer comprising a binary alloy having a CsCl prototype structure;
- and
- forming a magnetic tunnel junction above the chemical templating layer, the forming of the magnetic tunnel junction comprising:
- forming a first magnetic layer above the chemical templating layer, the magnetic layer comprising a Heusler compound having perpendicular magnetic anisotropy;
- forming a tunnel barrier layer above the first magnetic layer;
- and
- forming a second magnetic layer above the tunnel barrier;
- and
- annealing the magnetic tunnel junction, wherein a negative formation energy of the thermally stable nitride seed layer mitigates against interdiffusion of the thermally stable nitride seed layer into the chemical templating layer during the annealing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.