About cookies on this site Our websites require some cookies to function properly (required). In addition, other cookies may be used with your consent to analyze site usage, improve the user experience and for advertising. For more information, please review your options. By visiting our website, you agree to our processing of information as described in IBM’sprivacy statement. To provide a smooth navigation, your cookie preferences will be shared across the IBM web domains listed here.
Publication
Physical Review B
Paper
Stochastic magnetic tunnel junction with easy-plane dominant anisotropy
Abstract
We experimentally explore an easy-plane dominant magnetic tunnel junction's thermal stochastic fluctuation for possible applications in physical random number generation for computing. We use materials and fabrication methods similar to those in spin-transfer-torque based magnetic random access memory technology. This work provides an experiment-based view of the device properties that could be optimized for use as an entropy source. We illustrate some relevant device-level metrologies and show several materials and device-physics related factors one could further investigate. Those include the role of a combined strong easy-plane and a weak in-plane anisotropy on fluctuation, the combined stochastic dynamics of the free and reference layer of such magnetic tunnel junctions under bias-voltage induced spin-current drive, and the dynamics' dependence on bias voltage, on magnetic field, and on device and materials parameters in need of control. These observations provide a base-line view of such stochastic tunnel junctions for future applications-specific optimization.