Title: Annealing stability of magnetic tunnel junctions based on dual MgO free layers and [Co/Ni] based thin synthetic antiferromagnet fixed system,
Abstract: We study the annealing stability of bottom-pinned perpendicularly magnetized
magnetic tunnel junctions based on dual MgO free layers and thin fixed systems
comprising a hard [Co/Ni] multilayer antiferromagnetically coupled to thin a Co
reference layer and a FeCoB polarizing layer. Using conventional magnetometry
and advanced broadband ferromagnetic resonance, we identify the properties of
each sub-unit of the magnetic tunnel junction and demonstrate that this
material option can ensure a satisfactory resilience to the 400$^\circ$C
thermal annealing needed in solid-state magnetic memory applications. The dual
MgO free layer possesses an anneal-robust 0.4 T effective anisotropy and
suffers only a minor increase of its Gilbert damping from 0.007 to 0.010 for
the toughest annealing conditions. Within the fixed system, the ferro-coupler
and texture-breaking TaFeCoB layer keeps an interlayer exchange above 0.8
mJ/m$^2$, while the Ru antiferrocoupler layer within the synthetic
antiferromagnet maintains a coupling above -0.5 mJ/m$^2$. These two strong
couplings maintain the overall functionality of the tunnel junction upon the
toughest annealing despite the gradual degradation of the thin Co layer
anisotropy that may reduce the operation margin in spin torque memory
applications. Based on these findings, we propose further optimization routes
for the next generation magnetic tunnel junctions.