Improvement of voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy effect by inserting an ultrathin metal capping layer

We report systematic investigations of the effect of ultrathin capping layer insertion on the magnetic, magnetotransport, and voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy (VCMA) properties in magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with top free layer structure. Various kinds of ultrathin capping materials (Ir, Mo, TaB, Mg, Cr, Ti, and Ta) were introduced into the top free layer structure, which is comprised of MgO/CoFeB/X/MgO, where X is the inserted capping material. On insertion of an ultrathin Ir capping layer thinner than 0.3 nm, both the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and the VCMA efficiency were improved by approximately a factor of two compared to the case without inserting an ultrathin metal capping layer. Mo insertion was also seen to be effective in improving the annealing tolerance. The developed structure can provide a novel approach for the development of high-performance voltage-driven MTJs, which can be applied, for example, for voltage-controlled magnetoresistive random access memory.