Magnetic reversal and thermal stability of CoFeB perpendicular magnetic tunnel junction arrays patterned by block copolymer lithography

Abstract

Dense arrays of pillars, with diameters of 64 and 25 nm, were made from a perpendicular CoFeB magnetic tunnel junction thin film stack using block copolymer lithography. While the soft layer and hard layer in the 64 nm pillars reverse at different fields, the reversal of the two layers in the 25 nm pillars could not be distinguished, attributed to the strong interlayer magnetostatic coupling. First-order reversal curves were used to identify the steps that occur during switching, and the thermal stability and effective switching volume were determined from scan rate dependent hysteresis measurements.