IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,408,560
Granted Patent B2
US 12,408,560 · App. 18/232,256 · Granted Sep 2, 2025

Buffer layers and interlayers that promote BiSbx (012) alloy orientation for sot and MRAM devices

Inventors: Quang Le (San Jose, CA); Brian R. York (San Jose, CA); Cherngye Hwang (San Jose, CA); Susumu Okamura (San Jose, CA); Michael A. Gribelyuk (San Jose, CA); Xiaoyong Liu (San Jose, CA); Kuok San Ho (Emerald Hills, CA); Hisashi Takano (Fujisawa, JP)
Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
H10N50/10G11B5/1278G11B5/235G11B5/314G11B5/3909H01F10/30H01F10/3254H01F10/329H10N52/80G11B2005/0024
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,408,560
App. No.
18/232,256
Granted
Sep 2, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

The present disclosure generally relate to spin-orbit torque (SOT) magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) devices comprising a buffer layer, a bismuth antimony (BiSb) layer having a (012) orientation disposed on the buffer layer, and an interlayer disposed on the BiSb layer. The buffer layer and the interlayer may each independently be a single layer of material or a multilayer of material. The buffer layer and the interlayer each comprise at least one of a covalently bonded amorphous material, a tetragonal (001) material, a tetragonal (110) material, a body-centered cubic (bcc) (100) material, a face-centered cubic (fcc) (100) material, a textured bcc (100) material, a textured fcc (100) material, a textured (100) material, or an amorphous metallic material. The buffer layer and the interlayer inhibit antimony (Sb) migration within the BiSb layer and enhance uniformity of the BiSb layer while further promoting the (012) orientation of the BiSb layer.

Claims (47)

1. A spin-orbit torque (SOT) device, comprising:

a substrate;

a bismuth antimony (BiSb) layer disposed over the substrate, the BiSb layer having a (012) orientation; and

a multilayer structure disposed in contact with the BiSb layer, the multilayer structure comprising:

an amorphous sublayer comprising a material in an amorphous structure, wherein the material comprises a carbide, a oxide, or a nitride, and wherein the material in the amorphous sublayer has a lattice constant of a crystal structure (a fcc ) between about 3.5 Å and 3.71 Å.

2. The SOT device of claim 1 , wherein the multilayer structure further comprises one or more sublayers in addition to the amorphous sublayer, each of the one or more sublayers comprising one or more materials selected from the group consisting of: a tetragonal (001) material, a tetragonal (110) material, a body-centered cubic (bcc) (100) material, a face-centered cubic (fcc) (100) material, a textured bcc (100) material, a textured fcc (100) material, a textured (100) material, an amorphous metallic material, and a layered combination of one or more of any of the preceding materials.

3. The SOT device of claim 1 , wherein the multilayer structure is a buffer layer or an interlayer.

4. The SOT device of claim 1 , wherein the material of the amorphous sublayer of the multilayer structure has a nearest neighbor distance equal to about a fcc divided by the square root of 3.

5. The SOT device of claim 1 , wherein a nearest neighbor distance of the material of the amorphous sublayer of the multilayer structure is about 2.0 Å to about 2.2 Å.

6. The SOT device of claim 1 , wherein the amorphous sublayer comprises one or more materials selected from the group consisting of: ScC, TiC, NbC, ZrC, HfC, TaC, FeO, CoO, ZrO, MgO, TiO, TiN, NbN, ZrN, HfN, and TaN.

7. A magnetic recording head comprising the SOT device of claim 1 .

8. A magnetic recording device comprising the magnetic recording head of claim 7 .

9. A magneto-resistive memory comprising the SOT device of claim 1 .

10. A spin-orbit torque (SOT) device, comprising:

a substrate;

a multilayer structure disposed over the substrate, the multilayer structure comprising:

at least one first intermediary layer, the at least one first intermediary layer comprising at least one of: a tetragonal (001) material, a tetragonal (110) material, a body-centered cubic (bcc) (100) material, a face-centered cubic (fcc) (100) material, a textured bcc (100) material, a textured fcc (100) material, a textured (100) material, and an amorphous material comprising a carbide, an oxide, or a nitride; and

a bismuth antimony (BiSb) layer stack disposed in contact with the multilayer structure, the bismuth antimony (BiSb) layer stack comprising:

a BiSb layer having a (012) orientation,

a first Bi layer, wherein the BiSb layer is disposed on the first Bi layer, and

a second Bi layer disposed on the BiSb layer,

wherein the first and second Bi layers sandwich the BiSb layer.

11. The SOT device of claim 10 , wherein the first and second Bi layers each has a thickness greater than about 0.1 Å and less than about 10 Å.

12. The SOT device of claim 10 , wherein the multilayer structure further comprises an amorphous layer disposed below the first intermediary layer, the amorphous layer comprising a material selected from the group consisting of: NiTa, NiFeTa, NiNb, NiW, NiFeW, NiFeHf, CoHfB, CoZrTa, CoFeB, NiFeB, CoB, FeB, and alloy combinations thereof with elements selected from the group consisting of: Ni, Fe, Co, Zr, W, Ta, Hf, Ag, Pt, Pd, Si, Ge, Mn, Al, and Ti.

13. The SOT device of claim 10 , wherein the multilayer structure further comprises at least one second intermediary layer comprising a textured bcc (100) material or a textured fcc (100) material.

14. The SOT device of claim 10 , wherein the multilayer structure is a buffer layer or an interlayer.

15. A magnetic recording head comprising the SOT device of claim 10 .

16. A magnetic recording device comprising the magnetic recording head of claim 15 .

17. A magneto-resistive memory comprising the SOT device of claim 10 .

18. A spin-orbit torque (SOT) device, comprising:

a substrate;

a multilayer structure disposed over the substrate, the multilayer structure comprising:

a textured layer with a (100) orientation; and

a first intermediary layer disposed over the textured layer, the first intermediary layer comprising at least one of: a tetragonal (001) material, a tetragonal (110) material, a body-centered cubic (bcc) (100) material, a face-centered cubic (fcc) (100) material, a textured bcc (100) material, a textured fcc (100) material, a textured (100) material, and an amorphous material comprising a carbide, an oxide, or a nitride; and

a bismuth antimony (BiSb) layer disposed in contact with the multilayer structure, the BiSb layer having a (012) orientation.

19. The SOT device of claim 18 , wherein the multilayer structure further comprises an amorphous layer comprising a material selected from the group consisting of: NiTa, NiFeTa, NiNb, NiW, NiFeW, NiFeHf, CoHfB, CoZrTa, CoFeB, NiFeB, CoB, FeB, and alloy combinations thereof with elements selected from the group consisting of: Ni, Fe, Co, Zr, W, Ta, Hf, Ag, Pt, Pd, Si, Ge, Mn, Al, and Ti, wherein the amorphous layer is disposed over the substrate, the textured layer is disposed on the amorphous layer, the first intermediary layer is disposed on the textured layer, and the BiSb layer is disposed on the first intermediary layer.

20. The SOT device of claim 18 , wherein the textured layer comprises a material selected from the group consisting of:

(A) RuAl,

(B) Cr,

(C) CrX alloys where X is Ru, Mo, W, or Ti in less than about 10 atomic percent,

(D) CrMo n where n is about 20 atomic percent to about 50 atomic percent,

(E) a layered stack of Cr and CrMo n where n is about 20 atomic percent to about 50 atomic percent, or

(F) a layered stack of CrMo n , Cr, and CrMo n where n is about 20 atomic percent to about 50 atomic percent.

21. The SOT device of claim 18 , wherein the multilayer structure further comprises one or more second intermediary layers, the one or more second intermediary layers having a cubic crystal structure different than the first intermediary layer.

22. A magnetic recording head comprising the SOT device of claim 18 .

23. A magnetic recording device comprising the magnetic recording head of claim 22 .

24. A magneto-resistive memory comprising the SOT device of claim 18 .

Assignments (3)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 11, 2023
From: LE, QUANG; YORK, BRIAN R.; HWANG, CHERNGYE; OKAMURA, SUSUMU; GRIBELYUK, MICHAEL; LIU, XIAOYONG; HO, KUOK SAN; TAKANO, HISASHI
To: WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Reel/Frame 065831/0531 →
PATENT COLLATERAL AGREEMENT- A&R Recorded Nov 21, 2023
From: WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 065656/0649 →
PATENT COLLATERAL AGREEMENT - DDTL Recorded Nov 21, 2023
From: WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 065657/0158 →
Continuity (2)
Continuation 17401856 · Aug 13, 2021
Related Publication 20230386721A1 · Nov 30, 2023
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