Novel magnetoelectric coupling memory and preparation method

Abstract

The present application provides a novel magnetoelectric coupling memory and a preparation method. The novel magnetoelectric coupling memory sequentially comprises, from top to bottom: a substrate, a bottom electrode metal, a magnon transport layer, a first metal electrode, a spin current injection structure, a plurality of gates, and a spin current detection structure; the bottom electrode metal is arranged on the substrate; the magnon transport layer and the first metal electrode are arranged on the bottom electrode metal; and the spin current injection structure, the plurality of gates, and the spin current detection structure are sequentially arranged on the magnon transport layer along a magnon transport direction, wherein the first metal electrode and any one of the gates form an apparatus for writing information, and the spin current injection structure, the magnon transport layer, a gate for reading, and the spin current detection structure form an apparatus for reading information. The technical solution provided in the present application can realize information reading and writing in a memory by using magnons.

Description

A novel magnetoelectric coupled memory and its fabrication method

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 2024115507722, filed on November 1, 2024, entitled "A Novel Magnetoelectric Coupled Memory and its Preparation Method", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This document relates to the field of memory technology, and in particular to a novel magnetoelectric coupled memory and its fabrication method. Background Technology

[0003] Traditional NAND flash memory is widely used due to its low cost and ability to be integrated in three dimensions. However, the high power consumption and slow speed of NAND flash read / write operations limit its application primarily to external data storage. Therefore, optimizing NAND flash memory to address these issues has become a focus of attention.

[0004] However, existing NAND FLASH devices use methods such as high-current hot electron injection into the gate dielectric for writing. These processes have long writing times, which reduces the writing efficiency of the memory, results in high power consumption, and low durability. When reading data, the resistance is high due to the long series channel, which also leads to high power consumption. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In view of the above analysis, this application aims to propose a novel magnetoelectric coupled memory and its fabrication method to solve at least one of the above problems.

[0006] In a first aspect, one or more embodiments of this specification provide a novel magnetoelectric coupled memory, comprising: a substrate, a bottom electrode metal, a magnetic resonant transport layer, a first metal electrode, a spin injection structure, multiple gates, and a spin detection structure;

[0007] The bottom electrode metal is disposed on the substrate;

[0008] The bottom electrode metal is provided with the magnetic resonator transport layer and the first metal electrode; and

[0009] The magnetic resonator transmission layer is provided with the spin injection structure, a plurality of gates, and the spin detection structure sequentially arranged along the magnetic resonator transmission direction.

[0010] Wherein, the first metal electrode and any of the gates constitute a device for writing information; the spin injection structure, the magnon transport layer, the gate to be read, and the spin detection structure constitute a device for reading information.

[0011] Furthermore, when reading information, the spin flow injection structure generates a spin flow;

[0012] The spin flow enters the magnon transport layer, inducing the generation of magnons; and

[0013] A voltage is applied to each of the gates, so that the magnon is regulated by the gate voltage as it flows from the spin injection structure to the spin detection structure.

[0014] Furthermore, the plurality of gates includes: a gate to be read and other gates, each gate including: a magnetoelectric coupling layer; and

[0015] A first voltage is applied to the other gates, and a second voltage is applied to the gate to be read.

[0016] The first voltage saturates the magnetoresistor, and the second voltage and the polarization voltage of the magnetoelectric coupling layer together saturate or desaturate the magnetoresistor.

[0017] Furthermore, the spin injection structure includes: a first spin-orbit coupling layer and a second metal electrode;

[0018] The first spin-orbit coupling layer is disposed on the magnon transport layer;

[0019] The second metal electrode is disposed on the spin-orbit coupling layer;

[0020] Current is injected into the first spin-orbit coupling layer via the second metal electrode; and

[0021] The first spin-orbit coupling layer generates the spin flow in a predetermined direction.

[0022] Furthermore, methods for inducing magnons include: spin Hall effect / Lashba effect or spin displacement torque of magnetic tunnel junctions / spin valves and antennas in heavy metals / antiferromagnetic / topological materials.

[0023] Furthermore, the spin flow detection structure includes: a second spin-orbit coupling layer and a third metal electrode;

[0024] The second spin-orbit coupling layer is disposed on the magnon transport layer;

[0025] The third metal electrode is disposed on the second spin-orbit coupling layer;

[0026] Current is injected into the second spin-orbit coupling layer via the second metal electrode; and

[0027] Based on the inverse spin Hall effect, the corresponding electrical signal is read out through the second spin-orbit coupling layer.

[0028] Furthermore, methods for reading out the corresponding electrical signals include: inverse spin Hall effect / inverse Lashba effect or magnetic tunnel junction / spin valve and antenna of heavy metal / antiferromagnetic / topological materials.

[0029] Further, the gate includes: a magnetoelectric coupling layer and a gate electrode; and

[0030] When writing information, a voltage is applied between the gate electrode and the first metal electrode to flip the magnetoelectric coupling layer to a specified polarization state in order to write different states.

[0031] Furthermore, the spin flow injection structure includes a first spin-orbit coupling layer and a second metal electrode, and the spin flow detection structure includes a second spin-orbit coupling layer and a third metal electrode;

[0032] The materials of the first spin-orbit coupling layer and the second spin-orbit coupling layer include: heavy metals Pt, Ta, W and their alloys, antiferromagnetic IrMn, FeMn, PtMn, PdMn, and light metal oxide CuO. x TiO x The topological insulators BiSe, BiSb, and BiSbTe; the two-dimensional electron gases SrTiO3 / LaAlO3, SrTiO3 / AlOx, KTaO3 / LaAlO3, and KTaO3 / LaVO3; and one or more of the two-dimensional semi-metallic materials MoTe2, PtSe2, PtTe2, and WTe2, with a thickness of 1-20 nm.

[0033] The gate includes: a magnetoelectric coupling layer;

[0034] The material of the magnetoelectric coupling layer includes one or more of BiFeO3, BiLaFeO3, TbMnO3, MbTiO3, CaMnO3, LuMnO3, BaSrMnO3, HfZrO, and HfO2, and its thickness is 2-100nm.

[0035] The material of the magnetic resonator transport layer includes one or more of YIG, CoFeB, CoFe, Co / Pt, CoFeAl, Co / Pd and their composite materials, with a thickness of 0.5-20 nm;

[0036] The material of the bottom electrode metal includes one or more of SrTiO3, LaSrMnO, and Pt, and its thickness is 1-50 nm.

[0037] The materials of the first metal electrode, the second metal electrode, and the third metal electrode include one or more of Ru, Ta, Ti, Cr, Pt, Au, CuN, TiN, and their composite materials, with a thickness of 2-200 nm.

[0038] Secondly, one or more embodiments of this specification provide a method for manufacturing the memory according to any one of the first aspects, comprising the following steps:

[0039] Fabrication of front-end wafers;

[0040] A film stack is deposited by magnetron sputtering on a front-end wafer, the film stack comprising: a substrate, a bottom electrode metal, a magnetoron transport layer, a magnetoelectric coupling layer, and a metal electrode layer;

[0041] Ion beam / reactive ion beam etching of columnar structures, followed by magnetron sputtering deposition of insulating material for isolation;

[0042] Ion beam / reactive ion beam etching of the groove structure, followed by magnetron sputtering deposition of the spin-orbit coupling layer;

[0043] Ion beam / reactive ion beam etching of the groove structure, followed by magnetron sputtering deposition of insulating material for isolation;

[0044] Ion beam / reactive ion beam etching of via structures;

[0045] Magnetron sputtering / electron beam evaporation of metal electrodes.

[0046] Compared with the prior art, this application can achieve at least the following technical effects:

[0047] During readout, the spin-current injection structure generates magnons, which then propagate through the magnon transport layer. Applying a voltage to the gate to be read allows the corresponding electrical signal to be read by the spin-current detection structure. Thus, the above structure enables the reading and writing of information in the memory using magnons. Due to the ultra-low power consumption of the magnons, the energy consumption of the readout process in this application is lower than that of existing technologies. Furthermore, using multiple gates can increase the memory's storage density. Attached Figure Description

[0048] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in one or more embodiments of this specification or in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments recorded in this specification. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0049] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a novel magnetoelectric coupled memory provided in one or more embodiments of this specification;

[0050] Figure 2 is a flowchart of the memory fabrication method in Figure 1 provided in one or more embodiments of this specification;

[0051] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a deposition film stack provided in one or more embodiments of this specification. Detailed Implementation

[0052] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions in one or more embodiments of this specification, the technical solutions in one or more embodiments of this specification will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of this specification, and not all of the embodiments. Based on one or more embodiments of this specification, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort should fall within the protection scope of this document.

[0053] This application provides a novel magnetoelectric coupled memory, as shown in Figure 1, comprising:

[0054] Substrate 101, bottom electrode metal 102, magnon transport layer 103, multiple gates 104, spin injection structure 105, spin detection structure 106, and first metal electrode 107;

[0055] A bottom electrode metal 102 is disposed on the substrate 101;

[0056] A magnetor transport layer 103 and a first metal electrode 107 are disposed on the bottom electrode metal 102;

[0057] A spin current injection structure 105, multiple gates 104, and a spin current detection structure 106 are sequentially arranged on the magnetic resonator transmission layer 103 along the magnetic resonator transmission direction.

[0058] The first metal electrode 107 and the arbitrary gate 104 constitute a device for writing information; the spin injection structure 105, the magnon transport layer 103, the gate to be read and the spin detection structure 106 constitute a device for reading information.

[0059] In this embodiment, the data reading process is completed using magnons due to their low power consumption. Specifically, during readout, a spin-current injection structure is used to generate magnons, which are then transmitted through the magnon transport layer. At this time, applying a voltage to the gate to be read allows the corresponding electrical signal to be read from the spin-current detection structure.

[0060] Furthermore, using multiple gates can increase the storage density of the memory. Specifically, the number of gates in the memory can be adjusted according to the actual scenario to obtain a reasonable storage density.

[0061] In this embodiment of the application, the spin injection structure 105 includes: a first spin-orbit coupling layer 1051 and a second metal electrode 1052;

[0062] The first spin-orbit coupling layer 1051 is disposed on the magnon transmission layer 103;

[0063] The second metal electrode 1052 is disposed on the spin-orbit coupling layer 1051;

[0064] Current is injected into the first spin-orbit coupling layer 1051 through the second metal electrode 1052;

[0065] The first spin-orbit coupling layer 1051 generates a spin flow in a preset direction.

[0066] In this embodiment of the application, the spin flow detection structure 106 includes: a second spin-orbit coupling layer 1061 and a third metal electrode 1062;

[0067] The second spin-orbit coupling layer 1061 is disposed on the magnon transport layer 103;

[0068] The third metal electrode 1062 is disposed on the second spin-orbit coupling layer 1601;

[0069] Current is injected into the second spin-orbit coupling layer 1061 through the second metal electrode 1062;

[0070] Based on the inverse spin Hall effect, the corresponding electrical signal is read out through the second spin-orbit coupling layer 1061.

[0071] Based on the above structure, the memory operates as follows when reading data:

[0072] By injecting current, the spin injection structure 105 generates a spin current. The spin current enters the magnon transport layer 103, inducing the generation of magnons. A voltage is applied to each gate 104, causing the magnons to be modulated by the gate voltage as they flow from the spin injection structure to the spin detection structure. The spin detection structure 106 reads the electrical signal stored in the gate to be read based on the effect of the voltage applied to the gate on the magnon.

[0073] In this embodiment, multiple gates include: a gate to be read and other gates. Each gate includes a magnetoelectric coupling layer. A first voltage is applied to the other gates, and a second voltage is applied to the gate to be read. The first voltage saturates the magnetic resonator, and the second voltage and the polarization voltage of the magnetoelectric coupling layer together saturate or desaturate the magnetic resonator. Different voltages will have different effects on the amplitude of the magnetic resonator. Based on this principle, the voltage applied to each gate can be adjusted so that the voltage of the gate to be read is different from that of the other gates, so that the spin current detection structure 106 can capture the electrical signal of the gate to be read.

[0074] Specifically, a read voltage V is applied to the gate to be read. readA saturation voltage V is applied to the other gates. sat ,

[0075] During reading, the other gates are in a saturated state regarding the modulation of the magnon, while the gate to be read is based on the reading voltage V. read The polarization state of the gate magnetoelectric coupling layer induces saturation or desaturation control on the magnetic resonator passing through the gate to be read. Therefore, the polarization state of the gate to be read can be determined based on the amplitude of the spin current detection structure 106, thereby determining the storage state. It should be noted that the saturation or desaturation control of the gate to be read results in two states for the magnetic resonator corresponding to the gate to be read, which correspond to 0 and 1 in binary.

[0076] In this embodiment, the method for inducing a magnon includes: the spin Hall effect / Lashba effect or magnetic tunnel junction / spin valve spin-transfer torque of heavy metal / antiferromagnetic / topological materials, and an antenna. The antenna serves as the transmission medium for microwave signals, i.e., magnon injection is achieved through microwave signal injection.

[0077] Accordingly, methods for reading out the corresponding electrical signals include: inverse spin Hall effect / inverse Lashba effect or magnetic tunnel junction / spin valve of heavy metal / antiferromagnetic / topological materials, and antennas. Among them, the antenna is the transmission medium for microwave signals, that is, the magnon is read out in the form of microwave signals.

[0078] In this embodiment, the gate 104 includes a magnetoelectric coupling layer 1401 and a gate electrode 1402. When writing information, a voltage is applied between the gate electrode 1042 and the first metal electrode 107 to flip the magnetoelectric coupling layer 1401 to a specified polarization state, thus writing different states. In contrast, existing technologies use hot electron injection into the gate dielectric, which requires the process of exciting hot electrons. The time required to flip the magnetoelectric coupling layer is much shorter than the time required to excite hot electrons; therefore, the writing speed of this application is faster than that of existing technologies.

[0079] In this embodiment, the materials of the first spin-orbit coupling layer and the second spin-orbit coupling layer include: heavy metals Pt, Ta, W and their alloys, antiferromagnetic IrMn, FeMn, PtMn, PdMn, and light metal oxide CuO. x TiO x The topological insulators BiSe, BiSb, and BiSbTe; the two-dimensional electron gases SrTiO3 / LaAlO3, SrTiO3 / AlOx, KTaO3 / LaAlO3, and KTaO3 / LaVO3; and one or more of the two-dimensional semi-metallic materials MoTe2, PtSe2, PtTe2, and WTe2, with a thickness of 1-20 nm.

[0080] In this embodiment of the application, the magnetoelectric coupling layer material includes one or more of BiFeO3, BiLaFeO3, TbMnO3, MbTiO3, CaMnO3, LuMnO3, BaSrMnO3, HfZrO, and HfO2, and its thickness is 2-100nm.

[0081] In this embodiment of the application, the magnetoresistive transport layer is made of one or more of YIG, CoFeB, CoFe, Co / Pt, CoFeAl, Co / Pd and their composite materials, and its thickness is 0.5-20 nm.

[0082] In the embodiments of this application, the material of the bottom electrode metal includes one or more of SrTiO3, LaSrMnO, and Pt, and its thickness is 1-50 nm;

[0083] In the embodiments of this application, the materials of the first metal electrode, the second metal electrode, and the third metal electrode include one or more of Ru, Ta, Ti, Cr, Pt, Au, CuN, TiN, and their composite materials, with a thickness of 2-200 nm.

[0084] This application provides a manufacturing method for the memory described in any of the above embodiments, as shown in FIG2, including the following steps:

[0085] Step 1: Prepare the front-end wafer.

[0086] Step 2: Deposit a film stack by magnetron sputtering on the front-end wafer.

[0087] In this embodiment, the deposited film stack is shown in FIG3, and from bottom to top consists of: substrate 101, bottom electrode metal 102, magnetic resonator transport layer 103, magnetoelectric coupling layer 104A, and metal electrode layer 104B. The magnetoelectric coupling layer 104A is used to fabricate the magnetoelectric coupling layer 1041 of the gate electrode 104, and the metal electrode layer 104B is used to fabricate the gate electrode 1042.

[0088] Step 3: Ion beam / reactive ion beam etching of columnar structure, followed by magnetron sputtering deposition of insulating material for isolation.

[0089] Step 4: Etch the groove structure with an ion beam / reactive ion beam and deposit a spin-orbit coupling layer by magnetron sputtering.

[0090] Step 5: Ion beam / reactive ion beam etching of the groove structure, followed by magnetron sputtering deposition of insulating material for isolation.

[0091] Step 6: Etching the via structure with ion beam / reactive ion beam.

[0092] Step 7: Magnetron sputtering / electron beam evaporation of the metal electrode.

[0093] It should also be noted that the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element.

[0094] One or more embodiments of this specification can be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, that are executed by a computer. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., that perform a particular task or implement a particular abstract data type. One or more embodiments of this specification can also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices connected via a communication network. In distributed computing environments, program modules can reside in local and remote computer storage media, including storage devices.

[0095] The various embodiments in this specification are described in a progressive manner. Similar or identical parts between embodiments can be referred to interchangeably. Each embodiment focuses on describing the differences from other embodiments. In particular, the system embodiments are basically similar to the method embodiments, so the description is relatively simple; relevant parts can be referred to the descriptions in the method embodiments.

[0096] The above description is merely an embodiment of this document and is not intended to limit the scope of this document. Various modifications and variations can be made to this document by those skilled in the art. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of this document should be included within the scope of the claims of this document.

Claims

1. A novel magnetoelectric coupled memory, characterized in that, include: Substrate, bottom electrode metal, magnon transport layer, first metal electrode, spin injection structure, multiple gates and spin detection structure; The bottom electrode metal is disposed on the substrate; The bottom electrode metal is provided with the magnetic resonator transport layer and the first metal electrode; and The magnetic resonator transmission layer is provided with the spin injection structure, the plurality of gates, and the spin detection structure sequentially arranged along the magnetic resonator transmission direction. The first metal electrode and any gate form a device for writing information; the spin injection structure, the magnon transport layer, the gate to be read, and the spin detection structure form a device for reading information.

2. The memory according to claim 1, characterized in that, When reading information, the spin flow injection structure generates a spin flow; The spin flow enters the magnon transport layer, inducing the generation of magnons; and A voltage is applied to each of the gates, so that the magnon is regulated by the gate voltage as it flows from the spin injection structure to the spin detection structure.

3. The memory according to claim 2, characterized in that, The plurality of gates includes: a gate to be read and other gates, each gate including: a magnetoelectric coupling layer; and A first voltage is applied to the other gates, and a second voltage is applied to the gate to be read; and The first voltage saturates the magnetoresistor, and the second voltage and the polarization voltage of the magnetoelectric coupling layer together saturate or desaturate the magnetoresistor.

4. The memory according to claim 2, characterized in that, The spin injection structure includes: a first spin-orbit coupling layer and a second metal electrode; The first spin-orbit coupling layer is disposed on the magnon transport layer; The second metal electrode is disposed on the spin-orbit coupling layer; Current is injected into the first spin-orbit coupling layer via the second metal electrode; and The first spin-orbit coupling layer generates the spin flow in a predetermined direction.

5. The memory according to claim 2, characterized in that, Methods for inducing magnons include: spin Hall effect / Lashba effect or magnetic tunnel junction / spin valve spin displacement torque of heavy metal / antiferromagnetic / topological materials and antennas.

6. The memory according to claim 2, characterized in that, The spin flow detection structure includes: a second spin-orbit coupling layer and a third metal electrode; The second spin-orbit coupling layer is disposed on the magnon transport layer; The third metal electrode is disposed on the second spin-orbit coupling layer; Current is injected into the second spin-orbit coupling layer via the second metal electrode; and Based on the inverse spin Hall effect, the corresponding electrical signal is read out through the second spin-orbit coupling layer.

7. The memory according to claim 6, characterized in that, Methods for reading out the corresponding electrical signals include: inverse spin Hall effect / inverse Lashba effect or magnetic tunnel junction / spin valve and antenna of heavy metal / antiferromagnetic / topological materials.

8. The memory according to claim 1, characterized in that, The gate includes: a magnetoelectric coupling layer and a gate electrode; and When writing information, a voltage is applied between the gate electrode and the first metal electrode to flip the magnetoelectric coupling layer to a specified polarization state in order to write different states.

9. The memory according to claim 1, characterized in that, The spin flow injection structure includes a first spin-orbit coupling layer and a second metal electrode; the spin flow detection structure includes a second spin-orbit coupling layer and a third metal electrode. The materials of the first spin-orbit coupling layer and the second spin-orbit coupling layer include: heavy metals Pt, Ta, W and their alloys, antiferromagnetic IrMn, FeMn, PtMn, PdMn, and light metal oxide CuO. x TiO x The topological insulators BiSe, BiSb, and BiSbTe; the two-dimensional electron gases SrTiO3 / LaAlO3, SrTiO3 / AlOx, KTaO3 / LaAlO3, and KTaO3 / LaVO3; and one or more of the two-dimensional semi-metallic materials MoTe2, PtSe2, PtTe2, and WTe2, with a thickness of 1-20 nm. The gate includes: a magnetoelectric coupling layer; The material of the magnetoelectric coupling layer includes one or more of BiFeO3, BiLaFeO3, TbMnO3, MbTiO3, CaMnO3, LuMnO3, BaSrMnO3, HfZrO, and HfO2, and its thickness is 2-100nm. The material of the magnetic resonator transport layer includes one or more of YIG, CoFeB, CoFe, Co / Pt, CoFeAl, Co / Pd and their composite materials, with a thickness of 0.5-20 nm; The bottom electrode metal is made of one or more of SrTiO3, LaSrMnO, and Pt, with a thickness of 1-50 nm; and The materials of the first metal electrode, the second metal electrode, and the third metal electrode include one or more of Ru, Ta, Ti, Cr, Pt, Au, CuN, TiN, and their composite materials, with a thickness of 2-200 nm.

10. A method for manufacturing a memory according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: Fabrication of front-end wafers; A film stack is deposited by magnetron sputtering on a front-end wafer, the film stack comprising: a substrate, a bottom electrode metal, a magnetoron transport layer, a magnetoelectric coupling layer, and a metal electrode layer; Ion beam / reactive ion beam etching of columnar structures, followed by magnetron sputtering deposition of insulating material for isolation; Ion beam / reactive ion beam etching of the groove structure, followed by magnetron sputtering deposition of the spin-orbit coupling layer; Ion beam / reactive ion beam etching of the groove structure, followed by magnetron sputtering deposition of insulating material for isolation; Ion beam / reactive ion beam etching of via structures; and Magnetron sputtering / electron beam evaporation of metal electrodes.

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