Recent Developments in Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy Thin Films for Data Storage Applications

The incessant demand for higher density, faster access time and lower power consuming memory devices such as random access memories have driven tremendous research and development of materials with out-of-plane magnetization. Magnetic materials with strong out-of-plane magnetization, i.e. perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA), offer superior qualities compared to the in-plane anisotropy materials for hard disk drive and magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) devices and have been successfully commercialized in the last decade. With the recent demonstration of spin-transfer torque (STT) magnetic switching, an urge for new materials has emerged for promising STT-MRAM applications. Here, we present a brief overview of PMA materials for two important data storage applications: perpendicular recording and MRAM. We review the various PMA materials developed in recent years for STT-MRAM applications. We discuss the major requirements, challenges and future prospects of these materials for future STT-MRAM devices.