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Additive manufacturing (AM) is increasingly gaining interest as a low-waste production technique, capable of producing objects using a computer-aided design file. It is particularly interesting for rapid prototyping of parts and manufacturing objects that have complex shapes. However, as in the case of AM through selective laser melting (SLM), manufactured objects may contain defects that can seriously alter their properties. These defects may appear as pores, which can be detected by X-ray computed tomography (X-CT) in a non-destructive manner. CT images can simply be segmented by thresholding or through more advanced techniques such as discrete X-CT reconstruction or machine learning techniques. Nevertheless, these techniques are vulnerable to image reconstruction artefacts. In this work, we evaluate the performance of state-of-the-art, deeply supervised 3D deep learning networks (UNet++, UNet 3+ and UNet-MSS) in terms of segmentation performance of pores from X-ray CT images. The networks have been trained on a real CT dataset, with (noisy) labels produced from both conventional thresholding of the CT images as well as more advanced discrete polychromatic reconstructions. Furthermore, the performance of the networks was evaluated on a test dataset with severe CT artefacts. Pore segmentation from real CT images, which include noise and reconstruction artefacts, revealed that the best performing network was UNet++ with an average Sorensen-Dice score of 0.869 +/- 0.006.

The ability to align ex-situ inspection data of an additively manufactured (AM) part to its build geometry can be helpful, for example, to correlate observed in-situ monitoring events or features to measured discontinuities, such as pores and cracks, in ex-situ inspection. In some cases, the original part design does not lend itself to such an alignment due to the absence of datum surfaces. In this study, the concept of incorporating inclined, cylindrical protrusions as reference fiducials in the design of cylindrical AM test coupons is investigated. Six coupons with proposed fiducials were built and inspected using X-ray computed tomography (CT). Dimensional measurements performed on the fiducials expose shortcomings in the proposed fiducial design—mainly a result of limited dimensional fidelity of small features by AM—and allow us to make suggestions on how the design can be improved. Nevertheless, an alignment scheme based on the reference fiducials is compared with an approach based on inherent coupon surfaces on layer-wise porosity measurements by X-ray CT on one of the test coupons.

We analyze the opportunity of inserting a Ta layer between the polarizing section and the high anisotropy section in the reference subsystem of CoFeB-based tunnel junctions with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Using vector network analyzer ferromagnetic resonance, polar Kerr magnetometry, and magnetization dynamics modeling, we deduce the strength of the ferromagnetic interlayer exchange coupling energy J through various thickness of tantalum that impacts on the overall performance of the tunnel junctions. J culminates at 0.44 mJ/m 2 through 3 A of Ta, but the Co/Pt properties are then suboptimal. Our methodology can be used to rationally find the performance optimum in the reference layers of perpendicularly magnetized tunnel junctions.

The scaling challenges of STT-MRAM read operation down to sub-20nm is discussed. Various contributing factors to the MTJ cell resistance variation were investigated with focus on MRAM cell variation due to lithography patterning technique and interconnects. With EUV SADP or single print process, the MRAM cell size can be scaled down to 18nm physical dimension with 4.2% sigma/ave cell area variation. For interconnects, the increasing resistance variation with shrinking dimensions poses most of the challenges.

In this paper we report on the patterning challenges for the integration of Spin-Transfer Torque Magneto-Resistive- Random-Access Memory (STT MRAM). An overview of the different patterning approaches that have been evaluated in the past decade is presented. Plasma based etching, wet echting, but also none subtractive pattering approaches are covered. The paper also reports on the patterning strategies, currently under investigation at imec.

We study spin-torque induced oscillations of MgO magnetic tunnel junctions in the time domain. By using the Hilbert transform on the time traces, we obtain for the first time a direct experimental measure of the coupling between the power and the phase fluctuations. We deduce the power restoration rate and we obtain low values for the coupling strength, which is consistent with the weak frequency dependence on the applied voltage., 3 pages, 3 figures

We study nanopillar spin-torque oscillators processed from low-resistance-area product MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions. The influence of spin torque can be seen in quasistatic experiments as a strong astroid distortion, consistent with a pure Slonczewski-type spin torque. At microwave frequencies, the spin-torque results in pronounced magnetization auto-oscillations with a clear threshold behavior, though only evidenced in the antiparallel configuration. Two kinds of auto-oscillations are seen depending on the polarity of the voltage applied to the junction. Free layer oscillations require a large easy axis applied field and electrons flowing from the reference layers to the free layer. Acoustic excitation of the reference synthetic ferrimagnet can be seen, provided the electron flow is reversed, indicating a clear similarity with the behavior of conventional all-metallic spin valves. The analysis of the threshold indicates that the amplitude of the spin torque is neither proportional to the current nor to the voltage and it is not accompanied by any significant fieldlike torque.

We present an experimental and theoretical study of the magnetic field dependence of the mode frequency of thermally excited spin waves in rectangular shaped nanopillars of lateral sizes 60x100, 75x150, and 105x190 nm2, patterned from MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions. The spin wave frequencies were measured using spectrally resolved electrical noise measurements. In all spectra, several independent quantized spin wave modes have been observed and could be identified as eigenexcitations of the free layer and of the synthetic antiferromagnet of the junction. Using a theoretical approach based on the diagonalization of the dynamical matrix of a system of three coupled, spatially confined magnetic layers, we have modeled the spectra for the smallest pillar and have extracted its material parameters. The magnetization and exchange stiffness constant of the CoFeB free layer are thereby found to be substantially reduced compared to the corresponding thin film values. Moreover, we could infer that the pinning of the magnetization at the lateral boundaries must be weak. Finally, the interlayer dipolar coupling between the free layer and the synthetic antiferromagnet causes mode anticrossings with gap openings up to 2 GHz. At low fields and in the larger pillars, there is clear evidence for strong non-uniformities of the layer magnetizations. In particular, at zero field the lowest mode is not the fundamental mode, but a mode most likely localized near the layer edges., Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, (re)submitted to PRB

We present an experimental study of the power spectrum of current-driven magnetization oscillations in MgO tunnel junctions under low bias. We find the existence of narrow spectral lines, down to 8 MHz in width at a frequency of 10.7 GHz, for small applied fields with clear evidence of an auto-oscillation threshold. Micromagnetics simulations indicate that the excited mode corresponds to an edge mode of the synthetic antiferromagnet.

We propose a write scheme for perpendicular spin-transfer torque magnetoresistive random-access memory that significantly reduces the required tunnel current density and write energy. A sub-nanosecond in-plane polarized spin current pulse is generated using the spin-Hall effect, disturbing the stable magnetic state. Subsequent switching using out-of-plane polarized spin current becomes highly efficient. Through evaluation of the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation, we quantitatively assess the viability of this write scheme for a wide range of system parameters. A typical example shows an eight-fold reduction in tunnel current density, corresponding to a fifty-fold reduction in write energy, while maintaining a 1 ns write time.

We studied state of the art perpendicularly magnetized tunnel junctions to identify performance improvement opportunities. The free layer has both a low damping and a large anisotropy. Conversely, the perpendicular remanence of the reference layer requires its encapsulation and its coupling with the hard layer. The weak pinning and low damping of the reference layer may make it prone to fluctuations induced by spin-torque. The combined optimization of the interface anisotropies on both sides of the MgO, together with the reproducibility of the interlayer exchange coupling are the main material challenges for our type of magnetic tunnel junctions.

We present a numerical study of oscillation modes in magnetic tunnel junction nanopillars and investigate the frequency and the full width at half maximum of the power spectrum as a function of applied field and applied current. We show that the line width reaches a minimum of 14.5 MHz as the system approaches the threshold current, and increases sharply to 308 MHz as the current is increased beyond the threshold current. The initial line narrowing is due to an increased coherence in the uniform precession mode, while the line broadening above threshold arises from the intrinsic oscillator nonlinearity combined with overlapping contributions from edge modes. We show that these results are in good agreement with recent experiments on MgO-based oscillators.

We demonstrate spin-torque induced coherent auto-oscillation in magnetic tunnel junctions of composition PtMn/CoFe/Ru/CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB and of low resistance-area product. At the generation threshold, we observe a strong line narrowing down to 6 MHz at 300 K and a dramatic increase in oscillator power, yielding spectrally pure oscillations with extremely low flicker noise. The induced auto-oscillations are observed even at zero applied field. The frequency of the oscillation mode, and its dependence with easy and hard axis fields are consistent with an acoustical excitation of the two layers of the synthetic ferrimagnet subsystem. Setting the synthetic ferrimagnet into auto-oscillation requires the current polarity that transfers electrons from the synthetic ferrimagnet to the free layer. In auto-oscillation mode, line jitter is observed such that it is the line envelope that is measured in most cases. The line properties for applied fields near the instability boundaries of the Stoner astroid of the free layer indicate that the phase coherence of the auto-oscillation is likely to be affected by the free layer magnetic noise.

We have studied the effect of nanopillar patterning on the saturation magnetization of the CoFeB free layer in MgO magnetic tunnel junctions. Before patterning, the free layer magnetization is measured by ferromagnetic resonance and is found to be close to the bulk value, with no detectable interface anisotropy. After patterning, the shape anisotropy and the frequency of the main spin wave mode indicate that the free layer magnetization is substantially reduced. Current dependent measurements indicate that this is not due to Joule heating. Size dependent measurements indicate that the magnetization reduction most likely arises from process damage during the etching step.