Micromagnetic modeling of magnetization switching driven by spin-polarized current in magnetic tunnel junctions

The results of micromagnetic simulations of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) patterned from thin films consisting of CoFe(8 nm)/[Al.sub.2][O.sub.3](0.8 nm)/Py(4 nm) with an elliptical cross section (90 * 35 n[m.sup.2]), where the CoFe and the Py are the fixed layer (PL) and the free layer (FL), respectively is presented. The results reveal that the switching mechanism does not change qualitatively by introducing a misalignment while the switching mechanism changes qualitatively when a nonideal shape is introduced.