Abstract:
The increasing demand for high-performance and low-power memory solutions in information technology has highlighted the significant application potential of magnetic memory devices based on magnetic tunnel junctions, particularly spin-transfer torque magnetic random-access memory (STT-MRAM). However, these devices experience high current densities and strong electric fields during operation, which can initiate ion migration. This process leads to performance degradation and may cause permanent device failure, posing a critical challenge to their widespread commercial adoption. This review provides a comprehensive examination of device failure induced by electric-field-driven ion migration in magnetic memory. It specifically evaluates the impact of oxygen ion migration, boron diffusion within CoFeB free layers, and electrode metal migration on essential device characteristics such as dielectric breakdown, tunnel magnetoresistance, and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. The review concludes with an exploration of future research directions, including advanced material design, multi-scale computational modeling, and the advancement of in-situ characterization techniques.