Current-induced switching of magnetic tunnel junctions: Effects of field-like spin-transfer torque, pinned-layer magnetization orientation, and temperature

We study current-induced switching in magnetic tunnel junctions in the presence of a field-like spin-transfer torque and titled pinned-layer magnetization in the high current limit at finite temperature. We consider both the Slonczewski and field-like torques with coefficients a(J) and b(J), respectively. At finite temperatures, sigma = b(J)/a(J) = +/-1 leads to a smaller mean switching time compared that with sigma = 0. The reduction of switching time in the presence of the field-like term is due to the alignment effect (for sigma > 0) and the initial torque effect. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.