Spin-transfer switching and thermal stability in an FePt/Au/FePt nanopillar prepared by alternate monatomic layer deposition

Abstract

We fabricated a current-perpendicular-to-plane giant magnetoresistance (CPP-GMR) nanopillar with a 1-nm-thick FePt free layer having perpendicular anisotropy using the alternate monatomic layer deposition method. Nanopillars consisting of [Fe (1 monolayer (ML))/Pt (1 ML)]n (n: the number of the alternation period) ferromagnetic layers and an Au spacer layer showed spin-transfer induced switching at room temperature.