Effects of Elastic Dephasing on Scaling of Ultra-Small Magnetic Tunnel Junctions

The study of the effects of scaling on magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) devices has become an important topic in the field of spin-based memory devices. Here, we investigate the effect of elastic dephasing on trilayer and pentalayer MTJ considered at small transverse cross-sectional areas using the non-equilibrium Green's function spin transport formalism. We consider the structures with and without dephasing effects and clearly point out as to how the tunnel magnetoresistance effect gets affected by dephasing. We attribute the trends noted by analyzing the transmission spectra and hence the currents across the devices. Although dephasing affects the tunnel magnetoresistance ratio (TMR) values for both devices, we note that the obtained TMR values are still in a reasonable range that may not hinder their usability for practical applications.