US Patent 11404098 Memory device

A memory device includes a first ferromagnetic layer, an insulating layer above the first ferromagnetic layer, a second ferromagnetic layer above the insulating layer, a capping layer on an upper surface of the second ferromagnetic layer, and an electrode on an upper surface of the capping layer. The second ferromagnetic layer includes iron atoms. The capping layer includes one or more elements identical to one or more elements in the second ferromagnetic layer. The electrode includes one or more elements identical to one or more of the elements in the capping layer and includes a material having a Vickers hardness higher than a Vickers hardness of an iron atom.