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Wen Siang Lew
Gerard Joseph Lim
Putu Andhita Dananjaya Editors

Emerging
Non-volatile
Memory
Technologies
Physics, Engineering, and Applications
Emerging Non-volatile Memory Technologies
Wen Siang Lew Gerard Joseph Lim
• •

Putu Andhita Dananjaya

Editors

Emerging Non-volatile
Memory Technologies
Physics, Engineering, and Applications

123
Editors
Wen Siang Lew Gerard Joseph Lim
School of Physical and Mathematical School of Physical and Mathematical
Sciences Sciences
Nanyang Technological University Nanyang Technological University
Singapore, Singapore Singapore, Singapore

Putu Andhita Dananjaya

School of Physical and Mathematical
Sciences
Nanyang Technological University
Singapore, Singapore

ISBN 978-981-15-6910-4 ISBN 978-981-15-6912-8 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6912-8

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature
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Singapore
Preface

A common driving force in the development of emerging memory technologies is

the urgency to overcome challenges faced by transistor-based memory and logic.
Semiconductor devices have to keep pace with the increasing demands for even
faster speeds, smaller footprint, and greater efficiency, while reducing the total
energy consumption. For integrated circuits to keep up with increasing transistor
density over the next few decades, novel approaches such as new transistor
architectures, 3D stacking, advanced lithography techniques, and new materials are
imperative. While these concerns are being tackled, it is also worth looking into
emerging, beyond-CMOS technologies. Even the International Roadmap for
Devices and Systems (IRDS) sees beyond-CMOS as a milestone in the evolution of
computing. Two very promising emerging memory technologies currently in high
industry demand are spintronic-based devices such as magnetic random-access
memory (MRAM), and resistive switching devices also known as resistive
random-access memory (RRAM).
In spintronic-based devices, the spin property of electrons is exploited alongside
its conventional charge property. The electronic spin that manifests as magnetiza-
tion can be used as memory elements for non-volatile information storage, such as
in commercially available MRAM, using magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJ). On the
other hand, RRAM devices utilize the intrinsic defects modulation of metal–insu-
lator–metal structures under an external electric field. The change in the structural
defects configuration results in significant alteration in conductance. RRAM devi-
ces have been implemented as both memory unit and computing element due to
their unique device dynamics and highly scalable architecture.
The dynamic response of spintronic and resistive switching devices continue to
be thoroughly investigated. With advanced material and device engineering, the
characteristics of these devices can be rigorously tuned to achieve functional
dynamics such as stochastic and deterministic behaviours. This aspect of the device
has an especially crucial role in the development of non-conventional computing
and neuromorphic engineering applications.

v
vi Preface

This book is a timely resource that discusses the physics and applications of
spintronic and RRAM devices. The first part of the book mainly discusses spin-
tronic devices such as nano-oscillators, domain wall memory, nano-magnetic and
programmable logic, circuit design, as well as their applications in neuromorphic
engineering, while the second part of the book focuses on RRAM device physics
and array architectures, various device characterizations and modelling, its imple-
mentation as a synaptic device, and specific application on automatic sound clas-
sification. The content of the book covers the interdisciplinary area of device
physics, material science and engineering, circuit design, and neuromorphic engi-
neering. This book provides fundamental insight into emerging memory tech-
nologies, as well as comprehensive research findings, challenges, and prospects in
these areas. Thus, it can be used as a reference for scientists and engineers of
various backgrounds, who wish to gain understanding from the basics to the more
advanced aspect of the corresponding fields.

Singapore Wen Siang Lew

Gerard Joseph Lim
Putu Andhita Dananjaya
Contents

Spintronic-based Devices
Microwave Oscillators and Detectors Based on Magnetic
Tunnel Junctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
P. K. Muduli, Raghav Sharma, Dhananjay Tiwari, Naveen Sisodia,
Afshin Houshang, O. G. Heinonen, and Johan Åkerman
Spin Transfer Torque Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory . . . . . 45
Wai Cheung Law and Shawn De Wei Wong
Current-Driven Domain Wall Dynamics in Magnetic Heterostructures
for Memory Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Sachin Krishnia and Wen Siang Lew
Electric-Field-Controlled MRAM: Physics and Applications . . . . . . . . . 149
James Lourembam and Jiancheng Huang
Chiral Magnetic Domain Wall and Skyrmion Memory Devices . . . . . . . 175
Kyujoon Lee, Dong-Soo Han, and Mathias Kläui
Circuit Design for Non-volatile Magnetic Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Tony Tae-Hyoung Kim
Domain Wall Programmable Magnetic Logic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Sarjoosing Goolaup, Chandrasekhar Murapaka, and Wen Siang Lew
3D Nanomagnetic Logic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Markus Becherer
Spintronics for Neuromorphic Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
Gerard Joseph Lim, Calvin Ching Ian Ang, and Wen Siang Lew

vii
viii Contents

Resistive Random-Access Memory

Resistive Random Access Memory Device Physics
and Array Architectures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
Victor Yiqian Zhuo, Zhixian Chen, and King Jien Chui
RRAM Device Characterizations and Modelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
Peng Huang, Bin Gao, and Jinfeng Kang
RRAM-Based Neuromorphic Computing Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
Putu Andhita Dananjaya, Roshan Gopalakrishnan, and Wen Siang Lew
An Automatic Sound Classification Framework
with Non-volatile Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
Jibin Wu, Yansong Chua, Malu Zhang, Haizhou Li, and Kay Chen Tan
Spintronic-based Devices
Microwave Oscillators and Detectors
Based on Magnetic Tunnel Junctions

P. K. Muduli, Raghav Sharma, Dhananjay Tiwari, Naveen Sisodia,

Afshin Houshang, O. G. Heinonen, and Johan Åkerman

Abstract A nanopillar of a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) consisting of two mag-

netic layers (free and fixed) separated by an oxide barrier can be used as a microwave
generator, and also as a microwave detector, by using the concept of spin-transfer
torque. When the MTJ nanopillar is used as a microwave generator, the device is
known as a spin-torque nano-oscillator (STNO) and offers advantages of high out-
put power over metallic-based STNOs. We first discuss the bias dependence of spin
torque and, in particular, the field-like torque present in these devices. We then discuss
the mechanism governing linewidth broadening and show how multimode excitation
and mode-hopping can affect the phase noise in these STNOs. The potential of these
oscillators for communication applications is discussed, with the focus on the syn-
chronization and modulation of the MTJ-STNOs with an external signal. Finally the
application of these devices as microwave detectors is discussed, and we concentrate
on approaches for enhancing their microwave sensitivity.

1 Introduction

The theoretical prediction of the spin-transfer torque (STT) effect in the year 1996
constituted a remarkable breakthrough in the development of spintronics. This predic-
tion made independently by Slonczewski [1] and Berger [2] after the 1988 discovery
of giant magnetoresistance (GMR) [3, 4] and the first report of high tunneling magne-
toresistance (TMR) in room-temperature magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJ) in 1995 [5,

P. K. Muduli (B) · R. Sharma · D. Tiwari · N. Sisodia

Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India
e-mail: [email protected]
O. G. Heinonen
Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439, USA
e-mail: [email protected]
A. Houshang · J. Åkerman
Department of Physics, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg 412 96, Sweden
e-mail: [email protected]
NanOsc AB, Electrum 205, Kista 164 40, Sweden
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 3
W. S. Lew et al. (eds.), Emerging Non-volatile Memory Technologies,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-6912-8_1
4 P. K. Muduli et al.

Fig. 1 a Schematic of the operation of a spin-torque nano-oscillator in a system consisting of a

ferromagnet/spacer/ferromagnet trilayer. b Schematic presentation of damping torque, in-plane spin
torque, TIP , and out-of-plane torque, TOPP on the local magnetization. c Schematic presentation of
resistance oscillations arising due to the spin-torque-induced magnetization precession, as a result
of the GMR or TMR effect

6]. STT made possible new methods of manipulating magnetization dynamics using
spin-polarized currents instead of magnetic fields, opening several opportunities for
the development of novel spintronics devices. The two most important types of STT
devices are (i) magnetic memories, such as magnetoresistive random-access mem-
ories (MRAM) [7, 8], and (ii) nanoscale microwave signal generators/detectors. In
this chapter, we will focus on the second application of STT. The reader may also
refer to reviews of STT-based MRAM and STNOs in Ref. [9–15].
The basic principle of operation of an STNO is illustrated in Fig. 1. When electrons
pass through the thick fixed magnetic layer, their spins become aligned with the
magnetization of this layer. When these spin-polarized electrons enter the free layer,
after passing through the non-magnetic/insulating barrier, they exert a torque on
the local magnetization of the free layer if current is sufficiently high, i.e. more
than some threshold value. It can lead to magnetization switching if the torque is
sufficiently large. Smaller torque values result in magnetization precession around
the effective magnetic field. In the general case, an STNO consists of a nanopillar
with a giant magnetoresistance (GMR) or a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) structure.
The oscillation of the magnetization is detected as a microwave or radio frequency
(RF) voltage signal by virtue of either the GMR or TMR effect (Fig. 1c).
STNOs are particularly useful in wireless telecommunications, where they offer
several advantages over commercially used oscillators, such as yttrium iron gar-
net (YIG) tuned oscillators (YTOs), dielectric resonator oscillators (DROs) based
on YIG, and semiconductor-based voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs). These
advantages include a very wide frequency tuning range [16–19], high modulation
rates [20–26], submicron footprints [27], and compatibility with standard comple-
mentary metal oxide semiconductor processes [7, 8]. However, low output power and
high linewidth are the main limitations for commercialization of STNOs. MTJ-based
STNOs offer significantly greater output power than metallic GMR-based STNOs,
and have recently reached 10 µW [28], in vortex based MTJ oscillators, which meets
the requirements of commercial applications. However, the frequency of operation
of such vortex STNOs is around 300 MHz, and hence they do not take full advan-
tage of the wide-frequency tunability of STNOs, which can usually be tuned in the
1–65 GHz range [17]. STNOs have the capability to go beyond 200 GHz [29] with
Microwave Oscillators and Detectors Based … 5

conventional materials in high fields, and can even reach the terahertz range [30]
with the use of antiferromagnets.
MTJ nanopillars can also be used to rectify radio frequency (RF) signals through
spin-transfer torque [31–36]. With an RF current injected into an MTJ nanopil-
lar, a dc voltage develops over the device when the frequency of the RF current
is close to the eigenfrequency of the nanomagnet. Thus, an MTJ nanopillar can
act as a microwave detector, also known as spin-torque diode (STD). For applica-
tions, a high sensitivity—defined as the ratio of the voltage detected to the input RF
power—is required. Preliminary calculations predicted that optimized MTJs should
reach sensitivities exceeding 10,000 mV/mW [37]. With advances in the design
of the MTJs in terms of tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) effect and voltage-
controlled magnetocrystalline anisotropy (VCMA) and with improvements in the
understanding of strong nonlinear effects such as stochastic resonance [38] and non-
linear resonance [35, 36], the sensitivity performance of STD has reached values as
high as 105 mV/mW, exceeding that of semiconductor Schottky diode detectors at
room temperature. These results open a path for the design of a new generation of
high-sensitivity microwave detectors for wireless power transfer, which can rectify
microwave power from different energy sources, such as satellite, sound, television,
and Wi-Fi signals. The resulting dc voltage could be used to operate low-powered
nanodevices [39].

2 Linear Spin Wave Modes in MTJ-Based Nanopillars

Spin waves can be excited by thermal excitations in MTJ nanopillars in the presence
of an external field. A frequency domain spectrum of the time-varying magnetization
in the MTJ will reveal that magnetic moments can oscillate at several different fre-
quencies. Each of these coexisting frequencies is called a frequency eigenmode. The
study of these modes gives an insight into the coherence of spin motion inside the
ferromagnet. Because the excited spin waves are contained mostly in the ferromag-
netic material and die out fast outside it, different spin wave modes are excited only
from the magnetic part of the nanopillars—i.e., the free layer and the fixed layer.
Moreover, as the fixed layer is pinned strongly in one particular direction due to
exchange bias, a very high field is usually required to excite spin waves in it. Figure 2
shows the field variation of the excited spin wave modes in an MTJ nanopillar as
reported in Ref. [40]. The MTJ investigated in [40] had a circular cross-section with
a diameter 240 nm consisting of multilayers of IrMn (5)/CoFe (2.1)/Ru (0.81)/CoFe
(1)/CoFeB (1.5)/MgO(1)/CoFeB (3.5) (thicknesses in nm). The bottom CoFeB layer
is the pinned layer (PL), the composite CoFe/CoFeB represents the reference Layer
(RL), and the top CoFeB layer is the free layer (FL). All the layers are magne-
tized with the magnetization in-plane. The tantiferromagnetic IrMn layer provides
exchange bias on the CoFe pinned layer (PL), which tends to keep its magnetiza-
tion direction in a fixed direction. The PL is strongly coupled antiferromagnetically
through 0.81 nm thick Ru layer to the composite CoFe/CoFeB fixed layer, or refer-
6 P. K. Muduli et al.

Fig. 2 Field-excited spin wave modes in an MTJ nanopillar. a Three different modes originating
from free and fixed layers at different applied external fields. Depending on the direction of the
applied field, the free and fixed layers can be aligned parallel (P state) or antiparallel (AP state) to
each other. Here, FLP1 and FLAP1 represent the free layer modes in the P and AP configurations,
respectively. RLAP1 represents the reference layer mode in the P state. b shows similar modes
obtained using simulations (open squares, triangles, diamonds, and circles). The crossover from
increasing frequency modes (<800 Oe) to decreasing frequency modes (>800 Oe) is qualitatively
and quantitatively reproduced in the simulations. c and d show the eigenmode distribution (the
amplitude of the magnetization oscillations) of the lowest frequency mode at applied fields of 400
Oe and 1000 Oe. A dominant bulk-like mode in FL (RL) can be seen at 400 Oe (1000 Oe). Reprinted
with permission from Muduli et al. [40] copyright (2011) by the American Physical society

ence layer (RL). This CoFe/Ru/CoFe/CoFeB structure is referred to as a synthetic

antiferromagnet (SAF), as its net magnetic moment is close to zero. In Fig. 2, we can
distinguish three regions in which three different behaviors of the eigenmodes are
observed. The first region (I) corresponds to the positive field, 100 < Hext ≤ 800 Oe;
here the FL and RL magnetizations are in an antiparallel (AP) configuration. In this
region, the frequencies of the modes increase with an external field. These modes
correspond to free layer excitations, labeled FLAP. The second region (II) corre-
sponds to higher positive fields, Hext ≥ 800 Oe, where additional lower-frequency
modes appear with frequencies that decrease with Hext . These new modes are RL
modes. Finally, the third region (III) corresponds to the case of Hext < 100 Oe, with
Microwave Oscillators and Detectors Based … 7

the magnetization of the FL and RL in parallel (P) configuration, which is also an

FL mode, labeled FLP1.
By resolving these modes spatially, the region of the MTJ nanopillar that is excited
during oscillations at any particular mode can be extracted. It is observed that broadly
two kinds of spatial modes can be excited: (i) bulk modes and (ii) edge modes. With
bulk modes, the magnetization in the bulk (central region) of the ferromagnetic mate-
rial moves in phase with each other and most of the output power (in the frequency
spectra) comes from this central region. The internal field is mostly homogeneous in
this region of the MTJ. In edge modes, the amplitude of magnetization oscillations
is significant mostly only around the edges, where the internal field is not homoge-
neous. Since spatial resolution of the frequencies is experimentally difficult, micro-
magnetic simulations utilizing the Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert–Slonczewski (LLGS)
equation have been increasingly used for this purpose. The micromagnetic simula-
tion results shown in Fig. 2b reproduces the experimental spin wave modes in all
the three regions. In Fig. 2c, d, spatially resolved plots of bulk spin wave modes
from free (at 400 Oe) and fixed (at 1000 Oe) layers are shown using micromagnetic
simulations. Several factors, such as the lateral size of MTJ and the current-induced
Oersted field, have also been reported to influence spin wave generation [41–43].

3 Bias Dependence of In-Plane and Field-Like Torques

Zhang et al. [44] have pointed out that spin torque not only has the in-plane component
predicted by Slonczewski [1] and Berger [2], but also possesses a perpendicular com-
ponent. The in-plane torque (TIP ) is also referred to simply as the spin-transfer torque
(STT), τ , while the perpendicular or out-of-plane torque (TOOP ) is also referred to
as the field-like torque (FLT), τ⊥ . The in-plane torque τ lies in the plane defined by
the magnetization of the fixed layer Mfixed and the magnetization of the free layer
Mfree , while τ⊥ points out of the plane defined by Mfixed and Mfree , as shown in Fig. 1.
The FLT τ⊥ is small in metallic systems such as spin valves [45–47], but much
larger (∼ 40% of τ ) in MTJs [48], where it significantly affects the magnetization
dynamics. In order to control the magnetization using spin-torque effects, the FLT
τ⊥ needs to be known and understood. However, the magnitude of this component
is both difficult to calculate [49–51] and to measure.
The magnetization dynamics of the free layer, including both these torques, can
be described by the Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert–Slonczewski (LLGS) equation:
 
d m̂ d m̂ γ
= −γ [m̂ × Ĥeff ] + α m̂ × + [aj (m̂ × (m̂ × p̂)) + bj (m̂ × p̂)]
dt dt μ0 MS
(1)

where m̂ is the normalized magnetic moment (|m̂| = Mfree /Msat ), γ is the gyromag-
netic ratio of the electron, Msat is the saturation magnetization, Ĥeff is the effective
8 P. K. Muduli et al.

external field, and p̂ is the direction of the fixed layer with φ as the angle between
free and fixed layer. The coefficients aj and bj represent the strengths of τ and τ⊥
respectively. When current is injected into the free layer, depending on the current
direction, τ will either support the damping or act opposite as an anti-damping
source. However, τ⊥ can simulate the action of the field on Mfree , which can also
modify the energy variations in the free layer magnetization.
Measuring the spin-torque magnitude and direction in MTJ-STNOs, especially
as a function of bias voltage, is crucial for both fundamental understanding and for
applications. However, this is not a trivial task, since these measurements are often
subject to experimental artifacts. Despite significant progress, there is controversy
about the bias dependence of τ and τ⊥ in MTJ-STNOs, with results so far disagreeing
both qualitatively and quantitatively [32, 33, 52–55]. Theoretical works are also far
from conclusive, as both quadratic [49, 51] and linear dependence [56] of the τ⊥ on
bias voltage are predicted.
Sankey et al. [32] measured the perpendicular spin-torque component by fitting
the line shape of spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR) to elliptical MgO
MTJs. ST-FMR is a common technique for measuring spin torque by applying an RF
current to the MTJs. They showed that the perpendicular spin torque is quadratic in
applied voltage, in good agreement with the first-principle calculations by Heileger
and Stiles [51]. Similar measurements have also been carried out on MgO MTJs
by Kubota et al. [57]. The results of Sankey et al. [32] and Kubota et al. [57] are
summarized in Fig. 3.
On the other hand, Petit et al. [52] measured the change in resonance frequency
as a function of bias current in circular Al2 O3 -based MTJs and concluded from the
observed changes that the τ⊥ is linearly proportional to the biasing current density,
and thus changes sign with bias voltage. This result was in qualitative agreement
with the measurement of Li et al. [50], who extracted the perpendicular torque by

Fig. 3 Measured bias dependence of perpendicular torque showing quadratic behavior. a Magni-
tudes of perpendicular torquance (d τ⊥ /d V ) determined from room temperature ST-FMR signals for
three different values of applied magnetic field. Adapted by permission from Macmillan Publishers
Ltd: (Nature Physics) Sankey et al. [32], copyright (2008). b The bias dependence of perpendic-
ular torque showing experimental and calculated results. Adapted by permission from Macmillan
Publishers Ltd: (Nature Physics) Kubota et al. [33], copyright (2008)
Microwave Oscillators and Detectors Based … 9

measuring the switching current of MgO MTJs, and by carefully accounting for heat-
ing effects due to the rather large current densities required for switching. However,
since the measurements by Li et al. [50] were based on switching currents, the voltage
range used was necessarily higher, approximately 0.5 V–1.0 V, than those of Sankey
et al. [32] and Kubota et al. [57]. Measurements of the perpendicular spin-torque
effect in asymmetric MgO MTJs (where the fixed and free layers were not identical)
were carried out by Oh et al. [54]. The perpendicular spin torque τ⊥ was obtained
by fitting plots of the FL magnetic configuration relative to that of the fixed layer as
function of applied external field and bias voltage, and showed that there is a linear
term in the dependence of perpendicular spin-torque effective field on bias voltage,
in addition to a quadratic one, in agreement with theoretical predictions [58].
In Fig. 4, we summarize two recent experiments [40, 55] in which τ⊥ was obtained
from the measurement of resonance frequency. The resonance frequency depends on
τ⊥ as follows [52]:
d ωr
 −2αaj /j + bj /j (2)
dj

Since α  1, the FLT term bj has a pronounced effect on the resonance frequency
and shows a strong linear dependence on the bias, as shown in Fig. 4a, b. Both these
studies show that the perpendicular torque varies linearly with bias voltage (for a
certain range of bias voltages) even for nominally symmetric MTJs, and that any
quadratic term is negligible.
In a recent work by Tiwari et al. [59], bias dependence of spin torques in MgO-
based magnetic tunnel junction using a field-modulated spin torque ferromagnetic
resonance measurement technique is studied for three devices with tunneling magne-
toresistance (MR) of 60, 67, and 73%. The devices with lower MR ratio showed the
presence of multiple modes, which can be ascribed to asymmetric modes originating

Fig. 4 Measured resonance frequencies versus bias voltage in MgO-based MTJs from a Reprinted
with permission from Muduli et al.. [40] copyright (2011) by the American Physical society and
b Reprinted with permission from Heinonen et al. [55] Copyright (2010) by the American Physical
society. Both behaviors can be explained by a linear dependence of the perpendicular spin torque
on bias voltage
10 P. K. Muduli et al.

0.018 (b)
0.000
(a)
MR = 73%
0.012 MR = 67%
-0.004 MR = 73%
MR = 67% MR = 60%
-0.008 0.006
MR = 60%
-0.012
0.000
-0.016

-0.020 -0.006

0 100 200 300 400 500 0 100 200 300 400 500
Voltage (mV) Voltage (mV)

Fig. 5 Bias dependence of the (a) IP torkance, and (b) OOP torkance determined from the room
temperature FM-STFMR signals, for the three devices having different MR ratios. Reprinted from
Tiwari et al. [59], with the permission of AIP Publishing

from inhomogeneous magnetization precession in the FL due to non-uniform cur-

rents (arising, e.g., from pinholes), while the device with higher MR device (73%),
showed a single resonance mode. It is found that the quality of the barrier certainly
has an effect on the in-plane torkance, and larger MR means larger efficiency in
spin-symmetric injection, which should lead to larger in-plane spin transfer torque.
The bias dependence of in-plane (IP) and out-of-plane (OOP) torkance are shown
in Figs. 5a, b, respectively. Figure 5a shows that IP torkance depends strongly on
the bias voltage. The magnitude of STT is higher for higher MR device. However,
the OOP torkance is almost constant for all the devices, which implies a linear
dependence of OOP torque on the bias voltage, which is consistent with our previous
works [40, 55]. In our previous work, we qualitatively predict the linear OOP torque
from the frequency versus bias current. Further, linear dependence of OOP torque
on bias voltage is consistent with other works [50, 52] but inconsistent with other
works [32, 57]. Also, the magnitude of OOP torkance is two orders of magnitude
below the magnitude of IP torkance, in contrast from previous works [48, 60]. The
OOP torkance also shows a change of its sign at higher bias. They also observe this
behavior in other low MR devices (<65%) and it is because of the sign change of
the antisymmetric amplitude (Va ) at higher bias. The origin of this behavior was
attributed to second–order term in the field-like torque which appears as a linear
term in torkance. These results suggest that bias dependence of torques depends on
the MR ratio and this could be the reason for reported different behaviors of torques
as functions of bias voltage, especially the field-like torque.

4 Auto-oscillations in MTJ Nanopillar

The term “auto-oscillatory phenomenon” refers to the generation of periodic signals

when the input signal is not periodic [61]. In case of STNOs, input in the form of dc
bias leads to a nonideal sinusoidal signal that is periodic in nature and which shows
Microwave Oscillators and Detectors Based … 11

some phase deviation. Here, the auto-oscillations in STNOs are because of the STT,
which provides sufficient energy for the local magnetization of the free layers and
acts opposite to the natural damping force. Slavin and Tiberkevich [14] provided
the general theoretical model of the auto-oscillations in STNO devices, which is a
generalized nonlinear auto-oscillator model:
dc
+ iω (p)c + + (p)c − − (p, I )c = f (t) (3)
dt
where c(t) defines the complex amplitude of the auto-oscillations characterized by the
resonant frequency, ω(p), power, p = |c|2 , and phase,  = arg(c). The third term,
+ (p), defines the natural damping that in general describes energy dissipation. The
fourth term, − (p), defines the source of energy pumped to the system that can coun-
teract the natural damping and cause the system to generate auto-oscillations. As this
is opposite to the natural damping, − (p) is usually known as a negative damping
term. The nonlinearity in the auto-oscillation comes from the dependence of the
resonant frequency and of both damping terms on the auto-oscillation power [14,
62–69]. The term on the right hand side, f (t), describes the interaction of the STNO
with other sources or perturbations, such as thermal fluctuations. The resonant fre-
quency is power-dependent and under nonlinear dynamics can be described by:
ω(p) = ω0 + Np. Here, ω0 is the ferromagnetic resonance frequency and N is the
nonlinear frequency shift due to amplitude–phase coupling in the STNO, resulting in
a nonlinear contribution to the phase noise. The precessional motion in the STNOs,
especially the tuning of resonant frequency ω(p), depends on the applied current
and effective magnetic field. The applied current can directly influence the oscil-
lation power p and thus ω(p). The power dependence of ω(p) mainly comes from
the demagnetizing field, which is included in the Heff term of Eq. (1). However, the
main factor that can tune the ω(p) in a wide range is the externally applied magnetic
field Hext in the Heff term. An important feature of the auto-oscillatory regime is
the threshold nature of the auto-oscillation. According to Ref. [14], this threshold
current is theoretically given by
Ith = g /σ. (4)

where g represents the half-linewidth of the linear ferromagnetic resonance given

by g = ω0 αG , where ω0 is the ferromagnetic resonance frequency and αG is the
intrinsic Gilbert damping constant. The coefficient σ is given by:
ε gμB
σ = , (5)
2eM0 LS

Here, ε is a dimensionless quantity that represents a spin-polarized efficiency, g is

the spectroscopic Landé factor, μB is the Bohr magneton, e is the electronic charge,
L is the thickness of the free layer, and S is the area of the current-carrying region
of the STNO. Equation (4) shows that threshold current required for the microwave
generation by the STT depends on the damping constant and the coefficient σ . These
12 P. K. Muduli et al.

(a) (b)
10

FFT [arb.]
5

0
4 6 8
Frequency [GHz]
30
(c)

FFT [arb.]
20

10

0
4 6 8
Frequency [GHz]

Fig. 6 a Map of STNO power as a function of STNO frequency and dc current. b and c show the
spectra measured by the spectrum analyzer at dc currents of 4 mA (below threshold) and 7 mA
(above threshold), respectively

factors depend on the material properties as well as the applied field. The free-
running auto-oscillation frequency ωp can be tuned by using both magnetic field and
dc current. Furthermore, the applied dc current can also control the STNO frequency
directly through the Oersted field in the Heff by altering the spatial variation [70, 71].
Figure 6 shows the example of spectra measured from an MTJ-based STNO.
Auto-oscillation is achieved at a current of 7 mA. At lower currents, low-power
thermally excited ferromagnetic resonance (TE-FMR) signals are seen due to the high
magnetoresistance (MR) of MTJ devices [53]. These signals are often not observed
for metallic-based devices. At low currents, the spectra can often contain multiple
modes [72], as shown in Fig. 6b for a current of 4 mA, which is below the auto-
oscillation threshold. Figure 6c shows a sharp peak due to auto-oscillations at a
current of 7 mA, which is above the threshold current of 6.4 mA.

5 Auto-oscillations in MTJ Hybrid Nanocontacts

MTJs are traditionally shaped into nanopillars in order to confine the current and force
it to go through the insulating barrier. Although nanopillar MTJs can generate much
higher microwave power, they suffer from larger linewidths compared to nanocontact
structures [73–76]. The reason for that is attributed to the smaller effective volume
of the nanopillar structure and also the in-homogeneous magnetization that arises
from the serrated edges of the nanopillars, which can lead to incoherent precession
of magnetization. To combine the low linewidths of nanocontact structures and high
output power of MTJs, a hybrid nanocontact structure has been proposed [77, 78].
A schematic of this type of hybrid device is shown in Fig. 7a, b. In these type of
Microwave Oscillators and Detectors Based … 13

devices, two modifications were implemented in order to force the current to go

through the insulating barrier. First, the MTJ cap layer is thinned down to minimize
the lateral current shunting as can be seen in Fig. 7b. Second, a MgO layer with a
low-resistance area (RA) product of 1.5 μm2 was used to promote the tunneling
through the insulating barrier. As will be seen in the following, these devices show
a rich magneto-static and magneto-dynamic behaviour.

5.1 Magnetostatic Properties of Nanocontact MTJs

The complete layer sequence of the MTJ stack used for the study is: Ta(3)/CuN(30)/
Ta(5)/PtMn(20)/CoFe30 (2)/Ru(0.85)/CoFe40 B20 (2)/CoFe30 (0.5)/MgO/CoFe30 (0.5)/
CoFe40 B20 (1.5)/Ta(3)/Ru(7), with thicknesses in nm. This stack has an in-plane easy
axis. Figure 7c shows the hysteresis loop of the above-mentioned stack with the mag-
netic field applied along the in-plane easy axis while the corresponding resistance of
an MTJ-STNO with a nominal diameter of dNC = 150 nm, is shown in Fig. 7d. The
MTJ-STNO device displays a 36% magnetoresistance and the field dependence of
the MTJ-STNO device and the unpatterned film stack shows a very good agreement.
This indicates that during the processing of the MTJ stack there was minimal damage
to the film and more importantly, the free layer (FL) has remained intact. In Fig. 7c
the magnetic state of some of the key points in the hysteresis loop is demonstrated.
Decreasing the magnetic field from the fully saturated state (1), causes the reference
layer (RL) to gradually become antiparallel to FL. This is manifested with a substan-
tial increase in the resistance (R) of the MTJ-STNO, shown in Fig. 7d. Decreasing
the field even more from state 2 → 3, the FL and RL become parallel again and as
a result, R decreases as well. Further decreasing the field from 3 → 4, the pinned
layer (PL) slowly switches to be parallel to the RL, working against a strong antifer-
romagnetic coupling (AFC). Going from 5 → 6 → 1, The FL switches at low field
and RL switches at high fields to align with the applied field.

5.2 Magnetodynamic Properties of Nanocontact MTJs

To study the magnetodynamical behaviour of MTJ-STNOs, their power spectral

density was extracted as a function of magnetic field strength applied at θex = 85◦
for different drive currents. The results of such measurement are shown in Fig. 8.
At low currents (Idc = −5 & −6 mA), the strongest mode that can be detected is the
spin wave bullet [16, 76, 80], with a much lower frequency than the ferromagnetic
resonance frequency (fFMR , red dashed line). This mode eventually dies out at Hex =
1.35 T where the self-localization of the bullet is no longer possible. We calculate the
internal angle of magnetization at this field from the following boundary conditions:

Hex cos θex = Hint cos θint , (6)

14 P. K. Muduli et al.

Fig. 7 Schematic of the layer sequence and the current distribution in (a) a normal nanocontact
and (b) a hybrid nanocontact structure in which the cap layer is thinned down. c Hystersis loop of
the unpatterned MTJ stack with the field being applied along the in-plane easy axis. d Resistance
of a MTJ-STNO device with the field being applied along the in-plane easy axis yielding a mag-
netoresistance of 36%. Inset in (d) in the uniform FMR mode frequency (blue dots and the Kittel
fit (red line) to extract an effective magnetization of 1.41 T. Reprinted from Houshang et al. [79]
Copyright (2018) by Nature Communications

Hex sin θex = (Hint + Ms ) sin θint . (7)

where, Hint and θint are the internal magnetic field and out-of-plane angle, respec-
tively. The internal angle is found to be θint
crit
= 60◦ and it is in a good agreement with
the theoretical predictions θint
crit
= 55◦ [81] Above the critical field, a weaker mode
can be seen having a frequency only slightly higher than fFMR which is consistent
with the ordinary Slonczewski propagating spin wave mode. Increasing the drive
current to Idc = −7 mA, a strong mode with a frequency well above fFMR starts to
appear. Further increasing the amount of current, a sharp jump to a mode with even
higher frequency is observed at about 1.6 T (Fig. 8d). At Idc = -9 mA and -10 mA,
the new mode dominates the high field region. These new high frequency modes can
be perfectly analyzed by the higher-order propagating SW modes put forward by
Slonczewski [82]. Slonczewski predicted that propagating SWs can assume a dis-
crete set of wave vectors rNC k  1.2, 4.7, 7.7.... Using the free layer (CoFe/CoFeB)
exchange stiffness Aex = 23 × 10−12 J/m, and allowing for a reasonable lateral cur-
rent spread, one cat fit the high frequency modes accurately, by taking higher order
Microwave Oscillators and Detectors Based … 15

Fig. 8 Power spectral density of auto-oscillations as a function of applied magnetic field strength for
a Idc = −5 mA, b Idc = −6 mA, c Idc = −7 mA, d Idc = −8 mA, e Idc = −9 mA, and f Idc = −10
mA. The FMR frequency (fFMR ) and the SW bullet frequency (fSWB ), are shown by red and pinck
2nd ), and third-order (f 3rd ) Slonczewski modes are shown by
dashed lines, and the second- (fPSW PSW
brown and green dashed lines, respectively. Reprinted from Houshang et al. [79] Copyright (2018)
by Nature Communications

wave vectors into account. The experimental results together with the calculated SW
mode frequencies are shown in Fig. 8c–f. Furthermore, the need for higher currents
to excite these higher order modes are also in-line with Slonczewsiki’s expectations
[82]. The details of calculating the frequency of higher order modes, dependence of
Ms on Idc , and the role of azimuthal modes in addition to the radial ones considered
by Slonczewski, can be found in Ref. [79].

5.3 Mutual Synchronization of Nanocontact MTJs

Mutual synchronization of STNOs has been extensively studied in the literature [71,
83–85]. Here, the mutual synchronization of all three Slonczewski modes are exper-
imentally shown (Fig. 9), further demonstrating their propagating nature. Field and
current dependence of MTJ-STNOs with two NCs having 150 nm nominal diameter
separated 300 nm are shown in Fig. 9a–c. The behavior of the device as a function
of field at a constant drive current, is shown in Fig. 9a. At fields lower than 1.22
T, two distinct modes can be observed at high frequencies with a substantial noise
at low frequencies, indicative of a substantial interaction between the two modes.
By increasing the field, these two modes merge into one and at the same time, the
low-frequency noise disappears which is consistent with mutual synchronization. A
16 P. K. Muduli et al.

Fig. 9 Mutual synchronization on the a first-, b second-, and c third-order Slonczewski modes for
a MTJ-STNO with two NCs having a nominal diameter of dNC = 150 nm and a center to center
spacing of 300 nm. Reprinted from Houshang et al. [79] Copyright (2018) by Nature Communica-
tions

set of new devices with a thicker bottom electrode to sustain more current, were
used to study the synchronization behaviour as a function of drive current. As can
be seen in Fig. 9b, at 1.18 T, two fist order Slonczewski modes can be detected
at currents Idc < −13 mA. Increasing the amount of drive current, first one of the
NCs jump to second-order at about Idc = −13 mA and then the second NC at about
Idc = −17 mA after which the two modes merge and synchronize at about −18 mA.
Increasing the applied field to 1.45 T, the second order modes do not synchronize
at all while the third-order modes are synchronized. Therefore, it is possible to tune
the applied field and drive current so that synchronization is achieved for each of the
three Slonczewski modes.
Being able to generate high-order Slonczewski modes means that one can generate
modes with much shorter wavelengths, in this 120 nm and 74 nm for the second-
and third-order modes. Having access to larger wavevectors also indicates that the
group velocity of these waves are also higher since the group velocity increases
with wavevector vgr  4γ Aex k/Ms . This means not only SWs can travel much faster
but much further before they get damped out which has significant implications for
practical applications of magnonic devices.

6 Generation Linewidth of MTJ-Based STNOs

The understanding of the origin of linewidth in STNOs is crucial for applications. In

the following, we will discuss the linewidth of single modes and multimode STNOs
in separate subsections.
Microwave Oscillators and Detectors Based … 17

6.1 Single-Mode Excitation

The linewidth, f of the single mode in STNO devices can be described by the
single-mode theory developed by Kim et al. [14, 67, 68].
According to this theory, f of a nonlinear oscillator is given by:

f = g (1 − Idc
Ith
), for I << Ith (8)
= fL (1 + ν ), for I >> Ith
2
(9)

where Idc is the dc bias current, and the nonlinear linewidth amplification is (1 +
 2
ν 2 ) = 1 + p0 Np , where N = ddpω is the nonlinear frequency shift, and p is the
power restoration rate (p−1 is the correlation time of the power fluctuations); fL =
g E(p
kT
0)
is the intrinsic thermal linewidth—i.e., the linewidth of a linear (ν = 0)
oscillator. Here, E(p0 ) is the total energy of the oscillator. Above threshold (Idc Ith ),
the nonlinear amplification of the linewidth is controlled by the ratio of the nonlinear
frequency shift N to the power restoration rate p .
George et al. [69] successfully applied the single-mode theory to MTJ-based
STNOs. They showed that the nonlinear coefficient ν can be calculated from the
equation:
 2
Idc df
ANL = 1 + . (10)
g dIdc

Here, ANL is the nonlinear amplification equal to (1 + ν 2 ). Figure 10 shows the

experimental observation of the linewidth below and above the threshold current of
1 mA. Above the threshold current, the linewidth is amplified by a factor of (1 + ν 2 )
due to nonlinear oscillations maintained by the STT.
The high power of MTJ-based STNOs allows direct measurement of the sig-
nal in the time-domain, which is not possible in low-power metallic-based STNOs.
Bianchini et al. [86] have shown that it is possible to directly measure the nonlin-
ear coefficient ν, as well as the linear linewidth, from time-domain data using the
following relation of the phase variance [66, 86]:
 −2p 
21−e
δφR = 2 ω0 (1 + ν )t − ν
2 2
. (11)
2p

They derived p from the auto-correlation function of power fluctuations using the
following expression [87]:

κP (τ ) = δp(τ )δp(0) = A(p0 , p )e−2p (τ ) . (12)

Here, δp is the power fluctuations around the mean value p0 and A(p0 , p ) is the
amplitude. The other way of measuring p is given by Refs. [88, 89] from the
18 P. K. Muduli et al.

Fig. 10 Linewidth as a function of Idc for Hext = 110 Oe and T = 300 K. The right axis shows
the experimentally determined nonlinear amplification factor ANL with Idc as fitted by Eq. (10).
Reprinted from Georges et al. [69] Copyright (2009) by the American Physical Society

noise spectra. In particular, Ref. [88] estimates the nonlinear amplitude relaxation
frequency, fp = p /π , from the crossover of the linear and nonlinear contributions
in the phase noise plot.

6.1.1 Temperature Dependence of Linewidth

The linewidth of the single mode in STNO devices, as discussed above, can be well
described by white noise generated primarily due to thermal noise. White noise is
a random noise whose intensity is independent of frequency. The thermal fluctua-
tions add a Gaussian noise to the STNO spectra, leading to a Lorentzian line shape.
This Gaussian white frequency noise exists in all electronic devices. The effect of
thermal fluctuations on the emission linewidth has been studied in MTJ-STNOs in
different experimental studies [69, 90, 91]. Reference [69] showed that intrinsic
noise is not dominated by thermal fluctuations but rather by chaotic dynamics of
the magnetic system induced by the spin-transfer torque. Sierra et al. [91] showed
a linear dependency of linewidth in nanopillar MTJ-STNOs in contrast to the result
shown by Ref. [69]. Sierra et al. showed that the emission linewidth ( f ) strongly
depends on nonlinear parameters like ν and p . For the nonlinear oscillator, where
ν > 0, emission linewidth could be dependent on the temperature in different ways.
For the case of 2π f << p , emission linewidth shows a linear dependency on the
temperature, whereas for the case of 2π f > p , the emission linewidth increases
nonlinearly with the temperature in good agreement with theoretical predictions
[14, 66].
Microwave Oscillators and Detectors Based … 19

6.2 Multimode Excitation and Mode-Hopping

In the previous section, the analytic theory of linewidth generation was based on the
single auto-oscillatory mode. However, various studies have shown the presence of
multiple modes in STNO devices [43, 92, 93]. Figure 11 shows so-called Wigner
plots of instantaneous frequency of MTJ-based STNO for a duration of 20 ns. Clear
mode-hopping can be seen at ϕ = 220◦ , where ϕ represents the angle between the free
and reference layer. The right-hand side column shows the autocorrelation function
of the power fluctuation. The decay of the autocorrelation function (τ ) is faster in
the case of ϕ = 220◦ because of mode hopping events and decoherence. For the case
of ϕ = 196◦ , a single mode is observed and the decay of the autocorrelation function
(τ ) is slower. Detailed investigation into the bias current and field angle shows that
mode-hopping is minimized near the current threshold for the antiparallel alignment
of the free layer with the reference layer magnetization. Away from the antiparallel
alignment, mode hopping limits oscillator coherence. Furthermore, evidence of mode
hopping [40, 72, 94], mode transitions [16, 95], and coexistence [70] has been
reported in STNOs.
There have been some recent works to extend the single-mode theory to multiple
modes [72, 96–99], which is necessary in order to explain experimental observations
of multi-mode system as well as of the generation linewidth of such systems. These
works draw on an analogy between equations describing STNO multimode genera-
tion with equations similar to those describing multimode ring lasers [100, 101] in
laser technology. The theory presented in Ref. [99] is a generalization of the single-
mode theory by Slavin and Tiberkevich [14] that includes contributions to nonlinear
frequency shift as well as to nonlinear damping and pumping from mode-interactions

7 1.0
6 m2 (a) (b)
f [GHz]

5 0.5
4
3 0.0
0 10 20
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
6 1.0
(c) (d)
5
f [GHz]

4
m1 0.5
3 m2
2 0.0
0 10 20
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Time [ns] Time [ns]

Fig. 11 Wigner distribution (first column) and normalized autocorrelation envelope of the dominant
mode (second column) at ϕ= (a), (b) 196◦ , and (c), (d) 220◦ for Idc = 8 mA and Hext = 450 Oe. Red
lines are exponential fits to the experimental autocorrelation envelope from the Eq. (12). Dashed
lines are the experimental data. Reprinted from Muduli et al. [72] Copyright (2012) by the American
Physical Society
20 P. K. Muduli et al.

mediated by exchange and magnetostatic coupling. An important part of the theory

in Ref. [99] is that coupling through a bath of thermally excited magnons leads to an
effective linear mode-coupling term. This is the term that leads to mode-hopping in
the presence of a stochastic force, and it also leads to temperature-driven effects, such
as temperature-induced switching from one resonant mode to another, as observed
by Muduli, Heinonen, and Åkerman [96]. If we consider a system with an in-plane
MTJ-STNO and a total current I perpendicular to the plane of the magnetic layers and
with two dominant modes 1 and 2 between which the system exhibits mode-hopping
while the other modes are thermally populated, one can derive equations for the slow
time-evolution of amplitudes A1 (t) and A2 (t). Here, “slow” means slow compared
to the typical nano-second or sub-nanosecond timescales of resonant modes of such
a system. As was shown in Ref. [99], the effective equations for the amplitudes of
the coupled modes are:

dA1 (t)  
= −i η1,1 |A1 |2 + η1,2 |A2 |2 A1 − G,1 1 + P1,1 |A1 |2 + P1,2 |A2 |2 A1
dt 
+σ0 I cos β 1 − Q1,1 |A1 |2 − Q1,2 |A2 |2 + R1,2 (T )A2
dA2 (t)  
= −i η2,1 |A1 |2 + η2,2 |A2 |2 A2 − G,2 1 + P2,1 |A1 |2 + P2,2 |A2 |2 A2
dt 
+σ0 I cos β 1 − Q2,1 |A1 |2 − Q2,2 |A2 |2 + R2,1 (T )A2 . (13)

Here, σ0 I is the effective field that arises because of STT, β is the angle between
the reference layer magnetization and an in-plane external magnetic field, and
G,i = αωi , i = 1, 2, with ωi the linearized undamped frequency of eigenmode i.
The coefficients ηi,i are the usual non-linear frequency shift due to the power of
mode i, but now there are also off-diagonal non-linear frequency shifts ηi,j , i = j, of
mode i due to the power of mode j. Similarly, the non-linear damping and pumping
now have off-diagonal contributions Qi,j and Pi,j , i = j, to the dynamics of mode i
because of the power in mode j, in addition to the diagonal contributions Qi,i and Pi,i .
Note that while Q1,2 = Q2,1 it is not the case in general that P1,2 = P1,2 . Finally, the
complex coefficients Ri,j (T ), with T the temperature, couple the amplitude of mode
j to the time-evolution of mode i. These are the couplings that arise from interactions
with the thermal bath of magnons. If the coefficients Ri,j are zero, the system may
exhibit single motion according to modes 1 or 2, or may exhibit mode coexistence.
Only if Ri,j are non-zero [100, 101], and in the presence of a stochastic force such
as thermal agitation, will the system exhibit mode-hopping.

6.2.1 Impact of 1/f Frequency Noise on Linewidth

Keller et al. [75] showed an additional mechanism of linewidth broadening that arises
from the so-called 1/f frequency noise or color noise. They obtained a frequency noise
spectrum spanning more than five decades of Fourier frequencies and showed that
the frequency noise spectrum is white at large Fourier frequencies and varies as 1/f
Microwave Oscillators and Detectors Based … 21

at small Fourier frequencies. They showed that 1/f frequency noise can causes both
broadening and a change in shape of the oscillator’s spectral line as the measurement
time increases. The 1/f frequency noise was observed in other types of STNOs [75,
102, 103] as well as in MTJ-based STNOs [88, 104].
In general, the STNO waveform is a nonideal sinusoidal waveform where instan-
taneous frequency/phase and amplitude varies as a function of time. Keller et al. [75,
102] measured the phase noise using the zero crossover method. The phase noise is
calculated from the power spectral density of the phase deviations, which is calcu-
lated using the equation, φtot = 2π f0 t + φ(t) = nπ . Here, φtot is the total phase, f0
is the nominal frequency, and φ(t) is the phase deviation. Following this method, the
frequency noise can simply be calculated using the Fourier relation Sν2 = f 2 Sφ2 [88,
102]. Here, Sν is the frequency noise (power spectral density of instantaneous fre-
quency deviation) and Sφ is the phase noise (power spectral density of instantaneous
phase deviation). Figure 12 shows the frequency noise plots as a function of field
angle (ϕ) between the free and fixed layers and the dc bias current (Idc ) in an MTJ-
based STNO. Note that the free and fixed layers are aligned antiparallel—that is,
ϕ = 180◦ . The threshold current of the device is 6 mA for the chosen magnetic field of
400 Oe. A strong single mode was observed for the case of Idc = 7 mA and ϕ = 196◦ ,
whereas for the other case, Idc = 7 mA and ϕ = 220◦ , as many as 5 clear modes were
observed [72]. To quantify the 1/f frequency noise, a parameter known as transition
frequency (ft ) [104] is defined as the point on the frequency noise plot at which 1/f
frequency noise transforms into white frequency noise. It can be seen from the above
threshold condition (Fig. 12a) that under mode-hopping conditions of ϕ = 220◦ , ft
increases to 440 kHz. In the sub-threshold region (i.e., with Idc = 3 mA), where
thermal noise dominates, multiple modes have been observed and hence ft is higher.
In this case also, ft increases in the case of ϕ = 220◦ , where again significant mode
hopping is observed (Fig. 12b). A significant increase in the linewidth was observed
for the case where 1/f frequency noise is high. Furthermore, it was shown that the
1/f frequency noise is significantly high due to mode-hopping. The line-shape fit-
ting shows a better fit with a Voigt line-shape compared to a Lorentzian line-shape.
This verifies both previous observations [75, 98] of change in the lineshape for 1/f
frequency noise. But, most importantly, it is established that mode-hopping can lead
to 1/f frequency noise.

Fig. 12 Comparison of frequency noise at ϕ = 196◦ and ϕ = 220◦ for a Idc = 7 mA and b Idc =
3 mA. The dashed lines show the transition frequency where 1/f frequency noise begins. The data
is similar to Ref. [104]
22 P. K. Muduli et al.

6.2.2 Mode-Hopping Contributions to the Nonlinear STNO Generation

Linewidth

A single-mode STNO will exhibit a Lorentzian lineshape in the frequency domain.

If there is mode-hopping present, one would expect it to contribute to the linewidth
as mode-hopping events generally reduce the coherence of the motion. Based on the
mode-coupling theory in Refs. [72, 96, 97, 99], Iacocca et al. [98] investigated the
effect of mode-hopping on the nonlinear STNO generation linewidth. As one might
expect, mode-hopping events do indeed increase the generation linewidth. However,
multi-mode generation first of all fundamentally changes the generation line shape
to a Voigt line shape in general, but under certain circumstances, the line shape may
be reduced to a Lorentzian. Mode-hopping events can be described as a Poisson
process which provides a purely Lorentzian contribution to the line shape. At high
mode-hopping rates, mode-hopping contributions to the line width will dominate
and the line shape will then regain a Lorentzian character. The mode-hopping rate
can, in this case, be described by an Arrhenius distribution, and measurements of the
linewidth can provide direct estimates of the energy barrier that has to be overcome
by thermal fluctuations during mode-hopping events.
The analysis starts by directly calculating for a two-mode system the autocorre-
lation function K(t − t  ) of the system, which is defined as

K(t − t  ) = [A1 (t) + A2 (t)] A∗1 (t  ) + A∗2 (t  ) , (14)

where Ai (t) is the slow amplitude of mode i. By recognizing that individual mode-
hopping events occur on time-scales very much smaller than the time-scale of evo-
lution of Ai (t), mode-hopping events can then be added as a Poisson process with
a rate λ. After some lengthy calculations one can then show that the autocorrela-
tion function K(τ ), where τ = t − t  , in general contains three kinds of behavior
in τ . The first two are factors that are exponentials in −|τ | and −τ 2 , respectively,
and arise from the coupled mode equations. The third factor is an exponential in
−λ|τ |, and it arises from the mode-hopping. In general, the line shape is then given
by a convolution of exponentials in |τ | with a Gaussian in τ , which is a Voigt line
shape. This was also confirmed by Iacocca et al. [98] by directly integrating the
coupled mode-equations in the presence of a thermal stochastic force, calculating
the auto-correlation function, and Fourier transforming it.
Close to a mode transition, the rate mode hopping events are observed to increase
dramatically, and the line width is then dominated by mode-hopping events. Measure-
ments of the line width can then provide a direct measurement of the mode-hopping
rate λ. Under the assumption that mode-hopping events obey an Arrhenius distribu-
tion, the energy barrier E that must be overcome by thermal agitation in order to
produce a mode-hopping event can then be obtained from

fa
E(Idc ) = kB T log . (15)
λ
Microwave Oscillators and Detectors Based … 23

Here, we have indicated that the energy barrier δE(Idc ) depends sensitively on the
dc current Idc ; the frequency fa is an attempt frequency. kB is the Boltzmann constant
and T is the temperature. Using a simple assumption that the attempted frequency is
twice the relaxation frequency and be extracting E(Idc ) from a single measurement,
Iacocca et al. [98] obtained good quantitative and qualitative agreement between
theory and experiment [96] for the linewidth as a function of temperature.

7 Parametric Synchronization

Injection locking is a phenomenon in oscillators where one oscillator can synchronize

with the other when operating at nearby frequencies. In case of STNOs, injection
locking [105–109] is useful in understanding the synchronization behavior of an
STNO to an external RF source. Furthermore, injection locking is useful for under-
standing the mutual synchronization [71, 83–85, 110–112] of multiple STNO, which
is essential for improving the power of STNOs. In addition to injection locking, an
external RF source operating at a fraction or harmonic of the STNO eigenfrequency
can also synchronize the STNO. In particular, parametric synchronization [113–118],
in which the external RF source frequency (fe ) is twice the STNO operating frequency
(f0 ), allows the synchronization of an STNO without interference from the external
RF signal.
Parametric excitation is a related phenomena that was first reported by Urazhdin et
al. [113] in a nanocontact-based STNO at the very low temperature of 5 K. Urazhdin
et al. [113] applied a microwave field via a separately fabricated strip line on top of the
STNO. They applied a frequency fe , equal to twice the resonance frequency f0 of the
STNO, and parametrically induced oscillations at a DC current below the oscillation
threshold. The first room-temperature measurement of parametric excitation was
performed by Bortolotti et al. [90] in vortex-based MTJ-STNOs using RF currents
instead of an RF magnetic field. In this work, the Oersted or orthoradial field due to
the RF current was used to parametrically excite the vortex gyration.
Recently, both parametric excitation and parametric synchronization have been
demonstrated in MTJ-based STNOs in Ref. [117], as shown in Fig. 13. At a current
of Idc = 4 mA , well below the threshold current Ith = 6.3 mA, parametric excitation
was observed, while at a high current of Idc = 7 mA, parametric synchronization
was observed. In the case of parametric excitation, the total integrated power around
the STNO single mode increases, unlike in the case of injection locking, where the
integrated power remain constant. This shows that thermally activated subthresh-
old oscillations can become coherent through parametric excitation. According to
Ref. [113, 117], the excitation bandwidth is given by:

ωe = 4 V 2 Ie2 − I2 (16)

24 P. K. Muduli et al.

Fig. 13 Parametric synchronization and excitation of the MTJ-based STNO. a Spectrum of the
STNO frequency as a function of injected RF signal with a frequency fe for an injected RF current
of Ie = 2.6 mA and Idc = 7 mA showing parametric synchronization. b Variation of linewidth as a
function of Ie . c Excitation bandwidth as a function of the external signal strength Ie at Idc = 4 mA
(parametric excitation) and Idc = 7 mA (parametric synchronization). The corresponding solid lines
for 4 mA and 7 mA are fits to Eqs. (16) and (17), respectively. Inset: Excitation threshold Ie,th as
a function of dc bias current. Reprinted from Dürrenfeld et al. [117], with the permission of AIP
Publishing

Here, V is the coupling between the external source and the STNO and I is the linear
damping parameter in the subthreshold bias current: I = o (I − Ith ). Figure 13
shows the excitation bandwidth calculated for the case of Idc = 4 mA. The threshold
RF current required to see any excitation bandwidth is Ie = 0.99 mA.
For the case of parametric synchronization at Idc = 7 mA, the excitation bandwidth
is higher than in the case of Idc = 4 mA. The excitation bandwidth for the parametric
synchronization is given by [113, 117]:

ωe = 4 1 + ν 2 V Ie (17)

where, ν is the dimensionless nonlinearity coefficient. The above equation implies

that there is no threshold microwave current requirement for parametric synchroniza-
tion. The solid red line in Fig. 13 is a fit of the above equation for Idc = 7 mA. The
good fit indicates a nearly zero threshold within the uncertainties of experimental
data. The inset of Fig. 13 shows that the excitation threshold decreases in the sub-
threshold region and reaches zero at Idc = 7 mA. In Ref. [117], it was also shown that
parametric synchronization favors single-mode oscillations in the case of multimode
excitation.
Microwave Oscillators and Detectors Based … 25

7.1 Time-Domain Stability of Parametric Synchronization

The thermal stability of any electronic device is a crucial issue. Although the syn-
thetic antiferromagnetic structure gives good thermal stability to STNO devices, the
magnetization dynamics of the free layer are in general affected by thermal agita-
tion, which can also affect parametric synchronization. The time-averaged spectrum
analyzer data cannot reveal the real-time dynamics of the signal generated by the
free layer precession. For this purpose, time-domain study is required. A study of the
effect of thermal noise is required to understand the coupling of STNOs in arrays.
George et al. [107] was the first to discuss and demonstrate the effects of thermal
Gaussian noise in injection-locked spin-valve-based STNO devices. According to
this work, thermal noise can weaken injection locking by affecting the range of lock-
ing bandwidth. On the other hand, in an another study based on micromagnetic simu-
lation [119], injection-locked spin-valve-based STNOs were found to be quite stable
against thermal Gaussian noise. Recently, Lebrun et al. [120] described an experi-
mental time-domain study of fractional synchronization under different conditions:
fe ∼ f0 /2, fe ∼ f0 , and fe ∼ 2f0 , revealing that the power required for phase noise
squeezing (where 1/f 2 phase noise is completely suppressed) is different for differ-
ent fractional synchronization conditions. In MTJ-STNO, a study of parametric syn-
chronization [117] revealed that the frequency domain STNO spectra show a random
unlocking at low microwave power, which can be attributed to thermal fluctuation.
A recent time-domain study of parametric synchronization [121] by the authors
of this chapter revealed random unlocking at low RF power due to thermally driven
frequency stability, while the frequency-domain data show the expected synchroniza-
tion of any STNO device. The instantaneous frequency calculated from the Hilbert
transform method reveals that the instantaneous frequency is not always inside the
locking bandwidth (32 MHz, shown by blue dotted line), as shown in Fig. 14a at
Prf = −11 dBm. At the high RF power value of −5 dBm, the instantaneous fre-
quency is inside the locking bandwidth (107 MHz, shown by red dotted line) for the
total time of 5 μsec, as shown in Fig. 14a. However, even at −5 dBm, frequency
fluctuations are present, resulting in a phase noise that exceeds the injected signal.
We only observe phase slips of π , which, according to Ref. [120], is a signature of
phase locking with an injected signal at frf = 2f0 . These π phase slips still leads to
1/f 2 phase noise. To understand the random unlocking at low RF power, macrospin
simulations were performed by adding the thermal field to Heff by following Brown’s
approximation [122, 123]. The macrospin simulations reproduce the experimental
results and reveal that the random unlocking during synchronization is driven by
thermal fluctuations, as shown in Fig. 14b. Macrospin simulation further suggests
that increasing RF power can lead to a complete suppression of 1/f 2 phase noise,
where not even π phase slips exists and results in a constant phase (i.e., STNO phase
follows an injected signal phase: a condition of perfect phase synchronization) with
a complete suppression of phase noise. Macrospin simulations suggest that a lower
temperature and a higher positive field-like torque both reduce the threshold RF
power required for phase noise squeezing under parametric synchronization.
26 P. K. Muduli et al.

Fig. 14 Experimentally measured instantaneous frequency fi of the synchronized signal at Prf =

−11 dBm (blue) and Prf = −5 dBm (red) at frf = 7.5 GHz. The blue and red dotted lines show the
locking bandwidths corresponding to Prf = −11 dBm and Prf = −5 dBm, respectively. b Simu-
lated instantaneous frequency for the locked signal at T = 0 K 300 K at frf = 9.5 GHz. The black
dotted line show the locking bandwidth

8 Modulation of MTJ-Based STNOs

For communication applications, standard modulation techniques will have to be

applied to STNOs to test their suitability for communicating information. Differ-
ent modulation schemes, such as frequency modulation (FM) [20, 22, 26, 124],
amplitude shift keying (ASK) modulation, on–off keying (OOK) modulation [125–
127], and frequency shift keying (FSK) modulation [128], have been demonstrated
in STNOs for communication applications.
The most explored modulation technique is frequency modulation. In frequency
modulation, the high frequency carrier signal (STNO frequency) is modified by a
low frequency information signal. The frequency and amplitude of the STNO depend
nonlinearly on the dc bias current. Due to this nonlinearity, the fundamental models
describing linear frequency modulation fail to describe the modulation behavior. In
2005, nonlinear frequency modulation (NFM) was reported by Pufall et al. [20] for a
nanocontact-based STNO. To fit their experimental power of carrier and sidebands,
the NFM method was implemented. In 2010, Muduli et al. [22] showed that the
nonlinear frequency and amplitude modulation (NFAM) [22–24, 129, 130] theory
is the most appropriate model for explaining the modulation of STNOs. The NFAM
model was required to explain two main experimental observations: (1) unequal
Microwave Oscillators and Detectors Based … 27

sideband amplitudes around the carrier spectrum and (2) shifts in the frequency
of the carrier spectrum with the increase in the modulation current. Pogoryelov et
al. [25] showed the validity of the NFAM model on a pair of synchronized nanocontact
STNOs.
With regard to the modulation of MTJ-based STNOs, Martin et al. [124] first
reported modulation of MTJ-vortex-based STNO devices. They also applied the
NFM model to their experimental data and showed that the characteristic time of the
vortex dynamics must be taken into account to explain the modulation data. This is
because the modulation period approaches the transient time.

8.1 Single Sideband Modulation of MTJ-Based STNO

Recently, Sharma et al. [131] have demonstrated the phenomenon of single sideband
(SSB) modulation in MTJ-based STNOs, as shown in Fig. 15. Figure 15a, b shows the
experimental observation of the SSB over a broad range of modulation frequencies,
fm = 100–500 MHz at modulation current, Im = 1 mA, and over a broad range of
modulation currents of Im = 0–1.5 mA at a modulation frequency of fm = 500 MHz,
respectively. The figure shows only the presence of a lower sideband; the upper side-
band is completely suppressed. This phenomenon of a carrier with one sideband is
known as single sideband (SSB) modulation and is a result of the strong nonlinear
variation of frequency and amplitude with bias current in MTJ-STNOs. The perfor-
mance of the STNOs as an SSB generator can be tuned with operating parameters
such as in-plane field angle [132] as well as with the field-like torque term present in
MTJ-based devices [131]. The in-plane field angle changes the frequency tunability
with bias current and thus the SSB onset frequency and carrier power for the SSB

Fig. 15 Single sideband modulation of MTJ-based STNOs. a Map of power versus frequency and
modulation frequency at Im = 1.5 mA and Idc = 4.6 mA and b map of power versus frequency and
modulation current at fm = 500 MHz at Idc = 4.6 mA
28 P. K. Muduli et al.

transmission [132]. The field-like term also affects the frequency tunability with the
bias current [40, 52, 55]. The observation of lower single side band (LSSB) in the
experimental results of Ref. [131] indicates the presence of smaller field-like torque,
which is consistent with other works on similar devices [40, 133].
Transmission through SSB generation is particularly advantageous for wireless
communication since: (1) less transmission power is required as only one sideband,
carrying the same information as the other one, will be transmitted; (2) there is less
utilization of the available spectrum in comparison with double sideband (DSB)
transmission; (3) there is less selective fading or interference with other signals. Fur-
thermore, SSB generation through MTJ-based STNO devices has an edge over the
existing technology for SSB generation, due to its compact size and fast modula-
tion rate. The traditional method of generating SSB using, for example, a Hartley
modulator [134] or a Weaver modulator [135], requires a number of components for
SSB generation that makes the overall set-up a little bulky. However, STNO uses a
single device for the carrier and sideband generation due to its nonlinearity and is
suitable for chip technology, due to its compatibility with commercialized CMOS
technology.

8.2 Modulation of Parametric Synchronized MTJ-STNOs

Most often, parametric synchronization and modulation are studied in MTJ-STNOs

as a separate study to understand the effect of the external perturbation of the RF signal
on the magnetization dynamics. Recently, an effort has been made to understand the
modulation in a parametrically synchronized STNO in Ref. [136], as shown in Fig. 16.
The major motivation for this study was to take advantage of the high power and low
linewidth due to parametric synchronization and then to determine the data rate of
the synchronized state.
For modulation of the parametrically synchronized STNO, in addition to dc cur-
rent, two additional RF signals were superimposed. The first RF signal was injected
at twice the frequency of the STNO and serves as the signal for parametric synchro-
nization, while the second RF signal with a frequency range of fmod = 50 MHz–
500 MHz was used for modulation. The synchronization was found to break below
funlock ∼170 MHz, as shown in Fig. 16a. Figure 16b shows that macrospin simula-
tion performed under similar bias conditions also exhibit similar unlocking behavior.
The value of funlock increases with the increase in amplitude of the modulation cur-
rent, Imod . The phenomena is described as a non-resonant unlocking mechanism.
The mechanism responsible behind this phenomena can be explained by an analytic
model that shows the phase dynamics of the STNO under the effect of two compet-
ing processes—namely, parametric synchronization and modulation. The modula-
tion source changes the synchronized phase ( φ0 ), shifting it to a new value of φ1 .
At the maximum modulating amplitude, φ0 reaches φmax , at which the STNO
cannot lock anymore as φ0 > π . A linear relationship thus exists between funlock
Microwave Oscillators and Detectors Based … 29

Fig. 16 Modulation of a locked STNO. a Experimental and b simulated spectra of the synchronized
STNO versus fmod at a modulation current of Imod = 0.99 mA. c The relation between funlock and
Imod /IDC shows an increase with Imod for both experiments and numerical macrospin simulations.
The solid lines are fits to the data according to Eq. (18). Reprinted from Dürrenfeld et al. [136],
with the permission of AIP Publishing

and the modulation amplitude. The maximum phase difference can be calculated
by [136, 137]:
Imod 1
fmax = 2νp − (p0 ) (18)
IDC 2 4 2 + f 2
p mod

At the unlocking condition—that is, at fmod = funlock , the experimental data for funlock
versus modulation strength in Fig. 16c can be fitted with the above Eq. (18) by
assuming fmax to be equal to the excitation bandwidth. Thus the unlocking observed
in Ref. [136] can be identified as the nonresonant mechanism in agreement with a
recent numerical study [138].

9 MTJ-Based Microwave Detector

Microwave or radio frequency (RF) detectors can be realized when the dc input is
replaced by a microwave current in an MTJ-based STNO. The microwave detection
in an MTJ nanopillar is a result of the giant TMR and magnetization dynamics
induced by the spin-transfer torque. In the case of a RF current Irf = I sin(2π fe t)
with frequency fe close to the resonance frequency of the STNO, a large dc voltage is
produced by the microwave current mixing with the signal generated by the dynamic
response of the STNO in a phenomenon called the spin-torque diode effect [31]. The
30 P. K. Muduli et al.

Fig. 17 Experimental demonstration of the spin-torque diode effect by Tulapurkar et al. [31] a
Schematic diagram of the experimental set-up and cross-sectional view of the magnetic tunnel
junction (MTJ) device. The thicknesses of various layers of the device in nanometers are given in
brackets. A microwave current and a direct current are applied simultaneously through a bias-tee to
an MTJ, which excites the free-layer magnetization and causes resistance oscillations at the driving
frequency of the microwave current. b Direct-current voltage generated by the device in response
to the alternating current. The dc voltage is plotted as a function of the frequency. Adapted by
permission from Macmillan Publishers Ltd: (Nature) Tulapurkar et al. [31], copyright (2005)

experimental set-up of the spin-torque diode effect used by Tulapurkar et. al. [31] is
shown in Fig. 17a. The rectified voltage generated by the device in response to the
alternating current is shown in Fig. 17b. The microwave detector sensitivity of the
tunnel junction, which is defined as the ratio of the detected voltage to the input RF
power, is important for applications. In the very first work by Tulapurkar et. al. [31]
a sensitivity of 1.4 mV/mW was obtained, which is too small for applications. Later,
Wang et al. [37] reported higher sensitivity of 54 mV/mW, and predicted even higher
values of 10,000 mV/mW.
A report by Gui et al. [139] shows that even in the absence of any external applied
magnetic field, an MTJ can produce a significant direct voltage under microwave
radiation at frequencies far from the ferromagnetic resonance condition. However,
we will not focus on this type of detector; interested reader may refer to the review
article by Hemour et al. [140].
From an experimental point of view, two modulation techniques—namely, RF cur-
rent modulation [31–33] and field modulation [133, 141]—are used for the detection
of rectified voltage. In the RF current modulation scheme, a modulating microwave
current is supplied to the STNO and the rectified voltage is obtained across a lock-in
amplifier. The detected resonant spectra may, however, be dominated by frequency-
dependent nonmagnetic background oscillations, as shown in Fig. 18b. These oscil-
lations are due to the frequency-dependent variation of Irf in the transmission line,
which arise from impedance mismatch. To suppress these oscillations, the field mod-
ulation technique is useful [133]. In this technique, the static magnetic field is mod-
ulated with a small ac field (∼5 to 10 Oe) produced by a pair of Helmholtz coils.
These coils are supplied with an ac current at a reference frequency from a lock-in
Microwave Oscillators and Detectors Based … 31

Fig. 18 a Schematic of the setup used for the field modulation spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance
technique b Comparison of current and field-modulated spectra measured via the spin-torque diode
effect using spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance at Hext = 400 Oe

amplifier, which also measures the spin-torque diode voltage. An RF current Irf and
a direct current Idc are applied simultaneously through a bias-tee to the STNO, which
excites the free layer magnetization and causes resistance oscillations. The schematic
for field modulation technique is shown in Fig. 18a. The oscillating frequencies and
processional modes in both modulation schemes (current and field) are close, but
vary in peak to peak voltages Vpp with the applied external magnetic field. The field
modulation method offers better signal-to-noise ratio as well as a higher sensitivity;
see Fig. 18b.
In the following, we will discuss approaches to improving the sensitivity of the
MTJ based microwave detector.

9.1 Approaches to Enhance the Sensitivity of Microwave

Detection

9.1.1 Enhancement of Sensitivity Using Parametric Synchronization

Parametric synchronization, as discussed in Sect. 7, can be used to efficiently enhance

the signal sensitivity of an MTJ-based radio frequency STNO [133]. The synchro-
nization increases the signal sensitivity at 2f0 , where f0 is the eigen frequency of the
free-running STNO. This happens when the frequency of the external microwave
signal (fe ) is close to twice the eigen frequency f0 of the STNO [133]. Figure 19a
shows the spin-torque diode voltage signal obtained at an injected frequency of fe
∼ 9 GHz, which is twice the resonance frequency of the STNO, f0 ∼ 4.5 GHz. The
signal at ∼ 9 GHz increases with dc current Idc , and exceeds the amplitude of the sig-
32 P. K. Muduli et al.

Fig. 19 Enhancement of sensitivity using parametric synchronization. a FM-STFMR spectra mea-

sured at varying dc biases at Hext = 400 Oe and an injected RF power of Pe = 10 dBm. b and c
Macrospin simulated spectra of the STNO as a function of frf at Hext = 400 Oe for Idc = 2 mA and
7 mA, respectively

nal at ∼4.5 GHz for a current of 7 mA. The threshold current Ith for auto-oscillation
is around 6.4 mA [40, 72, 96]. Hence, the sensitivity at 2f0 becomes higher than at f0
only above the threshold of the auto-oscillations. Figure 19b, c shows the macrospin
simulated behavior of the STNO below and above the threshold, respectively. Para-
metric synchronization happens above the threshold, as shown in Fig. 19c, and this
enhances the microwave sensitivity. The advantage of this approach is that the fre-
quency of detection is twice that of the eigen frequency of the STNO, and hence the
technique also offers higher operation frequencies.

9.1.2 Enhancement of Sensitivity Using Nonlinear FMR

Miwa et al. [35] showed a much greater microwave detection sensitivity of 12,000
mV/mW at room temperature, which exceeds that of the commercial semiconduc-
tor diode detectors (3800 mV/mW). The results of Miwa et al. [35] are shown in
Fig. 20a. They showed that sensitivity increases significantly when dc bias currents
are applied to an MTJ. This high sensitivity has been explained on the basis of
nonlinear FMR [142]. In the nonlinear FMR process, the center of the precession
orbit is energy-dependent because of the higher-order nonlinear terms. This causes
a change in the relative angle between the free-layer magnetization and the pinned-
layer magnetization and, consequently, a change in the dc resistance, leading to
higher sensitivity. However, the frequency of operation was limited to 1–2 GHz.
Microwave Oscillators and Detectors Based … 33

Fig. 20 a RF detection voltage (Vdetect ) as a function of the RF input frequency under various dc bias
currents (Idc ). The radio frequency detection sensitivity of 12,000 mV/mW is achievable at room
temperature. Adapted by permission from Macmillan Publishers Ltd: (Nature Materials) Miwa et
al. [35], copyright (2013). b, c shows the rectified voltage observed for the core expulsion and
spin-torque diode measurements taken at 6 and 0 mA, respectively, for Irf = 0.2 mA. The maximum
effective sensitivity observed is as large as 80,000 mV/mW [143]. Adapted by permission from
Macmillan Publishers Ltd: (Nature Nanotechnology) Jekins et al. [144], copyright (2016)

9.1.3 Enhancement of Sensitivity Using Vortex Expulsion

Jenkins et al. [144] reported a significant enhancement in the sensitivity of a vortex-

based MTJ-based STNOs using the phenomenon of resonant expulsion of the vortex
core. This method is shown in Fig. 20b; it produces a large, sharp change in the
resistance, associated with the difference in magnetoresistance between the vortex
ground state and the final C-state magnetization configuration. Sensitivities as high
as 40,000 mV/mW were reported by Tsunegi et al. [143], and later improved this
value to 80,000 mV/mW (Fig. 20c). A proof of concept for simultaneous detection
of multiple RF signals was also shown using these detectors [145]. The advantage
of this technique is that the generated voltage signal is independent of the input RF
power. However, the technique does not work for low RF power, and a threshold
RF power is needed for the detection. The frequency of operation (<500 MHz) of
the detector is also significantly lower than that of standard in-plane magnetized
MTJ-based detectors.

9.1.4 Enhancement of Sensitivity Using Voltage Controlled Magnetic

Anisotropy

MTJs with large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) often show a change in
the anisotropy value when a bias (or electric field) is applied across the device [146,
147]. This electric field induces certain interfacial magnetoelectric effects that affect
34 P. K. Muduli et al.

the availability of electronic states for different spin orientations [148]. The resulting
imbalance leads to a change in out-of-plane anisotropy. This effect, called voltage-
controlled magnetic anisotropy (VCMA), has been shown to have uses in several
applications, such as magnetization switching [12, 149–152] and phase noise reduc-
tion [153]. VCMA is also shown to excite voltage induced FMR dynamics at radio
frequencies (GHz) [34, 36, 154–156].
In 2012, Nozaki et al. [154] reported the possibility to excite ferromagnetic res-
onance by using VCMA in FeCo monolayers. Zhu et al. [34] later reported that the
inclusion of VCMA in exciting FMR dynamics leads to an extra antisymmetric term
in the STFMR spectra, which increases the RF sensitivity. Figure 21a shows the
calculated STFMR spectra of an MTJ including only VCMA for two different field
directions. The calculation is done using macrospin simulations by neglecting the
spin torque (both in-plane and field-like torque) in the LLGS equation, but including
VCMA. The effects of STT on the spectra are neglected here, assuming a very high
resistance area (RA) product, due to which only a small quantity of current flows
through the device. According to Zhu et al. [34], a sensitivity of 440 mV/mW was
achieved with a 40 Oe external field using VCMA, which is 39% more than the value
obtained without using VCMA at zero field (Fig. 21b).
A voltage-induced FMR study was conducted by Shiota et al. [157] to analyze
the effect of bias and input power on the RF sensitivity. This study highlighted the
advantages of using the voltage-induced FMR technique, as opposed to the standard
STFMR technique which is based on STT. The study reports an improvement in
the peak-to-peak voltage with applied bias in both polarities (Fig. 22a). Applying
higher RF power also increases the magnitude of the detected peak-to-peak voltage
(Fig. 22b). The increase in peak-to-peak homodyne detected voltage was found to
be linear, even at very high power values (300 μW). This result is in stark contrast

Fig. 21 a Calculated STFMR spectra generated by resistance oscillations due to the effect of
VCMA. The opposite signs of the antisymmetric component at the 0◦ (Hx > 0) and 180◦ (Hx < 0)
field directions (w.r.t. the fixed layer polarization) are a signature of VCMA. b Experimental result
showing an increase in sensitivity of ∼ 39% with the inclusion of VCMA effect. Reprinted from
Zhu et al. [34] Copyright (2012) by the American Physical Society
Microwave Oscillators and Detectors Based … 35

Fig. 22 a Bias dependence of peak-to-peak voltage in FMR spectra 2 GHz and 5 GHz. An increase
in the detected homodyne voltage can be seen at both polarities of the applied bias. b Shows a
linear increase in the peak-to-peak homodyne voltage with increasing RF power under different
bias conditions. A linear variation is maintained even for very high power values, which is not
possible using spin-torque effects where the free layer is destabilized at high currents. Reprinted
from Shiota et al. [157], with the permission of AIP Publishing

to those of studies based on the STFMR technique, where the linear increase is seen
only at low powers since, at higher input powers, the current destabilizes the free
layer. Moreover, more than 30 mV peak-to-peak output voltage was obtained using
this method—ten times the value reported by Miwa et al. [35] using the STFMR
technique. The highest input current that could be injected was also 3 times higher.
However, it should be noted that the maximum sensitivity achieved was 300 mV/mW,
which is much less than the value obtained by Miwa et al. (12000 mV/mW) [35].
However, a recent analytical study by Gonzalez-Fuentes et al. [158] showed that
further optimization of sensitivity is possible by tuning the external field angle which
changes the contribution of STT (symmetric) and VCMA (symmetric as well as anti-
symmetric) terms in the STFMR spectrum.
Frankowski et al. [159], in a study of VCMA-based MTJs, showed that sensitivity
on the order of tens of thousands of mV/mW is attainable. Using micromagnetic
simulations, the dependence of the sensitivity on the uniaxial anisotropy constant
was studied. They showed that, near the region where the transition from in-plane
configuration to out-of-plane configuration takes place, the sensitivity changes by
several orders of magnitude (Fig. 23a). The reason for this behavior was attributed to
the decrease in effective anisotropy near the transition region, which leads to large-
angle magnetic precession. Resistance oscillations, which depend on the relative
angle between the free and fixed layer, also become very large in this case. Such
large resistance oscillations lead to an increase in RF sensitivity. Figure 23b shows
the variation in the quality factor with the anisotropy energy. The quality factor
is defined as the ratio of the eigenmode frequency (f ) and the linewidth (f0 ). A
decrease in quality factor was seen near the transition region. This was explained
by the increase in effective damping and the high exchange energy in the transition
36 P. K. Muduli et al.

Fig. 23 a and b show the dependence of sensitivity and quality factor, respectively, on the uniaxial
anisotropy of the free layer. Sensitivity varies by several orders of magnitude near the region
where the in-plane to out-of-plane transition takes place (dotted line). This happens due to the
large precession angle of the magnetic spins. The quality factor deteriorates in this region owing
to an increase in effective damping and exchange energy. Reprinted from Frankowski et al. [159],
with permission from Elsevier. c shows the enhancement in sensitivity using injection locking. The
voltage signal generated as a function of the microwave frequency is shown under various dc bias
currents (Idc ). Adapted by permission from Macmillan Publishers Ltd: (Nature Communication)
Fang et al. [36], copyright (2016)

regime. In an another experiment on microwave detection using VCMA, Fang et

al. [36] also managed to achieve a very large sensitivity of 75,400 mV/mW at zero
applied field by exploiting the phenomena of injection locking (Fig. 23c). In this case,
the driving AC signal locks to the resonant eigenmode of the device and produces
a large rectified voltage. Note that the locking happens only over a narrow range of
injected dc bias. Using the same method of injection locking, Zhang et al. [160] later
improved these sensitivity values to over 2 × 105 mV/mW by optimizing various
parameters in MTJ device fabrication.
It is also possible to achieve parametric synchronization as discussed in Sect. 9.1.1
in perpendicular MTJs having VCMA. Sisodia et al. [161] showed that by applying
an in-plane external field and optimizing the DC bias, an enhancement in sensitivity
can be achieved similar to injection locking. Figure 24a shows the STFMR spectra
for a perpendicular MTJ with VCMA at an external in-plane field of H = −1000 Oe.
The applied dc bias of Idc = 0.2 mA is above the threshold dc bias (Ith = 0.13 mA)
for auto-oscillations which is a necessary requirement for this method. The injected
power is −42 dBm. Figure 24b shows the parametric synchronization, where the
excited frequency is exactly half of the driving frequency in a certain bandwidth
(fbw ). Using parametric synchronization, along with an increase in sensitivity, the
detection frequency is also enhanced since the RF signal being detected is close to
2f0 . Numerical simulations predict that the sensitivity values in this case will also
be of the order of 105 mV/mW with comparably much higher detection frequencies
(4–6 GHz).
Microwave Oscillators and Detectors Based … 37

Fig. 24 a Simulated STFMR spectra accounting for the VCMA effect for an in-plane external
field, H = −1000 Oe, Idc = 0.2 mA and Prf = −42 dBm. The obtained sensitivity is of the order
of 105 mV/mW. The inset shows the clamshell trajectory at the two extreme points in the STFMR
spectra. b shows the excited frequency of the MTJ as a function of the driving RF signal clearly
showing parametric synchronization in the shaded region with a locking bandwidth, fbw . Reprinted
from Sisodia et al. [161], with permission from AIP Publishing

Table 1 Summary of sensitivity and detection frequency values from literature

Study Geometry Technique Sensitivity Frequency
(mV/mW) (GHz)
Tulapurkar et al. [31] ip-MTJ STT 0.4 5–10
Tiwari et al. [133] ip-MTJ STT+PS 16 8–9
Jenkins et al. [162] ip-MTJ Vortex 40,000 ∼ 0.1–0.2
Expulsion
Tsunegi et al. [143] ip-MTJ Vortex 80,000 ∼ 0.45
Expulsion
Zhu et al. [34] p-MTJ VCMA+STT 440 ∼1.1
Shiota et al. [157] p-MTJ VCMA+nl- 300 2
FMR
Frankowski et al. [159] p-MTJ VCMA >104 ∼1
Miwa et al. [35] p-MTJ VCMA+nl- 12,000 1.5–2
FMR
Fang et al. [36] p-MTJ VCMA+IL 75,400 1–1.4
Zhang et al. [160] p-MTJ VCMA+IL 2.1 × 105 ∼1
Sisodia et al. [161] p-MTJ VCMA+PS > 105 4–6
ip-MTJ in-plane magnetic tunnel junction; p-MTJ perpendicular magnetic tunnel junction; STT spin
transfer torque; PS parametric synchronization; VCMA voltage controlled magnetic anisotropy; nl-
FMR non-linear ferromagnetic resonance; IL injection locking

The values of sensitivity and detection frequency obtained by the above discussed
methods are summarized in Table 1 These results suggests that VCMA to-gather with
parametric synchronization offer best combination of high RF sensitivity as well as
high detection frequency.
38 P. K. Muduli et al.

10 Spin Hall Nano-oscillators

In 1999, Hirsch revisited [163] a different phenomenon, the so-called spin Hall effect
(SHE), first described by D’yakonov and Perel’ in 1971 [164, 165]. The SHE can
produce a pure spin current in a direction perpendicular to a charge current [166,
167], which can, in turn, exert substantial STT on an adjacent magnetic layer. It is
thus possible to use the SHE in a nonmagnetic metal to achieve, in principle, all the
STT-related functions-such as magnetic switching [168, 169] and driven magneti-
zation precession [170, 171] that previously required a separate magnetic layer to
spin-polarize the charge current. With the recent emergence of the spin Hall effect, a
new type of spintronic oscillator, the SHNO, has been developed [171]. This provides
a new route for the development of microwave and magnonic devices [172]. SHNOs
exhibit several advantages over STNOs, including easier nano-fabrication, lower
threshold DC current, direct optical access to the magnetodynamically active area,
smaller radiation losses, and suppressed nonlinear damping process [172]. However,
the linewidth of SHNOs is of the same order as that of STNOs, and their output power
is currently lower than that of STNOs. Despite the issues with SHNOs, their advan-
tages offer an opportunity to implement novel nanoscale microwave sources and emit-
ters for wireless communications, nonlinear frequency modulation, and magnonics
applications [173–175]. For further details of SHNO developments, issues, chal-
lenges, and application, we refer the reader to a recent review article [15].

11 Summary and Outlook

In summary, MTJ-based STNOs are detectors continue to hold promise for applica-
tions, due to their high microwave power output and higher frequency tunability. In
this chapter, we discussed the bias dependence of spin torque, the mechanism gov-
erning linewidth broadening, synchronization, and modulation of the MTJ-STNOs.
Approaches to enhance microwave sensitivity for microwave detector applications
were also discussed. MTJ based STNOs have already reached the power needed for
applications. Recently the power of MTJ-based STNOs and the sensitivity of MTJ
based detectors have reached the level required for commercial applications. How-
ever, significant challenges remain to achieve the high power of MTJ-based STNOs
and the high sensitivity of MTJ based detectors to-gather with high frequency tun-
ability.

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Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
Josephus, and the works of the Church Fathers, proving the truth of
historical narratives from the mouths of many witnesses. Deï Rossi,
too, was the only one not satisfied with the data of tradition; he
accepted nothing as truth till he had subjected it to a searching
examination.
Chance brought to light the mental treasures of Deï Rossi.
Ferrara, where, after leaving Bologna, he had settled shortly before,
had been visited by a terrible earthquake (November 18th, 1570),
and the inhabitants were compelled to leave their ruined and
crumbling houses and seek places of refuge outside the city. In one
of the villages Deï Rossi happened to meet a learned Christian, who
was trying to overcome the gloomy thoughts caused by the
earthquake by reading a Greek book of Jewish antiquity. In
conversation Deï Rossi became aware that his co-religionists, even
those possessed of some culture, owing to their one-sided
absorption in the Talmud or obsolete philosophical writings, knew
nothing of their own brilliant literature of the period of the Second
Temple, whilst Christians resorted to it to dispel melancholy
thoughts. Encouraged by his Christian friend, he determined to
translate into Hebrew the "Letter of Aristas," supposed to be the
discourse of a Greek king about the wisdom of the Jews, in order to
make it accessible to his fellow-believers. He completed this task in
twenty days. This was the first-fruit of his learning, and it led him on
to further undertakings. His principal work, "Light of the Eyes,"
consists chiefly of parallel passages from Talmudic and profane
sources upon the same subjects. Deï Rossi's distinction rests upon
the fact that he did not adhere to tradition, but applied the methods
of scientific inquiry to what the multitude regarded as unassailable
truths, and that he used profane sources in elucidating them. The
actual results of this historical investigation, for the most part, have
proved unsound. Strong as Deï Rossi was in removing obstructive
rubbish, his power of reconstruction was small.
The value of his efforts appears in its proper light only if we
compare them with the circumstances of his time, or with the works
of contemporary writers on the same subject, as, for example, those
of Gedalya Ibn-Yachya; to these they form a complete contrast.
A descendant of the Italian branch of the noble Ibn-Yachya
family, Gedalya inherited taste for knowledge. He was born in 1515,
and died in 1587. His wealth enabled him to satisfy his taste by
collecting a magnificent library. In his voluntary and compulsory
journeys in northern Italy—for he was a preacher, and owing to the
intolerance of the popes had to lead an unsettled life—he had seen
and read much, both in sacred and profane literature, but without
independent judgment, without discrimination, and without
appreciation of the essence of truth. Ibn-Yachya's abbreviated
"History of the Jews," together with a chronicle of the world, called
"The Chain of Tradition," at which he worked for nearly forty years,
is a confused medley of authentic historical narratives and mere
fables. But in spite, or perhaps because, of its legendary contents,
his book has found more acceptance among Jews than the
researches of Deï Rossi. When the first edition of the latter's "Light
of the Eyes" found its way to Safet, the orthodox of that town
declared its contents to be heretical. Joseph Karo commissioned
Elisha Gallaico, one of the members of his rabbinical college, to draw
up an indictment, to be distributed amongst all Jews, ordering Deï
Rossi's work to be burned. The people of Safet likewise had an
inquisition. But Joseph Karo died (in Nisan, i.e., April, 1575) before
he had signed the indictment. The Italian Jews were not so fanatical
as to condemn Deï Rossi, for they knew him to be a pious and pure
Jew. But the rabbis of Mantua employed the procedure of Ben Adret
concerning the study of profane literature, that is, they forbade the
reading of Deï Rossi's works by young people under twenty-five
years of age. In consequence of this semi-official sentence of heresy,
the book exercised but little influence upon the Jewish world of that
day, or the generation immediately succeeding it, and has been
appreciated only in quite recent times, when it created a new,
enlightened view of history in Jewish circles. But in the Christian
world Deï Rossi's work was noticed much sooner, and was
annotated, and translated into Latin.
 How, indeed, could a sober, critical method of inquiry have found
favor in an age when the mystic, dazing Kabbala was the first
authority, bidding men esteem blind credulity as the highest virtue,
and exciting visionary enthusiasm to the highest pitch of fanatical
intoxication? The visions of Solomon Molcho and Joseph Karo and
their fond enthusiasm about the Messiah were sober compared with
the excitement which reigned after their death, and celebrated a
veritable witches' Sabbath. During the last three decades of the
sixteenth century the Kabbala gained sole mastery in Palestine,
conjured up apparitions, and encouraged orgies of mysticism. It
spread thence over the whole of Turkey, Poland, Germany, and Italy,
darkening and confusing men's minds, having an evil influence even
upon their hearts, allowing no healthy thought to appear, or
branding such thought as heretical and sinful. Once again, as in the
early days of Christianity, Galilee, especially the district of Safet,
became the scene of a host of evil spirits, of people possessed with
devils, which challenged mystic exorcism, and revealed profound
mysteries; and it is impossible to say whether the possessed
appeared in consequence of the exorcisers, or the latter of the
former. It was a period of Kabbalistic mania, coincident with
profligacy and moral degradation, and its victims despised not only
the sciences, but even the Talmud with its exhortations to sobriety.
Then for the first time the Jewish world entered on a "dark age" of
its own, with all the appropriate credulity, while only the last traces
of such darkness were visible in Europe generally. This tendency was
exaggerated by two men, who by their fanaticism and visionary
extravagance infected a continually widening circle. These were
Isaac Lurya and his disciple Chayim Vital Calabrese.
Isaac Lurya Levi (born in Jerusalem in 1534, and died 1572) was
descended from a German family. Left an orphan at an early age by
the death of his father, young Isaac came to Egypt, to the house of a
rich uncle, Mardochaï Francis, a tax-farmer, and began to study the
Talmud. The dry study of the Talmud, which filled the mind with
voluminous learning, unfruitful hairsplitting, and mere formulas, yet
failed to satisfy the wants of the heart, seems to have become
repugnant to Lurya, and to have driven him to fantastic mysticism.
He preferred the awful loneliness of the Nile country to the noise of
the school; abstraction in worlds of mysticism and devout praying to
working out intellectual problems. He was greatly attracted by the
Zohar, which had then been printed for the first time, and, widely
spread abroad, had become accessible to everybody. The more
familiar he became with the Kabbala through his absorption in the
sounding emptiness of the Zohar, the more did he seek solitude, and
the less intercourse had he with men. He even neglected his young
wife, only visited his house from Sabbath to Sabbath, and spoke
little, that little being only in Hebrew. Lurya is said to have spent
several years in solitude in this manner, and the result was that like
all whose reason is weaker than their imagination, he became a
confirmed visionary. The mystic book, the Zohar, his constant
companion in this seclusion, aided in exciting his imagination. Firmly
convinced of its authenticity as the work of Simon bar Yochaï, and
also of the divine character of all the fantasies and follies therein
revealed, Lurya persisted in seeing in it high allusions and profound
wisdom. In his heated imagination he even saw Elijah, the teacher
of mysteries, face to face.
But what did the prophet Elijah, or the Zohar, or rather his own
heated imagination, reveal to him? First he took the trouble to put
system, unity, and logical order into the confusion and intricacies of
the Zohar, as if connected thought could be expected in the idle
chatter of a half imbecile. The hermit of Cairo sought to deduce from
it how God had created and ordered the world by means of the
mystic numbers (Sefiroth), or how the Godhead revealed itself in the
forms of substances, or how it concentrated itself within itself in
order to project the finite nature of created things from its own
infinitude. Thus he evolved an extraordinarily complicated system of
powers and opposing powers, forces and counterforces, forms and
degrees (Parsophin), in the four spheres of Separation, Creation,
Formation, and Transformation; and he clothed these empty
abstractions with such wondrous names, that he afterwards
complained, with reason, that no one could understand his mystic
system. Yet Lurya looked upon this intricate and complex theory of
the creation as only a kind of introduction to what seemed to him a
much more important and practical part of the Kabbala, whereby the
divine order of the world (Olam ha-Tikkun) could be brought about.
This practical Kabbala of Lurya rests upon a not less marvelous
doctrine of souls, also based upon the visions of the Zohar.
Our souls, he says, reflect the close connection between the
finite and the infinite, and, therefore, have a manifold character. The
whole of the soul material to appear in temporal life was created
with Adam, but each soul, according to its higher or lower degree,
was fashioned in, from, or with the first man, out of high or low
organs and forms. Accordingly, there are souls of the brain, the eyes,
the hands, and the feet. Each of these must be regarded as an
effluence, or spark (Nizuz), from Adam. By the first sin of the first
man—for the Kabbala finds original sin necessary for its fanciful
creations—the higher and the lower, the superior and the inferior
souls, good and evil, became confused and mingled together. Even
the purest beings thereby received an admixture of evil and the
devilish element of the "husk" (Kelifa). But the moral order of the
world, or the purification of the first man, cannot be brought about
till the consequences of original sin, the confusion of good and evil,
are obliterated and removed. From the most evil part of the soul
material emanates the heathen world; the people of Israel, on the
other hand, come from the good part. But the former are not quite
without an admixture of the original good, while the latter are not
free from an admixture of the corrupt and demoniac. This
imperfection gives the continual impulse towards sin, and hinders
the chosen fragment of the human race from following the law of
God, the Torah. The Messianic period will put an end to the
disturbance of divine order arising from the first sin, or abolish the
disorder which has since crept in, and will introduce, or see
introduced, the divinity of the world. Therefore, a complete
separation of good from evil must take place, and this can only
happen through Israel, if it or each of its members will lose or cast
away the admixture of evil. For this purpose, men's souls (especially
those of the Israelites) have to wander through the bodies of men
and animals, even through rivers, wood, and stones. The doctrine of
the transmigration of souls forms the center and basis of Lurya's
Kabbala, but he has a peculiar development of the idea. According to
this theory even the souls of the pious must suffer transmigration,
since not even they are free from the taint of evil; there is none
righteous upon earth, who does only good, and sins not. In this way,
Lurya solved the difficulty, which former Kabbalist writers could not
overcome.
But this separation of the good and evil elements in the world's
soul material, the expiation and obliteration of original sin, or the
restoration of the divine order in Adam, would require a long series
of ages, owing to the impulse towards sin continually present. There
are, however, means of hastening this process, and this was the
really original doctrine that Lurya enunciated. Besides the
transmigration of our souls, sinful and subject to demoniac forces as
they are, there is another mode of expiation, the elevation or
impregnation of the soul (Ibbur, superfœtatio). If a purified soul has
neglected various religious duties here on earth, or has had no
opportunity of fulfilling them, it must return to the earthly life, attach
itself to the soul of a living human being, and unite and coalesce
with it in order to retrieve this neglect. Or again, the departed spirits
of men freed from sin appear again on earth to support the weak
and wavering souls which cannot attain to good by their own efforts,
strengthen them and lead them to the final goal. These pure spirits
combine with weaker souls still struggling, and form a union with
them, provided that they have some affinity with one another, i. e., if
they originate from the same spark or organ of Adam, since as a rule
only similar (homogeneous) souls attract each other, while on the
other hand dissimilar (heterogeneous) souls repel each other.
According to this theory the banishment and dispersion of Israel
have for their purpose the salvation of the world or of men's souls.
The purified spirits of pious Israelites unite with the souls of men of
other nationalities in order to free them from the demoniacal
impurities that possess them.
 Isaac Lurya imagined a complete system of the transmigration
and combination of souls. It also seemed to him important to know
the sex of a soul, for feminine souls are found in masculine bodies,
and vice versâ, according to the transmigration and attraction in
each case. It is especially important in contracting a marriage to
know whether the souls of man and wife harmonize with each other
in respect of origin and degree. By means of this secret the visionary
of Cairo expected to solve the other mystery, namely, how good
spirits may be conjured down from heaven, and in a measure
compelled to enter the bodies of living men, and thus made to
divulge revelations of the world beyond. Hereby he believed that he
held the key to the kingdom of the Messiah and the regeneration of
the world. Lurya also believed that he possessed the soul of the
Messiah of the branch of Joseph, and that he had a Messianic
mission. He saw spirits everywhere, and heard their whispers in the
rushing of the waters, the movements of the trees and grass, in the
song or twittering of birds, even in the flickering of flames. He saw
how at death the souls were set free from the body, how they
hovered in the air, or rose out of their graves. He held intimate
intercourse with the saints of the Bible, the Talmud, and with the
rabbis, in particular with Simon bar Yochaï. In short, Lurya was a
ghost-seer and raiser of the dead, a second Abraham Abulafia, or
Solomon Molcho, arousing hopes of the coming of the Messiah by
Kabbalistic jugglery, but with all this fanaticism he was sober and
sophistical. He introduced the casuistry of the Talmud into the
Kabbala.
In Egypt, Isaac Lurya found little or no favor with his labyrinth of
higher worlds and his theories of creation and redemption. To realize
his scheme of redemption he migrated with his wife and child to
Safet, the Jerusalem of mysticism, where the mystic doctrine
flourished, and the Zohar, the spurious work of Moses de Leon, was
exalted to the same level as the Law of Moses ben Amram. Almost
the whole college of rabbis and the chief leaders of Safet were
Kabbalists. This place was at the time a flourishing city inhabited
only by Jews. The members of the community knew little of
oppression or the cares of life, and so the Kabbalists could spin
mystical theories to their hearts' content. They felt as safe under the
favor that the Jewish Duke of Naxos found with the sultan, as if in a
state of their own, politically independent. The Kabbalists had gone
so far in their imitation of Catholicism that they had adopted
auricular confession and the adoration of martyrs. And this was the
stage on which Lurya, the creator of the new Kabbala, was to
originate new aberrations.
At first (about 1569), he appears to have received little attention
in the city of Kabbalists. Only through his acquaintance and
connection with a still greater visionary, perhaps not quite so honest
as himself, did he become a person of consequence, and infect
everyone with his waking dreams. This man was the Italian Chayim
Vital Calabrese (born 1543, died 1620), whose father, a copyist of
the scrolls of the Law, had traveled to Palestine from Italy. Vital had
learned nothing thoroughly in his younger days; he had only gained
a smattering of the Talmud and mystic lore. He possessed a wild,
extravagant imagination, and a decided inclination for adventure and
sensation. For two years and a half Vital had occupied his time with
alchemy and the art of making gold. From this mystic art he turned
to Lurya's Kabbala. It is not known which of these two men first
sought the other, but it is certain that each, without wishing it,
deceived the other. Together they visited desolate places and graves,
particularly the grave of Simon bar Yochaï, the feigned author of the
Zohar, in Meïron. This was Lurya's favorite spot, because there he
fancied he could draw down upon himself the spirit of this supposed
chief of the mystics. Now and again Lurya sent forth his disciple to
conjure up spirits, and for this purpose delivered to him certain
formulas made up of the transposed letters of the name of the Deity.
Of course, evil spirits fled before Vital's gaze, whilst good spirits
attached themselves to him, and communicated their secrets.
It was Vital who spread sensational reports concerning the
extraordinary, almost divine gifts of his master, and of his power
over departed and living souls; doing so, it appears, with an artful
calculation of effect and publicity. Lurya, once so isolated, now found
himself surrounded by crowds of visitors; Kabbalists, young and old,
came to listen to the new revelation. Several disciples attached
themselves to him, and he communicated to them his confused
thoughts, assigned to each the original Adamite soul that dwelt in
him, the transmigrations which it had undergone before its present
corporeal existence, and its functions on earth. It never occurred to
these people, already enmeshed in the Kabbalistic net, to doubt the
truth of these communications. The disciples that gathered round
him Lurya formed into two classes: the "initiated" and the "novices."
Mystical conversations and notes, the interviewing and
summoning of spirits, formed the occupation of Lurya and his
followers. In short, Lurya was on the eve of founding a new Jewish
sect. On the Sabbath he dressed in white, and wore a fourfold
garment to symbolize the four letters of the name of God. The
underlying fact of all his revelations and exertions was that he was
the Messiah of the race of Joseph, the forerunner of the Messiah of
David's line. This, however, he only furtively hinted to his disciples.
His delusion was that the Messianic period would commence at the
beginning of the second half of the second period of a thousand
years since the destruction of the Temple, i. e., in 1568.
The sudden death of the mystic, at the age of thirty-eight,
conduced still more to his glorification. Death is wont to transfigure
natures like his, and veneration for them increases as years roll on.
With Eastern exaggeration, his disciples regarded him as even more
than a worker of wonders; they called him the "Holy and Divine,"
and sought, for their own glory, to win adherents for him and his
visionary extravagances. They declared that, if Lurya could only have
lived five years longer, he would have improved the world so
effectually, that the Messianic period would certainly have begun.
Abraham Abulafia, who had evolved a Kabbalistic medley from his
own consciousness, was declared a heretic, and persecuted. Isaac
Lurya, who had done the same thing with the Zohar as a foundation,
was almost deified.
 After Lurya's death, Vital Calabrese came to the fore. He
immediately usurped a kind of authority over his fellow-disciples,
pretended that Lurya on his deathbed had appointed him his
successor, and, in feigned obedience to a dying request of his
master, took away from them the written notes given them by Lurya.
Vital let it be understood that he was the Messiah of the race of
Joseph. However, some disciples did not pay any attention to this,
and forthwith taught in various countries what they had received
from Lurya himself. This was especially done by Israel Saruk in Italy,
whither he had traveled.
The harm that the Kabbalistic doctrines of Lurya caused in
Jewish circles is inexpressible. Judaism became surrounded with so
thick a husk of mysticism, that it has not even yet succeeded in
entirely freeing itself, and showing its true kernel. Through Lurya's
influence there was formed, side by side with the Judaism of the
Talmud and the rabbis, a Judaism of the Zohar and the Kabbala. For
it was due to him that the spurious Zohar was placed upon a level
with, indeed higher than, the Holy Scriptures and the Talmud.
The mysticism of Lurya laid stress upon an idea which has been
strangely neglected in Jewish circles, viz., devotion in prayer, but
even this devotion degenerated into Kabbalistic trifling. Every word
and every syllable of the ordained prayers was to be meditated on
devoutly, so that one might reflect upon the worlds of the Sefiroth,
the number of the names of God hidden therein, and many other
things. Lurya's Kabbala certainly inculcated the preservation of an
unruffled disposition, and interdicted dejection, or outbreaks of
anger and ill-humor. But this serenity, from its mystical setting,
received a touch of constraint and unpleasantness, like the laughter
of a madman. The Sabbath, with its prayers and meals, forms the
central point of Lurya's mystic teaching. He looked upon it as the
visible representation of the world of the Sefiroth, as the
embodiment of the Divinity (Shechinah) in temporal life, and all
actions done or left undone on that day had an influence upon the
higher world. Lurya's followers welcomed the Sabbath, "the mystic
bride," with chanting, and for this purpose Lurya composed Chaldaic
songs full of obscure and meaningless formulas. His Kabbala also
introduced a second Day of Atonement. The "Day of Hosannas," the
seventh day of the Feast of Tabernacles, was formerly observed as a
day of festivity. Even Joseph Karo did not venture in his code to
attribute a higher, mystical, religious function to this day. Lurya's
school first raised it, on the authority of the Zohar, to the rank of a
minor day of expiation, introduced the practice of holding a mystic
vigil the previous night, and perceived in every leaf of the willow
branches, and in the seven-fold processions round the scrolls of the
Law, a higher, mystical meaning. In relation to morality, too, the
mysticism of Lurya had a corrupting influence. It demanded a
"harmony of souls" as a condition of marriage, and, therefore,
whenever disagreement showed itself in married life, it was said that
the marriage was not a union foreordained by the harmony of the
Sefiroth. Kabbalists, therefore, separated from their wives in
consequence of the smallest dissension in married life, to seek out
the harmonious soul predestined for them. Thus divorce became
frequent in Kabbalistic circles. Kabbalists often left their wives and
children in the West, and, migrating to the East, contracted a new
marriage, or several new marriages, and the children of the different
marriages knew nothing of one another.
These corrupting mystic doctrines did not remain a dead letter,
but were forthwith put into practice by their adherents. Thus, the
brilliance shed by the Jewish Duke of Naxos and other influential
Jews at the Turkish court over their fellow-believers in the East,
came to resemble the light of the will-o'-the-wisps that make the
waters of a stagnant marsh gleam with a flickering light. The
religious stagnation at the time was glaring indeed; there was a
complete relapse into heathenism; and what was worse, there
sounded no warning voice which recognized the mischief, or
stigmatized, though ever so feebly, the corruption as it really was.
Perhaps the feeling of complete security in which the Jews in Turkey
reposed under mighty protectors of their own race had encouraged
this religious disorder. In any case, it did not decrease as this
protection gradually disappeared, when the influence of Joseph of
Naxos ceased on the death of Sultan Selim in 1574. His successor,
Sultan Murad III (1574–1595), left the Jewish duke in possession of
his rank and offices according to his father's dying request. But he
no longer had direct influence over the divan; he was supplanted by
his adversary, the grand vizir, Mahomet Sokolli, and his rival,
Solomon Ashkenazi, and could accomplish nothing without intrigues
through the agency of the harem. Joseph Nassi did not long survive
his partial disgrace; he died of calculus, on August 2d, 1579,
sincerely lamented by the Jews. His accumulated treasures melted
away even as his ambitious designs. The avaricious sultan, Murad,
who slept upon heaps of gold in order that they might not be stolen
from him, by the advice of Mahomet Sokolli confiscated all his
property, ostensibly to cover his debts. The widowed duchess, Reyna
Nassi, with difficulty retained her dowry of 90,000 ducats out of her
husband's estate. This noble woman, although she certainly did not
possess the spirit either of her mother, Donna Gracia, or of her
husband, determined like these to spend her wealth in the interests
of Jewish knowledge. She set up a Hebrew printing press in her
palace of Belvedere, and afterwards in a village called Kuru-Gismu,
on the European side near Constantinople. But she was misled by
Joseph Askaloni, a business manager devoid of all taste, to whom
she had intrusted the direction of her press, so that only writings of
no importance, which had far better have remained in obscurity,
were published in her establishment (1579–1598). And so this noble
family of two men and two women, renowned in their own time, left
no worthy or lasting memorial; and their deeds, prompted by the
noblest intentions, have perished in the stream of the ages.
Duke Joseph having disappeared from the scene, the prestige of
the Hebrew statesman, Solomon Ashkenazi, the peacemaker
between Turkey and Venice, increased. But, much as he was able to
accomplish by means of his diplomatic arts, he did not, like Joseph
of Naxos, stand in the forefront of events as a Turkish dignitary, but
rather remained in the background as a wise and silent mediator.
Solomon Ashkenazi had no access to the sultan himself, but only
held secret intercourse with the successive grand vizirs, whose right
hand man he was. The negotiations between Turkey and Spain to
procure a peace, or at least a modus vivendi, desired as it was by
both sides, owing to pride on both sides, were delayed, broken off,
and renewed. These diplomatic discussions were conducted by
Solomon, who possessed greater qualifications for that purpose than
anyone else, and the matters in dispute were partially brought to a
conclusion by him. He was particularly careful to maintain a good
understanding between the Porte and Venice, and was on this
account rewarded by the doge, his sons being allowed to live in
Venice at the expense of the state.
Also Jewish women of wisdom and good sense, having skill in
medicine, gained great influence by means of the harem under the
sultans Murad III, Mahomet IV, and Achmed I. Among these women,
Esther Kiera, widow of one Elias Chendali, specially distinguished
herself. She was a great favorite with the sultana Baffa, herself the
favorite wife of Murad, who influenced politics under her husband
and afterwards during the reign of her son. If a Christian state
wished to gain any object at the Porte, it had first to win over the
Jewish go-between, Kiera. The Venetians particularly knew how to
turn this fact to account. All ambitious persons who aimed at
attaining high office paid respect to Kiera, and addressed her with
flattery. Naturally, she enriched herself by her secret power, as did
everyone in Turkey who, however strong or weak he might be,
formed one of the spokes in the wheel of the state. She showed
great interest in her race, supported the poor and suffering, fed the
hungry, and comforted the sorrowful. Jewish science was helped by
her generous hand. Zacuto's history, as mentioned before, was
published at her expense. Naturally her position excited envy. Esther
Kiera imprudently allowed herself to be implicated in the
appointment of cavalry officers, first promising one man a high post
and then bestowing it on another. The Turkish Spahis, the proudest
class of soldiers, took this treatment very ill, plotted together, and
demanded her head. The deputy grand vizir Chalil wished to save
her and her sons, and allowed them to take refuge in his palace. But
on the very steps Esther Kiera and her three sons were seized by the
Spahis, torn to pieces, and their limbs hung upon the doors of the
favored magnates who had received their posts through her
influence.
Under Sultan Achmed I, another Hebrew woman, the widow of
the statesman Solomon Ashkenazi, gained great consideration. She
was so fortunate as to cure the young sultan of the smallpox, which
shortly after his accession threatened his life, and for which the
Turkish physicians knew no remedy. She was richly rewarded for
nursing him back to health. But such signs of favor towards Jews
became continually rarer in Turkey, and at last ceased altogether, as
the empire sank into enervation, and each sultan became a
Sardanapalus; while the harem, on the one hand, and the Spahis
and Janissaries, on the other, held the reins of power. The glory of
the Turkish Jews was extinguished like a meteor, and plunged into
utter darkness, from time to time illuminated by fanciful visions.
Extortion, robbery, and open deeds of violence, on the part of the
pashas towards Jews, began to occur daily, since they were now
deprived of a powerful protector at the Sultan's side. The center of
Judaism was shifted to another stage.
 CHAPTER XVIII.
THE JEWS IN POLAND.

Condition of Poland—Favorable Situation of the Jews in that

Country—Anti-Jewish Party in Poland—The Jewish
Communities—Judaizing Poles—Studies of the Jews—The
Talmud in Poland—Solomon Lurya—Moses Isserles—The
Historian, David Gans—"Zemach David"—Supremacy of
the Polish Authorities in Rabbinical Matters—The Jewish
Seminaries in Poland—The Disputations at the Fairs—
Chiddushim and Chillukim—Stephen Bathori—His
Kindness towards his Jewish Subjects—Sigismund III—
Restriction on the Erection of Synagogues—Jewish
Synods—Vaad Arba Arazoth—Mordecai Jafa—Christian
Sects in Poland—The Socinians or Unitarians—Simon
Budny—The Reformers and the Jews—Isaac Troki—"The
Strengthening of Faith."
1566–1600 C.E.

Poland, which in this century had become a great power by

reason of its union with Lithuania under the sons of Casimir IV, like
Turkey, was the refuge of the outlawed or persecuted. Canonical
Christianity, with its love of persecution, had not yet struck firm roots
there; and monarchical despotism, encouraged by priests in its
obstinate determination to realize all its ends regardless of
consequences, could not prevail against the independent spirit of the
Polish nobility. The Starosts ruled unchecked in their provinces, like
the English and Scottish lords and clans, and could ward off the
encroachments of royalty. The reformed faith, that is to say Calvin's
teaching, was readily received by the nobility and the middle classes.
Poland, therefore, in this century, too, was a second Babylonia for
the Jews, in which on the whole they were protected from bloody
persecutions, where some of them could attain to respectable
positions, and where they were allowed to develop their individuality
without restraint. When the Jews were expelled from Bohemia, and
turned their steps to Poland, they were kindly received. Indeed, so
highly appreciated were they, that it was thought that the people
could not do without them. When, attracted by the favored position
of their brethren in Turkey, many prepared to migrate thither, the
king made every exertion to retain them in his land either by
persuasion or compulsion. It mattered very little what were the
king's relations to them; for whether he was kindly or evilly
disposed, the nobles protected those who dwelt on their estates
from all attacks, in as far as their own interests were not injured
thereby. Under some kings, the Jews received favors, under others,
suffered restrictions, according as hostile or friendly influences
preponderated.
But there was a party in Poland hostile to the Jews. It regarded
with dissatisfied eyes their more favored position in that country as
compared with the rest of Christendom, and endeavored to abrogate
the statute of Casimir IV, still in force, giving protection against
unduly severe persecution. It consisted, on the one hand, of the
Catholic clergy which regretted the absence in the Polish legislation
of canonical restrictions regarding Jews; on the other, of the German
merchant and artisan class which feared Jewish competition.
There exists no estimate of the number of Jews in Poland at this
time. It is said that there were 200,000 adults. The community at
Posen numbered 3,000 members, and there were about as many in
Cracow, or rather in the suburb Kazimierz, to which they had on a
former occasion been banished. The third community in point of size
was at Lublin. The Jews had many taxes to pay under different
heads. For this purpose, indeed, they were received, and on this
account tolerated in the country, and protected by the kings and the
nobility, being almost the only ones in that impecunious land who
possessed money. For this reason, also, the kings encouraged their
commercial enterprises. When Sigismund Augustus, soon after his
accession, negotiated for a prolongation of the peace with the
Russian Czar, Ivan IV, called "the Terrible," he inserted the condition
that the Jews of Lithuania be allowed, as formerly, to freely carry on
trade with Russia. But Ivan absolutely refused this condition; he did
not wish to see any Jews in his realm. "We do not want these men,"
he said, "who have brought us poison for our bodies and souls; they
have sold deadly herbs among us, and blasphemed our Lord and
Saviour." A Judaizing sect had been founded some seventy years
before by a Jew called Zacharias, to which sect even some of the
priests, and a metropolitan named Zosina belonged. This
proselytizing sect continued to exist till the beginning of the
sixteenth century, but its adherents were severely persecuted when
discovered. On this account Jews were not allowed in Russia.
In consequence of the Reformation, which had made its way into
Poland, a purer taste and a love of science and literature had
developed there. Polish nobles fond of traveling brought back from
Germany an interest in these matters, and sent their sons to study
at the reformed universities of Wittenberg and Geneva. Schools
arose in Poland where Jewish boys and youths were instructed
together with Christians. The Polish Jews, it is true, did not devote
themselves to science to a marked degree, but they were by no
means so devoid of it as their German brethren.
Aristotle, that philosophical authority so familiar to the Hebrew
world and so closely akin to the Hebrew spirit, found admirers also
among Polish Jews. Even Maimuni's philosophic and religious
writings found a few readers. Astronomy and medicine, two favorite
sciences of the Jews from time immemorial, were studied also by
Polish Jews. Generally speaking, they did not share the intellectual
degradation of the Jewish inhabitants of Germany. Among them the
study of the Talmud received an impetus greater almost than in
France in the times of the Tossafist schools. Of all the Jews in
Europe and Asia those in Poland were the last to become familiar
with the Talmud; as though desirous of making up for lost time, they
cherished it with extravagant affection. It appeared as if the deep
secrets of the Talmud were to be rightly understood and completely
unraveled and appreciated only in Poland. Comprehensive erudition
and marvelous insight were united in a surprising manner in the
Polish students of this book, and everyone whom nature had not
deprived of all talent devoted himself to its study. The dead letter
received new life from the eager inspiration of the Jewish sons of
Poland; in this land it exerted an influence of great force, striking
sparks of intellectual fire, and creating a ceaseless flow of thought.
The Talmudical schools in Poland henceforward became the most
celebrated throughout the whole of European Judaism. All who
sought sound learning betook themselves thither. To have been
educated in a college of the Polish Jews was of itself a sufficient
recommendation; and all who did not possess this advantage were
considered inferiors.
The fame of the rabbinical schools of Poland was due to three
men: Shalom Shachna, Solomon Lurya, and Moses Isserles. Solomon
Lurya (born in Posen about 1510, died about 1573) came from a
family of German immigrants. Had he been born in a better, a more
intellectual epoch, he would have been one of the makers of
Judaism, perhaps another Maimuni. But being the son of an age of
decadence, he became only a profound and thorough Talmud
scholar, in the higher sense of the word, not remaining satisfied with
traditional data, but examining every single point and weighing it in
the golden balance of critical exactitude. To the thorough and critical
investigation of the great field of the Talmud his whole mental
activity was devoted, and he possessed the greatest natural
qualifications for such critical work. With his bold spirit of inquiry,
ruthlessly subjecting everything to the severest examination, Lurya
in any other age would have gone beyond the Talmud, if its
contradictions had made themselves glaringly apparent to him. But
by this son of an age of faith the whole book was regarded as an
actual continuation of the revelation made at Sinai, an unassailable
authority, which only needed to be properly understood, or which
wanted perhaps a little rectification here and there, but as a whole
contained the truth. Lurya was a strongly marked character, having
all the acerbity and angularity commonly associated therewith.
Injustice, venality, and hypocrisy, were so hateful to him, that he
broke out into what was sometimes imprudent excess of zealous
indignation. By reason of his distinct individuality and firmness,
which he wished to assert everywhere, Solomon Lurya offended and
hurt the vanity of not a few. He lashed in bitter terms those
Talmudical scholars whose actions did not correspond to their
teaching, and devoted themselves to the study of rabbinical
literature only for the sake of discussion, or to gain a reputation.
Hence he made many enemies, and in his own time was more
feared than loved. In polemical discussion he was reckless and
unsparing, and very naturally brought upon himself retaliation which
only embittered him the more. Then he complained of persecution,
and even of the ingratitude of his disciples, who, he said, had turned
against him, and looked at everything in a gloomy light. He attacked
the students of the Talmud, because, he said, the ignorant were so
many and the possessors of knowledge so few, while their arrogance
continually increased, and no one was content to take the position
that properly belonged to him. No sooner was one of them ordained
than he assumed the airs of a master, collected a troop of disciples
around him for money, as people of rank hire a body-guard. "There
are," he complained, "gray-headed rabbis with very little knowledge
of the Talmud, who behave imperiously to congregations and to
people of real knowledge, excommunicate and re-admit members,
ordain disciples—all for their own selfish purposes." Solomon Lurya
extended the sarcastic bitterness of his scorn to German experts in
the Talmud, "who, in the case of people of wealth and authority,
show indulgence towards the transgression of rabbinical precepts,
while they spread evil reports about men of moderate means and
strangers who are guilty of slight irregularities, such as going about
with uncovered head."
However, things were not so bad in Jewish society as depicted
by Lurya's bitter humor; and this is proved in the most conclusive
manner by the recognition that this morose faultfinder himself
received. Talmudical students, both young and old, even in his
lifetime, were full of admiration for his achievements. While still
betwixt youth and middle age, he undertook his principal work of
elucidating and sifting Talmudic discussions with a view to
establishing religious practice, and he continued this work up to the
end of his life without completing it. Solomon Lurya performed this
task with more thoroughness, clearness, and depth than his
contemporaries and predecessors. But if he hoped, as it appears he
did, to put an end to all variety and confusion of opinion, he made
the same mistake as Maimuni and others. He only contributed to
further entanglement of the knot. His numerous other writings bear
the same impress of thoroughness and critical insight, but he could
not reach the seat of the trouble any more than others who had
made the attempt; it lay too deep.
By reason of his critical faculty, Lurya laid stress upon what his
Polish and German fellow-students neglected as too trifling—namely,
on grammatical correctness and precision in the distinction of the
forms of speech. On the other hand, he was a declared enemy of
scholastic philosophy. It appeared to him to be dangerous and fatal
to faith.
Another leading rabbi in Poland was Moses ben Israel Isserles, of
Cracow (born in 1520, died Iyar, 1572). The son of a greatly
respected father, who had held the office of president of the
community, he distinguished himself more by his precocity and
comprehensive learning than by striking mental individuality.
Inheriting so much property from his family that he dedicated one of
his houses as a synagogue, Isserles was able to follow the bent of
his genius with ease and comfort, devote himself to the Talmud, and
make himself familiar with its mazes. He soon gained such a
reputation that, while still almost a youth, he was nominated rabbi-
judge in Cracow. At thirty years of age he had embraced the whole
field of Talmudic and rabbinical literature as thoroughly as Joseph
Karo, a man double his age.
 Isserles also felt the need of collecting and giving finality to the
widely scattered materials of rabbinical Judaism. But since Joseph
Karo had forestalled him by the compilation of his Code, it only
remained for him to rectify it, and comment upon it. For he regretted
the omission of several elements in that work, especially the neglect
of German rabbinical authorities and customs. This continuation of
Karo's Code, or "Table," he called the "Mappa" or "Table-cloth." As
the Jews in Germany had always been more scrupulous in their
observances than those elsewhere, the additions and
supplementations made by Isserles turned out to be burdensome.
His decisions immediately received recognition, and to the present
day form the religious standard, the official Judaism, of the German
and Polish communities and those allied to them. It cannot quite be
said that he contributed to its ossification, for he did not invent and
introduce these burdens, but only noted and codified them; he
followed the universal tendency. If Isserles had not arranged them
into a religious code, some one else would have done so.
Isserles had taste also for other subjects besides the Talmud,
especially for astronomy. He produced a commentary to Frohbach's
astronomical work, "Theorica." He likewise had an inclination for
philosophy, and pursued the subject rather deeply, though only
through the medium of Hebrew works. Maimuni's "Guide" was his
guide, too. On this account he had to submit to a sharp reproof from
the proud Solomon Lurya. Isserles also had some taste for history,
which led him to induce one of his disciples to occupy himself
seriously with it. David Gans (born in Westphalia in 1541, died in
Prague in 1613) had come to Cracow when a youth in order to study
in the rabbinical academy there; but his natural taste for scientific
subjects, history, geography, mathematics, and astronomy, was
involuntarily aroused by Isserles, who brought him up, and guided
his studies. Gans devoted himself to these subjects, and made the
acquaintance of two great leaders in mathematics and astronomy,
Kepler and Tycho de Brahe. He wrote several works on these
subjects, of course in Hebrew. His chronicle (Zemach David),
consisting of annals of Jewish and general history, has become
celebrated. It was a very great thing for a German Jew to have
devoted himself to studies outside of the ordinary track. But one
cannot call David's historical work great. He introduced among Jews
the dry, bare form of historical narrative formerly employed by
monks, which at that time had already given place to a more artistic
method. However, unimportant as David's chronicle is, it possesses
some merit, because it reminded those wrapped up in the study of
the Talmud that they were the last links of a long historical chain.
The want of appreciation of history displayed by German Jews is
indicated by the brief inscription placed on Gans' tomb, while there
were no limits to the eulogies glorifying the memory of some
obscure rabbinical dignitary. The study of the Talmud, prosecuted
merely as an effort of memory, won greater fame for its votaries
than devotion to any branch of science, however profoundly
grasped.
The three great rabbinical lights, first both in rank and in priority
of time, Shachna, Solomon Lurya, and Isserles, laid the foundation
of the extraordinary erudition of the Polish Jews. Any complicated or
generally interesting question, arising in Germany, Moravia,
Bohemia, even in Italy and Turkey, was submitted to them,
especially to Isserles, for final decision. The revoltingly vulgar actions
of the community at Prague, against which the local college of rabbis
was powerless, were brought before the rabbis of Poland, and
attacked vigorously by them. Passionate disputes in Frankfort-on-
the-Main, which threatened to produce persecution or expulsion,
were settled, and a reconciliation effected from Poland. Thus this
rabbinical triumvirate founded a kind of supremacy of Poland over
the Jews of Europe, acknowledged on all sides, and the Polish rabbis
maintained their position as leaders up to the end of the eighteenth
century.
The triumvirate, whose numerous disciples rivaled each other in
the study of the Talmud, gradually caused nearly all Polish Jews to
become familiar with that book, and eligible for the rabbinical office.
Even in small communities of only fifty members there were at least
twenty Talmudical scholars, who in turn instructed at least thirty
pupils. Everywhere there arose schools with rabbis at their head as
teachers, whose chief duty was to deliver lectures, everything else
being of secondary importance. Young men crowded to these
establishments, where they could live free from care, their
maintenance being defrayed out of the treasury of the community,
or by wealthy private individuals. Children were put to the study of
the Talmud at a tender age, certainly to the detriment of the natural
development of their minds. It was the highest honor to conduct a
rabbinical school, and their ambition was encouraged to strive for
this object. Supervisors were nominated to watch over the industry
of the students (Bachurim) and the children. Gradually a kind of
syllabus with alternating themes, in use up to recent times, was
introduced for the lectures on the Talmud in the summer and the
winter term.
At the end of the term, the teachers and their numerous pupils
went to the great Polish fairs, in summer to Zaslaw and Jaroslaw, in
winter to Lemberg and Lublin. Thus several thousand students of the
Talmud met, and there ensued a lively interchange of remarks and
subtle disputations upon the subject-matter of rabbinical and
Talmudic study. Public disputations were held, in which anyone might
take part. The keener intellects received wealthy brides as a reward
for their mental exertions. Rich parents took pride in having sons-in-
law educated in Talmudic schools, and sought for them at the fairs.
The Polish Jews, by reason of this fervent zeal, acquired a Talmudic
deportment, so to speak, which showed itself in every movement
and every utterance, by ungraceful shrugging of the shoulders and a
peculiar movement of the thumbs. Every conversation, whether of a
perfectly indifferent nature or even upon matters of business,
resembled a disputation upon the Talmud. Talmudical words,
designations, phrases, and allusions, passed into popular speech,
and were understood even by women and children.
But this excessive study of the Talmud in Poland was of no real
advantage to Judaism. It was not carried on in order to gain a
proper understanding of the book, but merely to find something
unique, rare, witty, striking, something to tickle the intellectual
palate. In these meetings of thousands of students of the Talmud,
masters and disciples, teachers and pupils, at the great fairs, every
individual exerted himself to discover something new, startling, and
casuistical, bringing it forward only to surpass all others, without
caring whether it stood the test of proof, or was only relatively true,
but merely to gain a reputation for sharp-wittedness. The chief
endeavor of the Talmudical students of Poland was directed to
bringing to light something new in Talmudic criticism, or in inventing
something (Chiddush). The lectures of the heads of schools, and of
all rabbis, had only this object in view—to set up something hitherto
unsurpassed, to weave a net of sophistical Talmudical propositions,
and to go still further in the process of incomprehensible hair-
splitting (Chillukim). Hence the whole trend of Jewish thought in
Poland was in a wrong direction. The language of the Jews in
particular suffered from this cause, degenerating into a ridiculous
jargon, a mixture of German, Polish, and Talmudical elements, an
unpleasant stammering, rendered still more repulsive by forced
attempts at wit. This corrupt speech, despising all forms, could be
understood only by Jews, natives of the country. Together with their
language the Polish Jews lost that which really constitutes a man,
and were thus exposed to the scorn and contempt of non-Jewish
society. The Bible had fallen gradually into the background in the
course of development since the time of Maimuni; now in Poland
knowledge of it was utterly lost. If anyone occupied himself with it, it
was merely to derive the materials for wit, or false wit, from its
pages.
The circumstances of the time were such that the Jews of
Poland were able, to a certain extent, to form an independent state
within the Polish state. Several kings in succession were favorable to
them, according them extensive protective privileges, and seeing, as
far as their power went, that these rights were respected. After the
death of the last king of the Jagellon dynasty, Sigismund Augustus
(1572), the Jews of Poland profited by the elective monarchy. Each
newly-elected king above all needed money, which could be supplied
only by Jews; or, he needed a party among the nobles, and this
order, in general devoted to the Jews, obtained a preponderating
influence as compared with the narrow-minded German middle
class, hostile to Jews.
After a thirteen months' interregnum, occupied by election
negotiations and intrigues, the sagacious prince of Transylvania,
Stephen Bathori, gained the Polish throne, not without the co-
operation of the Jewish agent, Solomon Ashkenazi, for Turkey had
supported his election. Not long after his accession, he sent kind
messages to the Jews, protected those in Lithuania against false and
calumnious accusation of the murder of Christian children, and
uttered his conviction that the Jews conscientiously obeyed the
Hebrew law of not shedding human blood. His reign of nearly twelve
years (1575–1586) forms a happy episode in the history of the Jews
in Poland. Stephen Bathori, moreover, did not allow the privileges to
remain a dead letter, but preserved them in full force. He allowed
Jews (in 1576) to carry on all kinds of trade without restriction, even
to buy and sell on Christian holidays, desired that the murder of a
Jew, like the murder of a Christian, be punished by death, and made
the city magistracies responsible for riots and injuries caused by
Christian mobs in synagogues, cemeteries, and at Jewish funerals.
The promoters of tumultuous attacks upon Jews, which occurred
chiefly in the half-German city of Posen, were to be fined ten
thousand Polish marks, and the magistrate who had not done his
duty in protecting Jews was to be fined a similar sum. Bathori's reign
was not, however, free from libelous attacks on the Jews. Where was
there at that time in Christian Europe a single country in which the
enemies of the Jews did not assail them? A Polish poet, Klonowicz,
poured forth his scorn of their trade, usury, and arrogance, in Latin
verses; the rulers, he said, robbed the Jews, only to be robbed by
them in turn.
In the long reign of Sigismund III (1587–1632), the Swedish
prince whose election gave a pretext for internal dissensions and
civil wars, the Polish Jews fared better than might have been
expected from a pupil of the Jesuits and a zealous Catholic. Although
he caused dissenting Poles to be severely persecuted, the Jews
under his government were by no means unhappy. At the diet in
Warsaw (1592) he confirmed the ancient privileges of Casimir,
considered to be in their favor. However, Sigismund III introduced
one law, very disadvantageous to Jews, and disclosing the
ecclesiastical bent of his mind. He ordained that the permission of
the clergy had to be gained to build new synagogues, a regulation
which, of course, rendered the practice of the Jewish religion
dependent on a church eager for persecution.
Under this king the Jews in Poland introduced (1586–1592) an
institution which had not existed in that particular form in Jewish
history. It gave the Polish communities extraordinary unity, firmness,
and strength, and hence secured respect both from their members
and outsiders. Hitherto it had naturally come about that, at the
meeting of rabbis and heads of schools with their followers at the
great fairs, important questions were discussed, law cases were
settled, and general consultations took place. The utility of such
meetings may have become clearly apparent, and given rise to the
idea of arranging regular conferences of the heads of communities,
to draw up final, binding decisions. Both leaders and communities
must have been actuated by a healthy spirit in agreeing to common
action. The communities of the chief provinces, Little Poland, Greater
Poland, and Russia, were the first to unite in instituting conferences
(Vaad) at regular intervals, to take place at the great fairs of Lublin
and Jaroslaw. The communities sent delegates, learned men of
proved excellence, who had a seat and a vote in the synod. They
chose a president, who directed the discussion of questions, and
drew up a report of the session. Disputes in the communities,
questions of taxation, religious and social regulations, the averting of
threatened dangers, and help to brethren in distress, were the main
points treated by the synods, and settled finally. The synods also
exercised a literary censorship by granting permission for certain
books to be printed and sold, and refusing it in the case of others
which seemed to them harmful. Probably the Lithuanian Jews were
represented at a later period, and the synods were called the Synods
of the Four Countries (Vaad Arba Arazoth). These conferences had a
very beneficial effect: they prevented long-standing dissensions,
averted or punished acts of injustice, kept alive a feeling of union
amongst the communities, directing them towards common action,
thereby counteracting the narrowness and selfishness of merely local
interests, which so greatly encouraged the dismemberment and
isolation of communities, as, for example, in Germany. On this
account the synod of Polish Jews was respected even abroad; and
distant German communities or private individuals who had any
complaint to make, applied to these supreme assemblies, certain to
obtain relief. It is to the glory of the men who, for nearly two
hundred years, presided over the synods, that their names, worthy
of the remembrance of posterity, remained in obscurity, as though
they had consciously suppressed their individuality in favor of the
community at large. Still less is known of the originators of this
institution, who succeeded in the difficult task of overcoming the
anarchic tendency of the people, as Jews and as Poles, and of
inducing them to subordinate themselves to one great end. It is
conjectured that Mordecai Jafa, a rabbi from Bohemia (born about
1532, died 1612), who made many journeys, and suffered much
sorrow, was the organizer of these regular conferences. He had been
compelled, in his youth, to assume the wanderer's staff. In this way
he came to Venice; here he occupied himself in drawing up a
religious code more convenient than that of Joseph Karo. Apparently
the search made by the Inquisition for copies of the Talmud
rendered his stay in Venice unpleasant, and he again betook himself
to Poland. There finally he officiated as a rabbi, first in Grodno,
afterwards in Lublin, from about 1575 till the spring of 1592. In
Lublin, one of the great fair towns, many thousands of Jews used to
meet, and there were always undecided law-suits and disputes to be
settled. Mordecai Jafa may very possibly have gained from this the
idea of transforming these chance synods into regular conferences
and of drawing up rules for them. His authority was sufficient to gain
acceptance for his proposals, which satisfied an urgent need. When
he left Lublin in his old age to take up the office of rabbi at Prague,
the presidency of the synod seems to have been occupied by Joshua
Falk Cohen, the head of a school at Lemberg (1592–1616), whose
great academy was maintained by his rich and respected father-in-
law. The frequent meetings of the Reformers in Poland, the
Lutherans and Unitarians, with their respective sects, seem to have
served as a model for the Jewish assemblies. Only the latter did not
discuss hair-splitting dogmas, like the others, but decided practical
questions of daily life.
Poland and Lithuania, superficially considered, presented the
spectacle of a land honeycombed with religious divisions, from which
a new form of Christianity was to arise. While in Germany the
reforming movement and the opposition to it was subsiding, while
the Titans who stormed the gates of heaven were settling down into
ordinary parsons; while the new church in its turn was entering upon
a process of ossification, and, after a short season of youthful ardor,
was falling into the feebleness of old age; the waves of religious and
sectarian separation were only now rising in Polish countries, and
threatening a general inundation. The German colonies in Poland
had transplanted the Reformation with them, and the Polish nobility
thought it an imperative fashion to pay homage to this anti-papal
innovation. Christianity in Poland and Lithuania, be it the new or the
old church, was too young to be firmly rooted; and so the
Reformation, finding little opposition, gained rapid admittance
among the nobles and the bourgeoisie almost to its own
discomfiture. Sigismund Augustus had allowed the movement free
play; indeed, under the influence of the Radziwills of Lithuania, who
stood close to his throne, he almost renounced the papacy
altogether. Thus Poland became a free state in the widest sense, and
an arena for the new teaching of the Augustine monk of Wittenberg.
Even those thinkers or enthusiasts in Italy, Switzerland, or Germany,
who wished to push the religious movement, but were persecuted
either by the Catholics or the Reformers, found kindly welcome and
protection under the Polish nobility, who were quite independent in
their own districts.
Thus arose a sect in Poland which, logically developed, might
have given a fatal blow to Christianity in general. The ashes of
Servetus of Aragon, burned at the stake in Geneva, the author of a
treatise, "On the Errors of the Trinity," seem to have been the seed
for fresh dissensions in the church. A number of his disciples,
Socinus, Blandrata, and Paruta, Italians of bold intellect, who
undermined the foundations of Christianity, and were outlawed by
Catholics and Reformers alike, passed over the Polish frontier, and
were allowed not only to live there free, but also to speak freely. The
attacks of the Socinians or Pinczovinians (as this sect, which
flourished in Poland, was called) were directed mainly against the
Trinity as a form of polytheism. Hence they received the name of
Unitarians or anti-Trinitarians. There arose a swarm of sects who met
at synodic conventions to find grounds of union, but separated with
still further divisions and dissensions.
Among the Unitarians, or disbelievers in the Trinity, were some
who partially approached Judaism, rejecting the veneration of Jesus
as a divine person. They were scoffed at by their various opponents
as "Half-Jews" (semi-judaizantes). To the strictest sect of Unitarians
in Poland belonged Simon Budny, of Masovia, a Calvinist priest, who
founded a sect of his own, the Budnians. He died after 1584. He
possessed more learning than the other founders of sects, and also
had a slight knowledge of Hebrew, which he had probably learned
from Jews. Simon Budny made himself famous by his simple
translation of the Old and the New Testament into Polish (published
at Zaslaw, 1572). His intercourse with Jews is shown by his respect
for the universally despised Talmud.
Although the movement of religious reform in Poland, in spite of
the frequent synods, disputations, and protests, did not penetrate
very deep, it was not without effect upon the Jews. They were fond
of entering into discussions with the leaders or adherents of the
various sects, if not to convert them to Judaism, yet to show their
own superiority in biblical knowledge. Conversations upon religion
between Jews and "Dissenters" (as all Poles who had seceded from
Roman Catholicism were called) were of frequent occurrence. A
Unitarian, Martin Czechowic (born about 1530, died 1613), from
Greater Poland, a man of confused intellect, who had passed
through all the phases of the religious movements of the day, and
who finally became a schismatic, rejected the baptism of infants,
and maintained that a Christian could not undertake any office of
state. This Martin Czechowic had written a work to refute the
objections of the Jews to the Messianic claims of Jesus, and had
fought against the continued obligatoriness of Judaism with old and
rusty weapons. A Rabbanite Jew, Jacob of Belzyce, in Lublin (1581),
wrote a refutation, so effective that Czechowic found himself
compelled to justify his thesis in a rejoinder.
Isaac ben Abraham Troki, of Troki, near Wilna (born 1533, died
1594), a Karaite, engaged still more actively than Jacob of Belzyce in
disputations with the adherents of Polish and Lithuanian sects. He
had access to nobles, princes of the church, and other Christian
circles, was deeply acquainted with the Bible, well read in the New
Testament, and in the different polemical, religious writings of his
day, and thus able to produce thoroughly accurate statements.
Shortly before his death (1593) Isaac Troki collected the results of
his religious conversations in a work that was subsequently to serve
as the arsenal for destructive weapons against Christianity. He
entitled his work "The Strengthening of Faith." He not merely
answered the numerous attacks made upon Judaism by Christians,
but carried the war into the camp of Christianity. With great skill and
thorough knowledge of his subject, he brought into prominence the
contradictions and untenable assertions in the Gospels and other
original Christian documents. It is the only book by a Karaite author
worth reading. It certainly does not contain anything specially new;
all brought forward in defense of Judaism and against Christianity
had been far better said by Spanish authors of a previous period,
especially by the talented Profiat Duran. Yet Troki's work had more
success, for books have a fate of their own. This book was
translated into Spanish, Latin, German, and French, and gained still
greater fame from the attacks upon it by Christians. One of the
dukes of Orleans undertook to refute the onslaught of this Polish
Jew upon Christianity. And when Reason, awakened and
strengthened, applied the lever to shake the foundations of
Christianity and demolish the whole superstructure, it was to this
store-chamber that she turned for her implements.
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