Magnetic domain random access memory
AssigneeTexas Instruments Incorporated
InventorsMagid Y. Dimyan, Carlos A. Castro
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In a non-volatile random access memory, a selected one of a plurality of magnetic cells arranged in an array on a major surface of a substrate is inductively switched between opposite remanent, i.e. permanent, states upon the simultaneous application of electrical pulses to a pair of conductors intersecting adjacent the selected cell, each of the electrical pulses having an amplitude less than, but the sum thereof being at least equal to, the amplitude required to inductively switch the remanent state of the selected cell.
Claims10
A non-volatile random access memory comprising:
- a substantially planar non-magnetic substrate;
- an array of ferri-magnetic cells formed in a major surface of the substrate, each cell possessing a uniaxial magnetic anisotropy perpendicular to the substrate and being inductively switchable between opposite remanent states;
- a row conductor overlying at least a portion of each of the cells in one of the rows in the array;
- a column conductor overlying at least a portion of each of the cells in one of the columns in the array, said row and column conductors all lying on the same side of said substrate;
- cell select means for simultaneously applying pulses of electrical current to each of the row and column conductors, said pulses being selected to inductively switch only the cell adjacent both the row and column conductors;
- and
- detect means for detecting the remanent state of the cell at the intersection of the row and column conductors.
A non-volatile random access memory comprising:
- a substantially planar non-magnetic substrate;
- an array of ferrimagnetic cells on a major surface of the substrate, each cell possessing a uniaxial magnetic anisotropy perpendicular to the substrate and being inductively switchable between opposite remanent states;
- a first conductor adjacent to each of the cells in a first subset of the cells in the array;
- a second conductor adjacent to each of the cells in a second subset of the cells in the array, the intersection of the first and second subsets being a selected cell;
- and
- cell select means for simultaneously applying pulses of electrical current to each of the first and second conductors, each of said pulses having an amplitude less than, but the sum thereof being at least equal to, the amplitude required to inductively switch the remanent state of the selected cell.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.