Magnetic STM with a non-magnetic tip

A high density non-volatile memory comprising:

• a layer of magnetic material having magnetic domains therein,
• means for writing information into said layer of magnetic material by modifying said magnetic domains,
• means for reading said information by detecting said magnetic domains including a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) positioned to scan the surface of said layer of magnetic material,
• means for passing current in a first direction through said layer of magnetic material parallel to the surface of said layer,
• means for applying and varying a voltage between a tip of said STM and said layer of magnetic material,
• means for monitoring a current between said tip and said layer of magnetic material whereby variations in the Hall potential are obtained indicative of said information said Hall potential being perpendicular to both the direction of magnetization and the direction of said current through said sample.

A high density non-volatile memory comprising:

• a layer of material capable of exhibiting a plurality of Hall potentials,
• means for writing information into said layer of material by modifying said Hall potentials as a function of position on said layer,
• means for reading said information by detecting said Hall potentials including a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) positioned to scan the surface of said layer of material,
• means for passing current in a first direction through said layer of material parallel to the surface of said layer,
• means for applying and varying a voltage between a tip of said STM and said layer of material,
• means for monitoring a current between said tip and said layer of material,
• whereby variations in the Hall potential are obtained indicative of said information, said Hall potential being perpendicular to both the direction of magnetization and the direction of said current through said sample.