Via AP switching
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorDaniel Worledge
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A magnetic storage structure comprises a first magnetic layer; a second magnetic layer; and a nonmagnetic spacer layer disposed between the first and second layers for coupling the first and second layers to be parallel in a zero field condition. According to another embodiment of the invention a magnetic memory cell exhibits a hysteresis loop wherein in small fields the thin layer switches, reversibly, leaving the layers coupled anti parallel. At larger fields the thick layer switches making the layers parallel. According to yet another embodiment of the invention, a magnetic memory structure comprises two magnetic layers wherein the layers are magnetically coupled in a substantially parallel mode in zero field, and switches via the anti parallel state.
Claims18
A magnetic memory cell comprising:
- a first magnetic layer;
- a second magnetic layer;
- and
- a nonmagnetic coupling layer disposed between the first and second layers, wherein the first magnetic layer comprises a first magnetization vector and the second magnetic layer comprises a second magnetization vector, wherein the first and second magnetization vectors are respectively in planes parallel with surfaces of the first and second magnetic layers, and wherein the coupling is strong enough to couple the vectors in parallel pointing in an easy axis direction in zero field and weak enough so that the vectors are coupled non-parallel when an applied field makes the vectors point in an in-plane hard axis direction.
A method for coupling a first magnetic layer to a second magnetic layer comprising:
- introducing a nonmagnetic layer disposed between the first and second magnetic layers, wherein the first magnetic layer comprises a first magnetization vector and the second magnetic layer comprises a second magnetization vector, wherein the first and second magnetization vectors are respectively in planes parallel with surfaces of the first and second magnetic layers, and wherein the coupling is strong enough to couple the vectors in parallel pointing in an easy axis direction in zero field and weak enough so that the vectors are coupled non-parallel when an applied field makes the vectors point in an in-plane hard axis direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.