Communications of the ACM
Weird Magnetic Behavior Could Improve Computer Memory
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have identified an unusual magnetic phenomenon that could yield efficient, low-power computer memory.
Credit: Gopman/NIST
A new study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University suggests an unusual magnetic phenomenon could yield efficient, low-power computer memory.
The team's goal is to produce better magnetoresistive random-access memory (MRAM) that can be written using smaller pulses of current, lowering power consumption and extending the life of memory arrays.
The researchers are investigating a different bit-switching mechanism that exploits spin-orbit torque.
The group was working with an experimental device comprised of nanometer-thin layers of a cobalt-iron-boron ferromagnet, a metal oxide, and tungsten, held between two gold electrodes. The researchers could flip the polarization of the magnet by applying current via the electrodes, but only in the presence of a magnetic field.
They added a layer of platinum under the tungsten, expecting it would neutralize the spin-switching effect, but instead they discovered they could flip the polarization of the platinum-frosted device by applying an electrical current, absent a magnetic field.
From Chemical & Engineering News
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