Magnetic spin valve with a magnetoelectric element

摘要

The present invention provides systems and method utilizing magnetoelectric materials such as Cr₂O₃ to construct tunneling magnetoresistence and/or giant magnetoresistence structures for memory and/or logical circuitry. An applied voltage differential induces a magnetic moment in the magnetoelectric material, which in turn tunes an exchange field between it and one or more adjacent ferromagnetic layers. The resulting magnetoresistence of the device may be measured. Devices in accordance with the present invention may be utilized for MRAM read heads, memory storage cells and/or logical circuitry such as XOR or NXOR devices.