Nonvolatile magnetoresistive memory with fully closed flux operation

摘要

A memory cell including a storage element having a first structure with a plurality of layers, selected layers having magnetization vectors associated therewith, the first structure exhibiting giant magnetoresistance, wherein the storage element has a closed flux structure in at least one dimension, and wherein the magnetization vectors are confined to the at least one dimension during all stages of operation of the storage element. The memory cell includes a means for reading information from and writing information to the first structure and a selection conductor for applying one or more selection signals to the storage element to enable reading from and writing to the first structure. In one embodiment, the reading and writing means includes a read conductor electrically coupled to the first structure, and a write conductor electrically isolated from the read conductor and the first structure. In a second embodiment, the reading and writing means is a single conductor electrically coupled to the first structure.