Spin-Valve RAM Cell

This paper presents the design and the characteristics of a nonvolatile memory cell using giant magneto-resistance effects. Unlike other magnetic memory cells [1], the present cell design [2] exploits the full ΔR of the spin valve material. A dc voltage difference between the two cell states of 30 mV range has been realized on a cell stripe only 6-micron long, making it compatible with the high-speed sensing schemes presently employed in silicon RAMs. The cell switches states in sub-nanoseconds. Its performance/density is close to that of the static RAM cell. © 1995 IEEE