‘Bending current’ opens way for new type of magnetic memory
Use your computer without the need to start it up: a new type of magnetic memory makes it possible. This ‘MRAM’ is faster, more efficient and robust than other kinds of data storage. However, switching bits still requires too much electrical power to make large-scale application practicable.
Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) have discovered a smart way of solving this problem by using a ‘bending current’. They publish their findings today in the journal Nature Communications.
A group of TU/e physicists, led by Professor Henk Swagten, today publishes a revolutionary method to flip the magnetic bits faster and more energy-efficiently.
A magnetic bit is being switched by bending electrons with the correct spin upwards through the bit. A special anti-ferromagnetic material on top of the bits makes the process reliable.
The experimental chip the researchers used for their measurements. Source: Arno van den Brink.
Source: www.tue.nl
Editing for Eindhoven News: Chuan Nie
