Electrons have a charge and a spin, but until recently these were considered separately. In classical electronics, charges are moved by electric fields to transmit information and are stored in a capacitor to save it. In magnetic recording, magnetic fields have been used to read or write the information stored on the magnetization, which 'measures' the local orientation of spins in ferromagnets. The picture started to change in 1988, when the discovery of giant magnetoresistance opened the way to efficient control of charge transport through magnetization. The recent expansion of hard-disk recording owes much to this development. We are starting to see a new paradigm where magnetization dynamics and charge currents act on each other in nanostructured artificial materials. Ultimately, 'spin currents' could even replace charge currents for the transfer and treatment of information, allowing faster, low-energy operations: spin electronics is on its way.

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The emergence of spin electronics in data storage

An analyte monitor includes a sensor, a sensor control unit, and a display unit. The sensor has, for example, a substrate, a recessed channel formed in the substrate, and conductive material disposed in the recessed channel to form a working electrode. The sensor control unit typically has a housing adapted for placement on skin and is adapted to receive a portion of an electrochemical sensor. The sensor control unit also includes two or more conductive contacts disposed on the housing and configured for coupling to two or more contact pads on the sensor. A transmitter is disposed in the housing and coupled to the plurality of conductive contacts for transmitting data obtained using the sensor. The display unit has a receiver for receiving data transmitted by the transmitter of the sensor control unit and a display coupled to the receiver for displaying an indication of a level of an analyte. The analyte monitor may also be part of a drug delivery system to alter the level of the analyte based on the data obtained using the sensor.

Analyte Monitoring Device And Methods Of Use

Antiferromagnetic materials are magnetic inside, however, the direction of their ordered microscopic moments alternates between individual atomic sites. The resulting zero net magnetic moment makes magnetism in antiferromagnets invisible on the outside. It also implies that if information was stored in antiferromagnetic moments it would be insensitive to disturbing external magnetic fields, and the antiferromagnetic element would not affect magnetically its neighbors no matter how densely the elements were arranged in a device. The intrinsic high frequencies of antiferromagnetic dynamics represent another property that makes antiferromagnets distinct from ferromagnets. The outstanding question is how to efficiently manipulate and detect the magnetic state of an antiferromagnet. In this article we give an overview of recent works addressing this question. We also review studies looking at merits of antiferromagnetic spintronics from a more general perspective of spin-ransport, magnetization dynamics, and materials research, and give a brief outlook of future research and applications of antiferromagnetic spintronics.

Antiferromagnetic spintronics

http://files.janapv.webnode.cz/200000097-8a03f8afdf/ex_bias_nano.pdf

Exchange bias in nanostructures

Ordered magnetic nanostructures: fabrication and properties

A 4-Mb magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) with a novel magnetic bit cell and toggle switching mode is presented. The circuit was designed in a five level metal, 0.18-mum complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor process with a bit cell size of 1.55 mum2. The new bit cell uses a balanced synthetic antiferromagnetic free layer and a phased write pulse sequence to provide robust switching performance with immunity from half-select disturbs. This switching mode greatly improves the operational performance of the MRAM as compared to conventional MRAM. A detailed description of this 4-Mb toggle MRAM is presented

A 4-Mb toggle MRAM based on a novel bit and switching method

A low switching field magnetoresistive tunneling junction memory cell including a first exchange coupled structure having a pair of magnetoresistive layers and an exchange interaction layer sandwiched therebetween so as to pin the magnetic vectors of the pair of layers anti-parallel, a second exchange coupled structure having a pair of magnetoresistive layers and an exchange interaction layer sandwiched therebetween so as to pin the magnetic vectors of the pair of layers anti-parallel, and electrically insulating material sandwiched between the first and second exchange coupled structures to form a magnetoresistive tunneling junction. Each of the first and second exchange coupled structures, and hence the memory cell, has no net magnetic moment.

Low switching field magnetoresistive tunneling junction for high density arrays

An improved and novel device and fabrication method for a magnetic element, and more particularly a magnetic element ( 10 ) including a first electrode ( 14 ), a second electrode ( 18 ) and a spacer layer ( 16 ). The first electrode ( 14 ) and the second electrode ( 18 ) include ferromagnetic layers ( 26 & 28 ). A spacer layer ( 16 ) is located between the ferromagnetic layer ( 26 ) of the first electrode ( 14 ) and the ferromagnetic layer ( 28 ) of the second electrode ( 16 ) for permitting tunneling current in a direction generally perpendicular to the ferromagnetic layers ( 26 & 28 ). The device includes insulative veils ( 34 ) characterized as electrically isolating the first electrode ( 14 ) and the second electrode ( 18 ), the insulative veils ( 34 ) including non-magnetic and insulating dielectric properties. Additionally disclosed is a method of fabricating the magnetic element ( 10 ) with insulative veils ( 34 ) that have been transformed from having conductive properties to insulative properties through oxygen plasma ashing techniques.

Method of fabricating a magnetic element with insulating veils

7.6 A 256kb 3.0V 1T1MTJ Nonvolatile Magnetoresistive RAM

A magnetic memory utilizes a magnetic material to concentrate a magnetic field in a magnetic memory cell element. The magnetic material reduces the amount of current required to read and write the magnetic memory.

Mark A. Durlam

Papers

A 4-Mb toggle MRAM based on a novel bit and switching method

Low switching field magnetoresistive tunneling junction for high density arrays

Method of fabricating a magnetic element with insulating veils

7.6 A 256kb 3.0V 1T1MTJ Nonvolatile Magnetoresistive RAM

Magnetic memory and method therefor