Address line-assisted switching of vertical magnetoresistive random access memory cells

Vertical magnetoresistive random access memory (VMRAM) is a high-density, nonvolatile memory that employs current perpendicular to the plane to switch soft (read) and hard (write) magnetic layers of a giant-magnetoresistive memory element. VMRAM cells consist of closed-flux toroid-shaped elements and intersecting address lines situated above and beneath the elements [J.-G. Zhu, Y. Zheng, and G. A. Prinz, J. Appl. Phys. 87, 6668 (2000)]. Experiments performed on 64-element strings show that the intersecting address lines effectively assist in VMRAM cell switching. With projected density scaling to 400Gbits∕in.2 [J.-G. Zhu, Y. Zheng, and G. A. Prinz, J. Appl. Phys. 87, 6668 (2000)], VMRAM has the potential to compete with both semiconductor memories and mechanical hard disks.