Grant: Idea to Innovation

The rapid increase in magnetic memory storage density over the last three decades has been made possible by the discovery of interface-induced phenomena in ferromagnetic /non-magnetic multilayers. The discovery of giant magnetoresistance and tunnel magnetoresistance phenomena enabled the detection of magnetic moment direction and are key for the design of magnetic sensors that are responsible for >100 times increase in the recording density of hard drives. Spin torque transfer is utilized to electrically manipulate the magnetic moment direction, allowing for a high speed/high density solid state non-volatile magnetic memories, which are identified as the next generation in magnetic memory devices.Another interface effect that has been intensively studied is the interlayer exchange coupling. This phenomenon has not been used to its full potential until now, since traditional coupling layers only allow for collinear orientation of magnetic moments of FM layers. Recently, we discovered and patented new coupling layer materials, which can be inserted instead between two magnetic layers to precisely control the coupling angle. Our invention creates an opportunity for designing novel solid state magnetic memory structures with high energy efficiency and writing speed, which is the main bottleneck in current efforts to develop these memory structures.The objective of the proposed project is to integrate our patented technology into a functioning spin transfer torque magnetic random access memory (STT-MRAM) device which would be faster and more energy efficient than existing non-volatile RAM devices. Our goal is to attract early stage investors for a start-up company, or to transfer the technology to existing companies.