Patent ID: 9450177
Filing Date: 2016-09-20
CPC Classification: G11C,H01L

Claim Text:
1. A magnetoresistive element comprising: a reference layer having a fixed magnetization direction and including a ferromagnetic material containing Fe; one non-magnetic layer that is directly formed on one surface of the reference layer and that includes an insulator containing oxygen; a recording layer that is directly formed on one surface of the one non-magnetic layer, which is opposite to another surface on which the reference layer is formed, the recording layer having a variable magnetization direction and including a ferromagnetic material containing at least one type of 3d transition metal; and another non-magnetic layer that is directly formed on another surface of the reference layer so that the reference layer is formed between the one and the other non-magnetic layers and the one and the other non-magnetic layers are both external to the reference layer, the other non-magnetic layer including an insulator containing oxygen, wherein the reference layer, and the one and the other non-magnetic layers are arranged so that a magnetization direction of the reference layer is controlled to be perpendicular to a layer surface of the reference layer by perpendicular magnetic anisotropy at interfaces between the reference layer and the one non-magnetic layer, and between the reference layer and the other non-magnetic layer, resulting from the reference layer having a predetermined thickness, and the other non-magnetic layer stabilizes the perpendicularity of magnetization direction of the reference layer to the reference layer surface.