Patent ID: 7057920

Claim:
A method of performing a thermally assisted write operation on a selected two conductor spin valve memory (SVM) cell providing an alterable orientation of magnetization in a material providing a stable orientation and high coercivity below a threshold temperature, and an alterable orientation and low coercivity above a threshold temperature, the method comprising: applying a first differential voltage across a first conductor generating a first write magnetic field; applying a second differential voltage across a second conductor generating a second write magnetic field, the second differential voltage applied contemporaneously with the first differential voltage; contemporaneously heating the SVM cell above a threshold temperature with a heating current flowing from the first conductor to the second conductor through the SVM cell, the SVM cell having a resistive property providing internal self heating to the SVM cell; and orienting the magnetization of the SVM cell, the combined first and second write fields being greater than the coercivity of the heated SVM cell such that the orientation of the magnetization of the SVM cell may be changed to align with the applied first and second magnetic fields.