Patent ID: 7940592

Claim:
A method comprising: applying a selected magnetic orientation to a first layer of a memory cell, said first layer configured to accept a plurality of different magnetic orientations; and tunneling the applied magnetic orientation of the first layer to a second layer of the memory cell configured to accept a plurality of magnetic orientations, wherein the second layer maintains the applied magnetic orientation to indicate a logic state of the cell and the orientation of the applying step is provided by a cladding layer adjacent a conductor along which a current is passed, wherein said current induces a magnetic field in the cladding layer of the selected magnetic orientation; and subsequently reading the logic state of the cell using a self-reference operation in which a first read current in a first direction is applied to the conductor to obtain an auto-zero voltage, followed by application of a second read current in an opposing second direction to the conductor to obtain a second voltage, wherein the logic state is determined in relation to the magnitude of the second voltage relative to the auto-zero voltage.