Patent ID: 8208292

Claim:
A magnetoresistive element comprising: an underlying layer; a first magnetic layer with a variable magnetization and an easy-axis in a perpendicular direction to a film surface, the first magnetic layer provided on the underlying layer; a first nonmagnetic layer provided on the first magnetic layers; and a second magnetic layer with an invariable magnetization and an easy-axis in the perpendicular direction, the second magnetic layer provided on the first nonmagnetic layer, wherein the underlying layer has a close-packed structure, the first magnetic layer comprises a ferromagnetic material including CoPd-alloy or CoPt-alloy in which an atomic layer of Co and an atomic layer of Pd or Pt are alternately stacked to an atomically close-packed plane thereof and C-axis directs to the perpendicular direction, the CoPd-alloy or the CoPt-alloy is oriented in fcc (111)-plane or hcp (0001)-plane, and a magnetization direction of the first magnetic layer is changed by a bi-directional current flowing through the first magnetic layer, the first nonmagnetic layer and the second magnetic layer.