Patent ID: 7943399

Claim:
A method of fabricating spin-current switched magnetic memory element, comprising: forming a plurality of magnetic layers, comprising: forming a fixed magnetic layer having a fixed magnetic moment; and forming a free magnetic layer having a magnetic moment which is switchable by a spin-current; and forming a barrier layer formed between said fixed and free magnetic layers, wherein said plurality of magnetic layers includes a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy component, H p , with a magnitude sufficient to at least substantially offset an easy-plane demagnetization effect 4πM s , where M s , is a saturation magnetization, such that said perpendicular magnetic anisotropy component, H p , reduces an amount of spin current needed to rotate said magnetic moment of said free magnetic layer out of the film plane, and wherein said perpendicular magnetic anisotropy component, Hp, comprises one of: an interface-induced perpendicular magnetic anisotropy component originating at an interface within a multilayer structure in the free magnetic layer; a strain-induced perpendicular magnetic anisotropy component originating within at least one of the fixed magnetic layer and the free magnetic layer; and a crystalline anisotropy-induced perpendicular magnetic anisotropy component originating within at least one of the fixed magnetic layer and the free magnetic layer.