Patent ID: 8498150

Claim:
A non-volatile magnetic memory element comprising: a bottom electrode coupled to the bit line; a seeding layer formed on top of the bottom electrode; a graded free layer formed on top of the seeding layer, the graded free layer having substantially perpendicular magnetic moments in a first portion thereof, the graded free layer further including a second and a third portion with the second portion being positioned the closest, relative to the first and third portions, to the tunnel layer and amorphous, the first portion being multi-layered made of a combination of materials comprising cobalt (Co), platinum (Pt) and/or palladium (Pd), and the second and third portions each having in-plane magnetic moments; a tunnel layer formed on top of the graded free layer; a fixed layer formed on top of the tunnel layer; an anti-ferromagnetic pinning layer formed on top of the fixed layer; a cap layer formed on top of the anti-ferromagnetic pinning layer; and a top electrode formed on top of the cap layer.