Integration of spin valves and GaAs diodes in magnetoresistive random access memory cells

A magnetoresistive random access memory, based on a dynamic random access memory-like floor plan, is demonstrated for an array of magnetic memory cells. Each memory cell consists of a giant magnetoresistive spin-valve structure in series with a GaAs diode. Any single bit in the matrix can be addressed using a coincident current scheme, both for write and read operations. The integration of a series diode in the memory cell yields, for this first demonstrator, read signals of approximately 10 mV. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(99)30208-5].