Switching of vertical giant magnetoresistance devices by current through the device

Experiments are reported that demonstrate current-perpendicular-to-the-plane giant magnetoresistance devices can be switched repeatably between the high- and low-resistance states by passing current vertically through the structure. The lithographically patterned devices, having diameters in the range of 0.3-0.7 mu m, operate at room temperature and exhibit distinctly separate switching of the soft and hard layers. Designs for magnetoelectronic random access memory can utilize this scheme for storing and reading information. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(99)04642-2].