Domain wall traps for low-field switching of submicron elements

In magnetic random access memory, power consumption depends on the coercivity of the magnetic elements in the memory cells. In this article a new method is described that uses a "domain wall trap" element shape to reduce both the coercivity and the dependence of coercivity on element size in submicron magnetic elements. Micromagnetic simulations of a shaped permalloy element show coercivity less than one tenth the coercivity calculated for a rectangular permalloy element of the same size. The switching times for the domain wall traps are shown to be comparable to those of rectangular elements. [S0021-8979(00)94808-4].