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10 Spintronics Applications
10.8 Racetrack Memory
10.8.1 What Is Racetrack Memory?
Racetrack memory (RM) is future generation memory and expected to replace the
existing memory types, including hard disk drives (HDDs) and flash (see Fig. 10.20).
RM is a comparatively new technology that exploits moving magnetic domain walls
or skyrmions* along structures like magnetic nanowires. The information bit can be
coded in magnetic regions separated by domain walls (DWs), which can be moved
by means of the spin transfer torque (STT). Conventional computer hard drives use
a motor to rotate discs on which magnetic bits are stored in a thin film. The racetrack
memory uses electric currents to move the magnetic domain walls or skyrmions in
the nanowire without displacing any atoms at all. It falls under the category of nonvolatile solid-state memory. IBM predicts that it will be able to store data, which is
hundred times more than that of technology commercially available today. ‘The technology could have the potential to enable hand-held devices to hold a few thousand
movies, run for weeks at a time on a single battery and be practically unbreakable’,
IBM claims.
Fig. 10.20 Racetrack memory: what, why and how?
10 Spintronics Applications
10.8 Racetrack Memory
10.8.1 What Is Racetrack Memory?
Racetrack memory (RM) is future generation memory and expected to replace the
existing memory types, including hard disk drives (HDDs) and flash (see Fig. 10.20).
RM is a comparatively new technology that exploits moving magnetic domain walls
or skyrmions* along structures like magnetic nanowires. The information bit can be
coded in magnetic regions separated by domain walls (DWs), which can be moved
by means of the spin transfer torque (STT). Conventional computer hard drives use
a motor to rotate discs on which magnetic bits are stored in a thin film. The racetrack
memory uses electric currents to move the magnetic domain walls or skyrmions in
the nanowire without displacing any atoms at all. It falls under the category of nonvolatile solid-state memory. IBM predicts that it will be able to store data, which is
hundred times more than that of technology commercially available today. ‘The technology could have the potential to enable hand-held devices to hold a few thousand
movies, run for weeks at a time on a single battery and be practically unbreakable’,
IBM claims.
Fig. 10.20 Racetrack memory: what, why and how?