New spin on computer memory

A new magnetic phenomenon may spell the end of having to wait for computers to boot up.

The application of 'displaced vortex states' - small magnetic circular movements of just a few thousandths of a millimetre - may expedite development of a new type of magnetic memory that is not erased when a computer is switched off.

A team of scientists from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), in collaboration with colleagues from the US Argonne National Laboratory and the French laboratory Spintec, has for the first time produced microscopic magnetic states, known as "displaced vortex states", that will allow an increase in the size of Magnetic Random Access Memory (MRAM).

The use of MRAM would mean that computers do not have to load operating systems and other programs and would be ready to work almost instantaneously. SRAM and DRAM are currently used in computers, but they do not allow this. Although quick, they are volatile, being deleted when the computer is switched off. Flash memory, such as that used in digital cameras, is not deleted but is slow.