International Business Machines Corporation

George E Keefe

Yeong S Lin

George S Almasi

Edward John Yarmchuk

Derek Brian Dove

Mark H Kryder

Kurt R Grebe

Ian L Sanders

Richard P McGouey

Edward August Giess

Laurence Lee Rosier

Clifton D Cullum, Jr

Emerson W Pugh

Wilhelm E Bogholtz

Robert J Hendel

Yeong-Show Lin

A magnetographic printing head comprises an array of crossed elongated bar-shaped print elements, each of which is individually magnetizable by electrical conductors wound about respective ones of the print elements. The print elements are arranged in two parallel arrays which are spaced apart from each other to define a passage through which a magnetic medium is to be passed for the imprinting of marks thereon. A mark can be imprinted at each cross point of the crossed arrays upon application of sufficient magnetizing current to each of the print elements at the cross point. The print elements are specifically shaped to provide for concentration of magnetic fields at the cross points in two dimensions to accomplish high resolution printing. The concentration of the fields is accomplished in one embodiment of the invention by the use of a knife-edge configuration to opposed facing surfaces of the elements of the opposed arrays, and in a second embodiment by a set of pedestals upstanding from the elements of one of the arrays. The resulting configuration of the print head has structural simplicity which permits economical fabrication while retaining high resolution in the printing.

Crossed-element magnetographic print head

An electromagnetic printhead is fabricated with a common flux returning backplate and an array of writing elements extending from the common backplate. The writing elements consist of large pedestals and small pedestals. The placement of the large pedestals provides addressability resolution; the small pedestals provide imaging resolution. The large pedestals accept electromagnetic flux from addressing conductors and transfer the flux through the respectively related small pedestals to an image receptor. There are several fabrication techniques which are eased by the separation of addressability resolution and imaging resolution, primarily because the wide separation of the large pedestals required for the addressing conductors mandate relatively massive removal of material and thus suggest relatively low precision machining techniques. The imaging resolution requires both high spacial precision and accurate dimension control, normally achievable by relatively high precision techniques. With the functions addressability resolution and imaging resolution functions separately provided, the best and most economical techniques may be used for each. The magnetic flux path for recording may be either vertical or in-plane, and the flux return may be common via the relatively low reluctance path provided by very large area paths through the mass of nonferromagnetic material to the common flux returning backplate. This simplified printhead lends itself to the use of standard flexible circuit fabrication techniques for the addressing conductors.

Electromagnetic head with separate addressability resolution and imaging

An improved non-data reversing one-way bubble transfer switch for contiguous disks is disclosed. The switch has a conductor arrangement in which one edge of the conductor is substantially concentric with and overlapping with the major loop which is in the form of a plurality of scallops. The major loop extends in a direction substantially transversely to one of the three primary crystallographic axes in the bubble material so as to have a propagation track with a high margin on one side and a low propagation margin on the other side. The tip of a minor loop end portion is aligned substantially concentric with the scalloped concave portion of the major loop. This switch has a maximum bias field margin and a maximum phase margin.

Non-data reversing bubble transfer switch for contiguous disks

A magnetic bubble domain storage device comprising a plurality of storage shift registers and at least one major shift register, which serves to provide bubble domains to the storage register and to receive bubble domains from the storage registers. A novel transfer switch, or gate, is located between each of the storage registers and the major register, which is typically configured in the conventional major/minor loop type of storage organization. This transfer switch can be made using single level masking or multiple level masking and is characterized in that the locus of bubble domain propagation paths through the switch element generally defines the letter 'Y'. These propagation paths are from one arm of the Y to the other arm, from one arm of the Y to the stem or base portion, or the reverse where a bubble domain travels from the stem (base) of the Y to one of the arms of the Y. In a particular embodiment, the transfer switch is comprised of a Y-shaped magnetic element having a current carrying conductor which crosses the stem portion of the Y-shaped magnetic element. The particular path travelled by bubble domains through the transfer switch is determined by the presence or absence of a current through the conductor. Thus, the transfer switch is characterized by at least one magnetic element having a current path crossing the stem portion of the element(s). The exact shape, width, length, and thickness of the magnetic element, or elements, of the transfer switch can be chosen by the designer in accordance with the propagation structures that are desired. What is important is that the plurality of paths which the bubbles can follow generally define a Y, where the current path through the transfer switch crosses the path which is along the stem portion of the Y defined by the plurality of propagation paths available.

Bubble domain storage using improved transfer switch

Guard rails are described for particular use with magnetic bubble domain chips using contiguous propagation elements. These guard rails generally surround the active device area (storage area) of the chip and are used to move stray bubble domains from the storage area to the edge of the chip, or to a collapser etc., and also to prevent stray bubbles from entering the active device area. These guard rail structures are comprised of contiguous propagation elements characterized by an undulating edge and a smooth edge, both of which generally move bubble domains away from the active device area in response to the reorientation of the same magnetic drive field. In one embodiment, the guard rail is a spiral structure surrounding the active device area, having one end in the interior of the magnetic bubble chip adjacent to the active device area, and another end near the edge of the chip, or near a bubble annihilator, etc. In another embodiment, the guard rail is comprised of a plurality of structures generally defining a broken-spiral which surround the active device area. One end of each of structure is located near the active device area, while the other end is disposed toward the edge of the magnetic bubble chip.

Guard rail for contiguous element bubble chips

In magnetic bubble domain chips using layers of crystalline material having in-plane magnetization for propagation, hard bubble suppression, etc., asymmetric propagation often results due to crystalline anisotropies in the layer of in-plane magnetization. In these chips, different propagation margins result for propagation in different directions with respect to the crystalline axes of the in-plane layer. In the present magnetic chip, a plurality of shift registers is provided for movement of bubble domains in a plurality of directions, all of which provide good propagation margins. The registers are aligned in particular directions with respect to the directions of easy stripout of bubble domains in order to avoid the problem of asymmetric propagation. Examples are shown using ion implanted contiguous element propagation patterns organized in a major/minor loop type of storage organization.

Magnetic bubble domain chip with enhanced propagation margins

A magnetic bubble storage system and a method for making it using only two masking steps, one of which is critical. In a preferred embodiment, the storage regions are comprised of ion implanted propagation elements which can be contiguous with one another. The functions of write, read, storage, transfer between storage elements in different shift registers, and annihilation are provided by the method in which the same mask is used to define ion implanted regions and for formation of conductor metallurgy. Permalloy bridges over ion implanted regions are used to provide transfer of information between one storage element and another. In a preferred embodiment, NiFe is used for sensing, annihilation, and transfer of information, while the storage registers are comprised of ion implanted regions defining contiguous propagation elements of generally circular geometry.

Apparatus for high density bubble storage

A switch for transferring magnetic bubble domains from one propagation path to another using a magnetic charged wall is described. The magnetic charged wall bridges the two propagation paths and causes the domain to strip out along the charged wall. By pulsing an overlying conductor, the charged wall and the associated strip domain will shrink away from one side of the conductor in order to translate the domain to the other side. In contrast with previous transfer gates using current carrying conductors where the magnetic field produced by current through the conductors served as the major bubble translational force, the present switch utilizes a magnetic charged wall as the driving source, the current through the conductor being used only for modification of the charged wall. Therefore, the switching margins are maximized to be substantially the same as the bubble propagation margins and the switching currents required are reduced from those in previously used transfer gates. The present switch is particularly useful as a transfer gate in a major/minor loop memory which is fabricated using ion implanted propagation patterns. Various propagation element geometries can be used to provide the bridging charged wall.

Bubble translation switch using magnetic charged wall

An improved magnetic bubble domain nucleator is provided which uses a magnetic wall, such as a charged wall, Neel wall, or Bloch wall, to assist nucleation. In a preferred embodiment, a magnetic charged wall is produced in an ion implanted region of a magnetic material with an in-plane magnetic field, and an applied nucleating magnetic field is produced by current in a conductor. The combination of the first magnetic field associated with the charged wall and the second magnetic field produced by current through the conductor is sufficient to nucleate a bubble domain in the magnetic medium whereas each of these fields acting alone is not sufficient for nucleation. Since the first magnetic field provides a component of the total nucleating field, the amount of nucleation current required in the conductor is reduced. Any structure that can be used to provide the magnetic charged wall, including ion implanted regions of a magnetic material, or an apertured layer of magnetically soft material is suitable in the practice of this invention. The structure for providing the second magnetic field is conveniently provided by a current carrying conductor, or by a magnetic element having a stray field associated therewith, or even by another magnetic bubble domain. Thus, this invention seeks to use naturally occurring magnetic walls to assist bubble nucleation rather than using additional structure.

Magnetic wall assisted bubble domain nucleator

An improved ion implanted propagation structure for movement of magnetic bubble domains in a storage medium which comprises an additional magnetic layer capable of ion implantation in combination with a bubble domain storage layer in which the bubble domains exist and are moved by the ion implanted layer in response to the reorientation of a magnetic field in the plane of the ion implanted layer. The ion implanted layer (drive layer) can be in intimate contact with the storage layer and exchange coupled thereto, or can be separated from the storage layer by a non-magnetic spacer. The ion implanted layer can comprise different geometry propagation elements and its thickness, 4.pi.M, and other magnetic properties are generally selected to provide flux matching of a charged wall in the ion implanted layer with the flux emanating from the bubble domains to be moved. The charged wall is coupled to the bubble domain by exchange coupling and/or magnetostatic coupling. SU

Ion implanted bubble propagation structure

It has been discovered that magnetic bubble domains can be moved in a magnetic medium without requiring shaped structure along which magnetic poles are created for movement of the domains, and without reliance on magnetic fields established by conductor patterns. If a magnetic field is applied in the plane of the magnetic medium, bubble domains will be stretched in a direction parallel or anti-parallel to the field direction depending on the bubble domain polarity. If this magnetic field has an asymmetry in its amplitude versus time waveform, or if an asymmetry is created by a propagation element, bubble domains can be moved in the magnetic material. This discovery can be used to move bubble domains in a magnetic medium without requiring structure having a particular shape for domain movement, and without requiring conductors. Also, improvements can be made to existing propagation structures to make them more useful.

Minimum structure bubble domain propagation

The undulating longitudinal edge of a continuous elongated structure of magnetic material forms a bubble domain propagation path for implementing the continuous movement of magnetic bubble domains under the control of a reorienting in-plane magnetic field. The domains propagate along the periphery of the undulating layer, with the periphery preferably taking the form of linked outwardly convex semi-circles. The structure can be comprised of a magnetically soft material, such as permalloy, or be an implanted region in the magnetic material which supports the bubble domains.

Very high density gapless propagation structure for bubble domains

A magnetic bubble domain propagation device which is single sided and can be used to move bubble domains in amorphous magnetic films. The propagation structure is comprised of either one or two layers located on a single side of the amorphous magnetic medium. Preferably, the propagation elements in each layer are contiguous to one another to provide maximum density. In a preferred embodiment, the propagation elements are circular, but other geometries can be used. The amorphous magnetic material is deposited over these underlayer propagation elements in order to create a change in the profile of the amorphous material. This change in profile of the amorphous material acts as a restraining barrier to bubble domain movement, so that the bubble domains will move along the proper channel without drifting to other propagation channels, and will move from one propagation element to the next without merely idling at any of the propagation elements.

Single sided, high density bubble domain propagation device

A method for making a high density magnetic bubble domain system including the functions of read, write, storage, transfer, and annihilation. Only three masking steps are required, of which only one requires critical alignment. The proces makes use of the fact that magnetic disks can be placed on non ion implanted regions without adversely affecting the propagation properties of the implanted regions. Thus, the magnetic disks can be used to define ion implantation masks as well as for providing functions such as generation, propagation, reading, and annihilation. Magnetic elements for generation, storage and propagation, reading and annihilation are deposited in the same non-critical masking step, while all condutors used for writing, reading, and transfer are deposited by a single masking step requiring critical alignment.

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Montrose, NY, United States of America

George E Keefe