International Business Machines Corporation

Laurence Lee Rosier

Hung Liang Hu

George E Keefe

Yeong S Lin

William Albert Reynolds, Jr

A technique for accessing interactive elements, such as magnetic bubble domains, which are in confined arrays where the elements are located with respect to one another in accordance with interactions therebetween. In order to improve the access time to any element within the confined array, the elements are removed in a direction substantially transverse to the direction of their translational movement within the confined array. In particular, this technique is useful for accessing columns of magnetic bubble domains in a lattice array of bubble domains. A bubble pump device is utilized to remove the interactive elements from the array. The bias field conditions for this pump propagation structure are the same as for the lattice. Bubble domains can be removed from the lattice and returned to their positions within the lattice.

Column accessing of elements in confined arrays

A system suitable to transfer a bubble domain from one field to a second field where the field is the largest area formed by exposing a pattern and which all of the dimensions are critical is disclosed. A magnetic domain is propagated out of the first field through an outlet into an inlet of the second field. In a preferred embodiment, the width of the outlet is one to ten bubble diameters and the width of the inlet opening is two to ten bubble diameters, the inlet opening being always at least as wide as the outlet opening. Associated with the inlet opening is a contracting means, for example, a Chevron pattern of decreasing height, which reduces the size of the domain to a size suitable for use in the bubble system in the second magnetic field.

Transfer of domains between fields

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 method of providing an initial lattice containing magnetic bubble domains in a film is disclosed. The method includes a first step of providing a confinement area in a film to contain magnetic domains, a second step of applying an AC in-plane magnetic field to form a plurality of rows of substantially perfect parallel stripe domains, and a third step of cutting the stripe domains into bubbles to form a substantially perfect lattice containing bubble domains.

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Laurence Lee Rosier