Spin-transfer torque can be used to flip the active elements in magnetic random-access memory. Spin-transfer torque magnetic random-access memory (STT-RAM or STT-MRAM) has the advantages of lower power consumption and better scalability over conventional magnetoresistive random-access memory (MRAM) which uses magnetic fields to flip the active elements. Spin-transfer torque technology has the potential to make possible MRAM devices combining low current requirements and reduced cost; however, the amount of current needed to reorient the magnetization is at present too high for most commercial applications, and the reduction of this current density alone is the basis for current academic research in spin electronics
Non-volatile memories that are faster, cheaper and less power-hungry than existing solutions might be built by using solid-state devices in which information is stored and read electrically rather than by magnetic fields. Spin-transfer-torque magnetic random access memory (STT-MRAM) — the most advanced of these emerging technologies for solid-state non-volatile memory — is about to hit the market. This Nature Nanotechnology focus overviews the prospects and remaining challenges that STT-MRAM and competing emerging technologies face in terms of mass-market commercialization.