Engineering Physics Annotation << Back SPIN TRANSPORT AND THE PROBLEMS OF MAGNETIC RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (MRAM) A.F. Popkov, K.A. Zvezdin, M.YU. Chinenkov, N.A. Dyuzhev, A.K. Zvezdin This paper provides an overview of studies of microscopic mechanisms of spin torque transfer in magnetic nanostructures. Ballistic and diffusive mechanisms for the spin torque transfer and spin accumulation are described. Switching magnetic states by spin-polarized electric current in thin spin-valve nanostuctures is considered. Analysis of the application prospects of spin-valve nanostructures in non-volatile magnetic random access memory (MRAM) and thermally assisted magnetic memory (TA-MRAM) is carried out. Key words: spin-polarized transport, magnetoresistive memory, magnetic dynamics, MRAM, TA-MRAM, spin-valve nanostructure, spin generator, magnetodynamics. Contacts: E-mail: konstantin.zvezdin@gmail.com Pp. 19-34.