Memory apparatus

Claim 1

A NONDESTRUCTIVE READOUT MAGNETIC MEMORY ELEMENT INCLUDING A BISTABLE, SINGLE-DOMAIN FERROMAGNETIC CORE HAVING UNIAXIAL ANISOTROPY ALONG WHICH THE CORE''S PREFERRED AXIS OF REMANENT MAGNETIZATION LIES AND HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR HYSTERESIS LOOP CHARACTERISTIC WHEN SUBJECTED TO MAGNETIC FIELDS PARALLEL TO SAID PREFERRED AXIS, WRITE MEANS MAGNETICALLLY COUPLED TO SAID CORE FOR PLACING SAID CORE IN EITHER ONE OF SAID REMANENT MAGNETIC BISTABLE STATES, READOUT MEANS MAGNETICALLY COUPLED SUBSTANTIALLY TO ONLY A SMALL PORTION OF SAID CORE FOR SENSING THE MAGNETIC STATE OF SAID CORE, INTERROGATE MEANS MAGNETICALLY COUPLED SUBSTANTIALLY TO ONLY SAID SMALL PORTION OF SAID CORE FOR ONLY TEMPORARILY ALTERING THE MAGNETIC STATE OF SAID SMALL PORTION, AND THE REMANENT MAGNETIZATION OF SAID CORE OUTSIDE OF SAID SMALL PORTION BEING OPERATIVE TO FORCE THE MAGNETIZATION OF SAID SMALL PORTION INTO ALIGNMENT THEREWITH AFTER THE MAGNETIZATION OF SAID SMALL PORTION HAS BEEN TEMPORARILY ALTERED BY SAID INTERROGATE MEANS, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING: MAGNETIC COUPLING MEANS OF SAID READOUT MEANS AND SAID INTERROGATE MEANS ORIENTED SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER AND TO SAID SMALL PORTION AND TRANSVERSE TO SAID PREFERRED AXIS, BIAS MEANS MAGNETICALLY COUPLED TO SAID CORE PROVIDING A MAGNETIC BIAS FIELD IN THE AREA OF SAID CORE FOR BIASING THE MAGNETIZATION OF SAID CORE TRANSVERSE TO SAID READOUT MEANS COUPLING MEANS WHEN SAID CORE''S REMANENT MAGNETIZATION IS IN A FIRST BISTABLE STATE AND ORTHOGONAL TO SAID READOUT MEANS COUPLING MEANS WHEN SAID CORE''S REMANENT MAGNETIZATION IS IN A SECOND BISTABLE STATE, SAID INTERROGATE MEANS EFFECTING A SUBSTANTIAL, TEMPORARY ALTERNATION OF SAID SMALL PORTION''S MAGNETIZATION WHEN SAID CORE IS IN SAID FIRST BIASED MAGNETIC STATE AND EFFECTING AN INSUBSTANTIAL ALTERATION OF SAID SMALL PORTION''S MAGNETIZATION WHEN SAID CORE IS IN SAID SECOND BIASED MAGNETIC STATE, AND SAID READOUT MEANS DETECTING SAID SUBSTANTIAL AND INSUBSTANTIAL ALTERATIONS OF SAID SMALL PORTION''S MAGNETIZATION AS AN INDICATION OF SAID CORE''S REMANANT MAGNETIC STABLE STATE.