Oral History of John Slonczewski

Interviewed by Chris Bajorek, on 2017-04-12 in New York City NY, X8163.2017 © Computer History Museum This oral history records Dr. Slonczewski’s contributions that resulted in his invention of the magnetic tunnel junction as well as understanding of spin torque transfer phenomena. The invention of the magnetic tunnel junction is especially noteworthy because it enabled the commercialization of the third generation of magnetoresistive heads used to read data in all modern hard disk drives. His work pertaining to of spin torque transfer phenomena is of great interest to current developers of emerging memory technologies, especially MRAM, in which magnetic tunnel junctions are used to write data via spin torque transfer and read data via the junctions’ magnetoresistance. Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information - http://www.computerhistory.org/collec... Visit computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories/ for more information about the Computer History Museum's Oral History Collection. Lot Number: X8163.2017 Catalog Number: 102738242