the preferred embodiment of the present invention is an mram device of the spin - transfer variety , having a cpp - mtj configuration and including a free layer formed as a synthetic anti - ferromagnetically exchange coupled lamination of two ferromagnetic layers ( preferably cofe and cofeb ), then further exchange coupled by parallel magnetization coupling across a very thin layer of ta , zr or hf to yet a third ferromagnetic layer of cofeb to form a strongly exchange coupled synthetic ferromagnetic configuration . this free layer has a particularly advantageous form for a change in its magnetic moment to be effected by the transfer of spin magnetic moments of conduction electrons both by transmission and reflection . referring to fig3 , there is seen a schematic cross - sectional view of the device of the present invention . looking at the structure from the bottom upward , there is shown the following sequence of layers . layer ( 1 ) is a substrate or underlayer . layer ( 2 ), formed on the substrate , is a magnetic pinning layer formed of an antiferromagnetic ( afm ) material such as mnpt , irmn , femn or nio . layers ( 3 ), ( 4 ) and ( 5 ) together form a exchange coupled structure , collectively denoted ( 345 ), in which layer ( 3 ) is pinned to anti - ferromagnetic layer ( 2 ) by an exchange coupling mechanism and layer ( 5 ) is pinned to layer ( 3 ) by an exchange coupling mechanism in which non - magnetic spacer layer ( 4 ), that can be a layer of ru , rh or cr , serves as the coupling layer . as the arrows ( 200 ) and ( 20 ) depicting magnetization directions indicate , layers ( 3 ) and ( 5 ) are coupled in an anti - parallel configuration so that the ( 345 ) structure is a synthetic anti - ferromagnetic layer . conventionally , layer ( 3 ) is denoted a pinned layer and layer ( 5 ) is denoted a reference layer . note , however , that layer ( 5 ) is also pinned in direction , but its particular role is to provide a fixed reference direction relative to the magnetization of the free layer so as to produce a tunneling junction current varying effect . layer ( 5 ) is typically formed of cofeb , but , layer ( 5 ) can itself be a three layer synthetic anti - ferromagnetic structure comprising two ferromagnetic layers of alloys of ni , fe , co and b , separated by a coupling layer of ru , rh or cr . layer ( 6 ) is a tunneling barrier layer , formed of the dielectric material mgo . layer ( 7 ) is a magnetically free layer , denoted herein a storage layer , whose magnetic moment ( 30 ) direction ( shown as a two - headed arrow to indicate its two possible directions ), either along arrow ( 20 ) or opposite to it , determines a stored bit of magnetic information , hence denoting layer ( 7 ) as a storage layer . fig4 is a schematic illustration of the structure of the free ( or “ storage ”) layer ( 7 ), showing it to be a synthetic lamination comprising three magnetically exchange coupled ferromagnetic layers ( coupled in mutually pairwise configurations ), ( 70 ), ( 74 ) and ( 76 ), with layer ( 76 ) being formed on layer ( 6 ) of fig3 , the barrier layer . layer ( 70 ) is a layer of cofe or cofeb and layer ( 74 ) is a layer of cofe . they are separated by a layer ( 72 ) of ru and magnetically coupled across the ru layer by means of their magnetizations being in antiparallel directions ( shown as arrows ( 80 ) and ( 84 )). the cofe layer ( 74 ) is then further magnetically exchange coupled to a layer of cofeb ( 76 ) across a very thin layer ( 75 ) of ta , zr or hf . because of the thinness of ( 75 ), layer ( 76 ) and layer ( 74 ) have very strongly coupled parallel magnetizations ( arrows ( 86 ) and ( 84 )) so the exchange coupling is a very strong parallel ( ferromagnetic ) coupling . as noted , the ta , zr or hf layer ( 75 ) is of sufficient thinness ( preferably equal to or less than approximately 0 . 4 nanometers ) so that the two layers ( 74 ) and ( 76 ) are strongly coupled by a parallel exchange force . this new free layer structure is thermally stable and retains a high dr / r and spin - angular momentum deposition rate when used with an mgo tunneling barrier layer ( layer ( 6 ) in fig3 ). returning to fig3 , there is next seen a thin non - magnetic layer ( 8 ), which is preferably a layer of cr ( or cu or other suitable non - magnetic electrically conducting material ), that serves as a spacer layer between the storage layer ( 7 ) and a pinned drive layer ( 9 ). the drive layer , which is a layer of ferromagnetic material such as cofeb , will serve as a mechanism for polarizing conduction electrons that pass through it . when such polarized electrons traverse layer ( 8 ), retaining their polarization because of the thinness of layer ( 8 ), and strike layer ( 7 ), they transfer their individual ( microscopic ) spin angular momenta to the macroscopic magnetic moment of the layer ( 7 ), producing a directional change of that macroscopic quantity if the total current exceeds a critical amount . as noted above , for a maximally efficient transfer of spin angular momentum , which requires a minimum current , the transfer should occur both on transmission and reflection . layer ( 10 ) is a non - magnetic coupling layer , such as a layer of ru , rh or cr , serving to allow an anti - ferromagnetic coupling of the magnetizations of layer ( 9 ) ( arrow ( 40 )) and the magnetization of layer ( 11 ) ( arrow ( 400 )), which is a ferromagnetic layer pinned to anti - ferromagnetic layer ( 12 ). it is noted that all magnetized layers are magnetized in the plane of their deposition . it is further noted that storage layer ( 7 ) is formed with a crystalline uni - axial anisotropy to produce an axis along which a magnetization direction is thermally stable . it is still further noted that an electrically conductive bit line ( 15 ) is formed on top of the cell to produce a magnetic field that will bias the cell and can , thereby , pre - dispose it to change or retain the direction of its free layer magnetization . the preferred form of the present invention , consistent with the description given above , is therefore configuration a : where the “ free layer ” is the synthetic multi - layered structure of configuration b : with the cofeb and cofe layers sandwiching the thin ta ( or hf or zr ) layer having very strong parallel , exchange coupled , magnetizations ( due to the thinness of the ta , hf or zr layer ) and the cofe and cofeb ( or cofe ) layers sandwiching the ru layer having anti - parallel exchange coupled magnetizations . in configuration a , the material layers have the following thicknesses . cofe ( or cofeb ), between approximately 1 . 5 and 5 . 0 nm ru , approximately 0 . 8 nm cofeb ( reference layer ) between approximately 1 . 5 and 5 . 0 nm mgo between approximately 0 . 5 and 2 . 0 nm first cofeb layer ( contacting the mgo layer ) is between approximately 1 and 2 nm , the ta , hf or zr are between approximately 0 . 3 and 0 . 6 nm ( less than 0 . 4 nm being preferred ), the cofe layer is between approximately 0 . 5 and 1 . 0 nm , the ru layer is approximately 0 . 8 nm and the final cofeb ( or cofe ) layer is between approximately 1 . 0 and 3 . 0 nm . cr ( or cu ) between approximately 1 . 0 and 7 . 0 nm cofe ( or cofeb ) between approximately 1 . 5 and 5 . 0 nm ru , approximately 0 . 8 nm cofe between approximately 1 . 5 and 5 . 0 nm . as is finally understood by a person skilled in the art , the preferred embodiments of the present invention are illustrative of the present invention rather than limiting of the present invention . revisions and modifications may be made to methods , materials , structures and dimensions employed in forming and providing a cpp mtj mram device using spin angular momentum transfer , while still forming and providing such a device and its method of formation in accord with the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims .