Magnetoresistive sensor having at least one layer with a pinned

Details Magnetoresistive sensor having at least one layer with a pinned Magnetoresistive sensor having at least one layer with a pinned

1998-06-10

2000-08-15

Snow, Walter E.

Electricity: measuring and testing

Magnetic

Magnetometers

338 32R, 360113, 428611, 2960314, G01R 3309, H01F 706, H01L 4300, G11B 5127, G11B 539

Patent

active

061041890

ABSTRACT:
A magnetoresistive spin valve sensor is described. Such a sensor is also known as a GMR sensor or giant magnetoresistive sensor. The layers (24, 26, 28) of the sensor are mounted on a substrate (20) having steps or terraces on one of its face. The steps or terraces on the substrate's surface cooperate with one or more of the ferromagnetic layers (24, 28) of the sensor to determine the layers' magnetic properties. Specifically, the thickness of one or more of the sensor's layers can be set above or below a critical thickness which determines whether the easy direction of uniaxial magnetization of a layer of that particular material is fixed or "pinned". If pinned, the layer has a high coercive field. Thus, the new device avoids a biasing layer to pin any of the magnetic layers. Preferably the easy axes of the first two ferromagnetic layers (24, 28) are set at 90.degree. to one another in the zero applied field condition by appropriate choice of layer thickness. A method for manufacturing and several fields of use of the sensor are also disclosed.

REFERENCES:
patent: 5583725 (1996-12-01), Coffey et al.
patent: 5680091 (1997-10-01), Maeda et al.

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