Zigzag-Shaped Magnetic Films Used for Single-Axis Field Sensing

• Published in: MRS bulletin Vol. 30; no. 2; p. 80
• Main Author: Risbud, Aditi S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01.02.2005
• Subjects: Research/Researchers
• ISSN: 0883-7694; 1938-1425
• DOI: 10.1557/mrs2005.36

F.C.S. da Silva and co-workers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder, Colo., and Gaithersburg, Md., have fabricated and simulated zigzag-shaped magnetic thinfilm elements. They chose the zigzag geometry because it can be used as a single-axis magnetic-field sensor, which is integral to nanoscale devices for data storage technologies. These devices are based on the anisotropic magnetoresistive (AMR) effect. While the AMR effect has a relatively small change in resistance, the devices compensate by their sensitivity to field changes and by very low intrinsic magnetic noise. Both of these properties arise because AMR devices are made from a single layer of magnetic material. Having control over the magnetic easy axis orientation is important for making scalable AMR sensors without complicated current- and field-biasing schemes.