Small area magnetic tunnel junction devices with low resistance and high magnetoresistance
US6226160A · kind A · utility
51Cited by
8References
6Claims
0Family size
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 15, 1999 |
| Grant date | May 1, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 15, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01F41/325
- WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) device has sufficiently small area to make it commercially practical as both a magnetic memory cell and a magnetoresistive read head. The small area magnetic tunnel junction device has both low resistance and high magnetoresistance. The magnetic tunnel junction device is made possible by the use of a thin aluminum layer in a thickness range of approximately 5-12 Angstroms. The Al layer is completely oxidized, without oxidizing the adjacent ferromagnetic layers, to form the insulating tunnel barrier layer of the MTJ.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.