Patent · US Expired

Magnetic tunnel junction elements and their fabrication method

US6341053B1 · kind B1 · utility

43Cited by
16References
13Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 30, 1998
Grant dateJan 22, 2002
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 30, 2018

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG11B2005/3996
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

The present invention provides a magnetic tunnel junction device for an external magnetic field sensor. The device comprises a stack of multi-layers, which include a first antiferromagnetic pinning layer, a ferromagnetic free layer, a tunneling barrier layer, a ferromagnetic pinned layer, and a second antiferromagnetic pinning layer. The first pinning layer has a first pinning field, which pins a magnetization of the free layer in a track width direction. The second pinning layer has a second pinning field, which pins a magnetization of the pinned layer in a direction in the plane of the stacked layers of the magnetic tunnel junction, along the applied external magnetic field direction.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.