Magnetoresistive device with exchange-coupled structure having half-metallic ferromagnetic Heusler alloy in the pinned layer
US6977801B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 24, 2003 |
| Grant date | Dec 20, 2005 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 10, 2023 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG11B2005/001
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A magnetoresistive device of the type with a pinned ferromagnetic layer and a free ferromagnetic layer separated by a nonmagnetic spacer layer has an exchange-coupled antiferromagnetic/ferromagnetic structure that uses a half-metallic ferromagnetic Heusler alloy with its near 100% spin polarization as the pinned ferromagnetic layer. The exchange-coupled structure includes an intermediate ferromagnetic layer between the AF layer and the pinned half-metallic ferromagnetic Heusler alloy layer, which results in exchange biasing. Magnetoresistive devices that can incorporate the exchange-coupled structure include current-in-the-plane (CIP) read heads and current-perpendicular-to-the-plane (CPP) magnetic tunnel junctions and read heads. The exchange-coupled structure may be located either below or above the nonmagnetic spacer layer in the magnetoresistive device.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.