Method for manufacturing magnetoresistance element
First Claim
1. A method of manufacturing a magneto-resistance element of a structure in which ferromagnetic layers are laminated a plurality of times on a surface of a substrate body putting non-magnetic layers therebetween, comprising steps of:
- depressurizing an inside of a deposition chamber in which said non-magnetic layers and said ferromagnetic layers are formed to an ultimate degree of vacuum at a level of 10−
9 Torr or less;
introducing a gas a containing at least oxygen or water into said deposition chamber to change the ultimate degree of vacuum inside the deposition chamber to a certain pressure higher than the level of 10−
9 Torr, then, introducing a gas b consisting of Ar, and carrying out plasma etching processing of the surface of said substrate body using a mixed gas of said gas a and said gas b, and sputtering prescribed targets in said deposition chamber using the mixed gas of said gas a and said gas b to form said non-magnetic layers and said ferromagnetic layers by a sputtering technique on the substrate body processed by said plasma processing.
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Abstract
A method of manufacturing a magnetoresistance element which can reproduce magnetic signals with higher sensitivity. The manufacturing method includes the steps of providing a vacuum below 10−9 Torr in a film forming chamber for forming a nonmagnetic layer and ferromagnetic layer; performing plasma-etching of the surface of a substrate body by using a mixture of a gas (a) containing at least oxygen or water introduced into the chamber and an Ar gas (b) introduced into the chamber in a vacuum, state controlled to higher than 10−9 Torr; and forming the nonmagnetic and ferromagnetic layers on the etched substrate body by sputtering a prescribed target by using the mixture of the gases (a) and (b).
33 Citations
3 Claims
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1. A method of manufacturing a magneto-resistance element of a structure in which ferromagnetic layers are laminated a plurality of times on a surface of a substrate body putting non-magnetic layers therebetween, comprising steps of:
-
depressurizing an inside of a deposition chamber in which said non-magnetic layers and said ferromagnetic layers are formed to an ultimate degree of vacuum at a level of 10−
9 Torr or less;
introducing a gas a containing at least oxygen or water into said deposition chamber to change the ultimate degree of vacuum inside the deposition chamber to a certain pressure higher than the level of 10−
9 Torr, then, introducing a gas b consisting of Ar, and carrying out plasma etching processing of the surface of said substrate body using a mixed gas of said gas a and said gas b, andsputtering prescribed targets in said deposition chamber using the mixed gas of said gas a and said gas b to form said non-magnetic layers and said ferromagnetic layers by a sputtering technique on the substrate body processed by said plasma processing. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
the ultimate degree of vacuum of the deposition chamber after the introduction of said gas a is more than or equal to 3×
10−
7 Torr and less than or equal to 8×
10−
5 Torr in said step of carrying out the plasma etching processing and in said step of forming the layers by the sputtering technique.
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3. A method of manufacturing a magneto-resistance element according to claim 1, wherein:
the ultimate degree of vacuum of the deposition chamber after the introduction of said gas a is more than or equal to 3×
10−
6 Torr and less than or equal to 2×
10−
5 Torr in said step of carrying out the plasma etching processing and in said step of forming the layers by the sputtering technique.
Specification
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- Resources
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Current AssigneeMigaku Takahashi
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Original AssigneeMigaku Takahashi
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InventorsTakahashi, Migaku, Miura, Satoshi, Tsunoda, Masakiyo
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Primary Examiner(s)ALANKO, ANITA KAREN
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Application NumberUS09/381,822Time in Patent Office701 DaysField of Search216/22, 216/37, 216/67, 204/192.2, 134/21, 438/906US Class Current216/22CPC Class CodesB82Y 25/00 Nanomagnetism, e.g. magneto...B82Y 40/00 Manufacture or treatment of...H01F 41/18 by cathode sputteringH01F 41/308 lift-off processes, e.g. io...H10N 50/01 Manufacture or treatment
