FeTa nano-oxide layer as a capping layer for enhancement of giant magnetoresistance in bottom spin valve structures
First Claim
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1. A method for forming a bottom spin valve magnetorestive sensor element comprising:
- providing a substrate;
forming on the substrate a magnetoresistive-property-enhancing seed layer;
forming on said seed layer a pinning layer of antiferromagnetic material;
forming on said pinning layer a synthetic antiferromagnetic pinned (SyAP) layer, said formation further comprising;
forming on said pinning layer a second antiparallel (AP2) pinned layer of ferromagnetic material;
forming on said second antiparallel (AP2) pinned layer a non-magnetic coupling layer; and
forming on said non-magnetic coupling layer a first antiparallel (AP1) pinned layer to complete said SyAP layer;
forming on said first antiparallel (AP1) layer of said SyAP layer a non-magnetic spacer layer;
forming on said non-magnetic spacer layer a ferromagnetic free layer;
forming on said ferromagnetic free layer a double-layer capping layer, said capping layer comprising a first layer of non-magnetic material on which is formed a second layer of the specularly reflecting material oxidized FeTa, oxidized Fe or oxidized (Fe65Co35)97V3;
thermally annealing said sensor element at a prescribed succession of temperatures in the presence of a corresponding sequence of external magnetic fields, establishing, thereby, the magnetizations of said free and said pinned magnetic layers.
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Abstract
A method for forming an NiCr seed layer based bottom spin valve sensor element having a synthetic antiferromagnet pinned (SyAP) layer and a capping layer comprising either a single specularly reflecting nano-oxide layer (NOL) or a bi-layer comprising a non-metallic layer and a specularly reflecting nano-oxide layer and the sensor element so formed. The method of producing these sensor elements provides elements having higher GMR ratios and lower resistances than elements of the prior art.
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Citations
11 Claims
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1. A method for forming a bottom spin valve magnetorestive sensor element comprising:
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providing a substrate;
forming on the substrate a magnetoresistive-property-enhancing seed layer;
forming on said seed layer a pinning layer of antiferromagnetic material;
forming on said pinning layer a synthetic antiferromagnetic pinned (SyAP) layer, said formation further comprising;
forming on said pinning layer a second antiparallel (AP2) pinned layer of ferromagnetic material;
forming on said second antiparallel (AP2) pinned layer a non-magnetic coupling layer; and
forming on said non-magnetic coupling layer a first antiparallel (AP1) pinned layer to complete said SyAP layer;
forming on said first antiparallel (AP1) layer of said SyAP layer a non-magnetic spacer layer;
forming on said non-magnetic spacer layer a ferromagnetic free layer;
forming on said ferromagnetic free layer a double-layer capping layer, said capping layer comprising a first layer of non-magnetic material on which is formed a second layer of the specularly reflecting material oxidized FeTa, oxidized Fe or oxidized (Fe65Co35)97V3;
thermally annealing said sensor element at a prescribed succession of temperatures in the presence of a corresponding sequence of external magnetic fields, establishing, thereby, the magnetizations of said free and said pinned magnetic layers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for forming a bottom spin valve magnetorestive sensor element comprising:
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providing a substrate;
forming on the substrate a magnetoresistive-property-enhancing seed layer;
forming on said seed layer a pinning layer of antiferromagnetic material;
forming on said pinning layer a synthetic antiferromagnetic pinned (SyAP) layer, said formation further comprising;
forming on said pinning layer a second antiparallel (AP2) pinned layer of ferromagnetic material;
forming on said second antiparallel (AP2) pinned layer a non-magnetic coupling layer; and
forming on said non-magnetic coupling layer a first antiparallel (AP1) pinned layer to complete said SyAP layer;
forming on said first antiparallel (AP1) layer of said SyAP layer a non-magnetic spacer layer;
forming on said non-magnetic spacer layer a ferromagnetic free layer;
forming on said ferromagnetic free layer a capping layer of the specularly reflecting material oxidized FeTa;
thermally annealing said sensor element at a prescribed succession of temperatures in the presence of a corresponding sequence of external magnetic fields, establishing, thereby, the magnetizations of said free and said pinned magnetic layers. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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Specification