公开(公告)号：US07339769B2

公开(公告)日：2008-03-04

申请号：US10791927

申请日：2004-03-02

申请人： Matthew J. Carey ,  Bruce A. Gurney ,  Brian R. York ,  Thomas Block

发明人： Matthew J. Carey ,  Bruce A. Gurney ,  Brian R. York ,  Thomas Block

IPC分类号： G11B5/33 ,  G11B5/66

CPC分类号： G11B5/3906 ,  B82Y25/00 ,  G01R33/093 ,  G01R33/098

摘要： An antiferromagnetically exchange-coupled structure for use in a magnetic device, such as a magnetoresistive sensor, includes an underlayer formed of a chemically-ordered tetragonal-crystalline alloy, a chemically-ordered tetragonal-crystalline Mn-alloy antiferromagnetic layer in contact with the underlayer, and a ferromagnetic layer exchange-coupled with the antiferromagnetic layer. The underlayer is an alloy selected from the group consisting of alloys of AuCu, FePt, FePd, AgTi3, Pt Zn, PdZn, IrV, CoPt and PdCd, and the antiferromagnetic layer is an alloy of Mn with Pt, Ni, Ir, Pd or Rh. The underlayer enhances the transformation of the Mn alloy from the chemically-disordered phase to the chemically-ordered phase. In one example, an exchange-coupled structure with an underlayer/antiferromagnetic layer of AuCu/PtMn allows the PtMn to be made substantially thinner, thus reducing the electrical resistance of the structure and improving the performance of a current-perpendicular-to-the-plane (CPP) magnetoresistive sensor.

摘要翻译： 用于诸如磁阻传感器的磁性装置中使用的反铁磁交换耦合结构包括由化学有序的四方晶合金形成的底层，与底层接触的化学有序的四方晶结构的Mn合金反铁磁层 和与反铁磁层交换耦合的铁磁层。 底层是选自AuCu，FePt，FePd，AgTi3，PtZn，PdZn，IrV，CoPt和PdCd的合金的合金，反铁磁层是Mn与Pt，Ni，Ir，Pd或 Rh。 底层增强了Mn合金从化学无序相向化学有序相的转变。 在一个实例中，具有AuCu / PtMn的底层/反铁磁性层的交换耦合结构允许使PtMn基本上更薄，从而降低结构的电阻并提高电流垂直于 - 平面（CPP）磁阻传感器。

公开(公告)号：US07167346B2

公开(公告)日：2007-01-23

申请号：US10883204

申请日：2004-06-30

申请人： Matthew J. Carey ,  Bruce A. Gurney ,  Stefan Maat ,  Neil Smith

发明人： Matthew J. Carey ,  Bruce A. Gurney ,  Stefan Maat ,  Neil Smith

IPC分类号： G11B5/33

CPC分类号： G11C11/14 ,  B82Y25/00 ,  G01R33/093 ,  G01R33/095 ,  G11B5/39 ,  G11B5/3993 ,  G11B2005/0008 ,  H01L43/08

摘要： An extraordinary magnetoresistance (EMR) sensor has an antiferromagnetic/ferromagnetic exchange-coupled bilayer structure on top of the EMR active film. The ferromagnetic layer in the bilayer structure has perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and is exchange-biased by the antiferromagnetic layer. The antiferromagnetic/ferromagnetic bilayer structure provides a magnetic field perpendicular to the plane of the EMR active film to bias the magnetoresistance vs. field response of the EMR sensor. The ferromagnetic layer may be formed of any of the ferromagnetic materials useful for perpendicular magnetic recording, and is prepared in a way that its anisotropy axis is significantly out-of-plane. The antiferromagnetic layer is formed of any of the known Mn alloys, such as PtMn, NiMn, FeMn, IrMn, PdMn, PtPdMn and RhMn, or any of the insulating antiferromagnetic materials, such as those based on the cobalt oxide and nickel oxide antiferromagnetic materials.

摘要翻译： 非常大的磁阻（EMR）传感器在EMR活性膜的顶部具有反铁磁/铁磁交换耦合双层结构。 双层结构中的铁磁层具有垂直的磁各向异性，并被反铁磁层交换偏置。 反铁磁/铁磁双层结构提供垂直于EMR有源膜的平面的磁场，以偏置EMR传感器的磁阻与场响应。 铁磁层可以由用于垂直磁记录的任何铁磁材料形成，并且以使其各向异性轴显着超出平面的方式制备。 反铁磁层由任何已知的Mn合金形成，例如PtMn，NiMn，FeMn，IrMn，PdMn，PtPdMn和RhMn，或任何绝缘反铁磁材料，例如基于氧化钴和氧化镍反铁磁材料的那些 。

公开(公告)号：US07522392B2

公开(公告)日：2009-04-21

申请号：US11131737

申请日：2005-05-17

申请人： Matthew J. Carey ,  Bruce A. Gurney

发明人： Matthew J. Carey ,  Bruce A. Gurney

IPC分类号： G11B5/39

CPC分类号： G01R33/093 ,  G11B5/3903 ,  G11B5/3909 ,  G11B5/398

摘要： A magnetoresistive (MR) read head based on the spin accumulation effect has no electrical terminal and associated insulating layer in the read gap. The spin-accumulation type MR read head has an electrically conductive strip located on an insulating layer on the lower magnetic shield with a first end at the sensing end of the head and a second end at the back end of the head recessed from the sensing end. At the sensing end of the head, the upper magnetic shield is located on the free layer without an insulating layer. A resistance-detection circuit is electrically coupled to the upper shield and the lower shield at the back end of the head. At the back end of the head, an electrical terminal is located on the fixed layer and electrically insulated from the upper shield and a current-supply circuit is electrically coupled to the terminal and the lower shield.

摘要翻译： 基于自旋累积效应的磁阻（MR）读头在读取间隙中没有电端子和相关的绝缘层。 旋转累积型MR读取头具有位于下部磁屏蔽上的绝缘层上的导电条带，头部的感测端具有第一端，头部后端的第二端从感测端凹入 。 在头部的感测端，上磁屏蔽位于自由层上，没有绝缘层。 电阻检测电路电耦合到头部后端的上屏蔽和下屏蔽。 在头的后端，电端子位于固定层上并与上屏蔽电绝缘，并且电流供应电路电耦合到端子和下屏蔽。

公开(公告)号：US07199984B2

公开(公告)日：2007-04-03

申请号：US10802639

申请日：2004-03-16

申请人： Matthew J. Carey ,  Jeffrey R. Childress ,  Bruce A. Gurney ,  Stefan Maat

发明人： Matthew J. Carey ,  Jeffrey R. Childress ,  Bruce A. Gurney ,  Stefan Maat

IPC分类号： G11B5/39 ,  G11B5/33 ,  G11B5/127

CPC分类号： B82Y25/00 ,  B82Y10/00 ,  G11B5/3903 ,  H01F10/30 ,  H01F10/3268 ,  H01F10/3295

摘要： A magnetically-coupled structure has two ferromagnetic layers with their in-plane magnetization directions coupled orthogonally across an electrically-conducting spacer layer that induces the direct orthogonal magnetic coupling. The structure has application for in-stack biasing in a current-perpendicular-to-the-plane (CPP) magnetoresistive sensor. One of the ferromagnetic layers of the structure is a biasing ferromagnetic layer and the other ferromagnetic layer is the sensor free layer. An antiferromagnetic layer exchange-couples the biasing layer to fix its moment parallel to the moment of the sensor pinned layer. This allows a single annealing step to be used to set the magnetization direction of the biasing and pinned layers. The electrically-conducting spacer layer, the biasing layer and the antiferromagnetic layer that exchange-couples the biasing layer may all extend beyond the edges of the sensor stack.

摘要翻译： 磁耦合结构具有两个铁磁层，它们的面内磁化方向正交地耦合在导电直接磁耦合的导电间隔层上。 该结构具有在电流垂直于平面（CPP）磁阻传感器中的堆叠偏置的应用。 该结构的铁磁层之一是偏置铁磁层，另一个铁磁层是传感器自由层。 反铁磁层将偏置层交换耦合以固定其平行于传感器固定层的力矩的力矩。 这允许使用单个退火步骤来设定偏置和钉扎层的磁化方向。 交换耦合偏置层的导电间隔层，偏置层和反铁磁层可以全部延伸超出传感器堆叠的边缘。

公开(公告)号：US07170722B2

公开(公告)日：2007-01-30

申请号：US10903173

申请日：2004-07-30

申请人： Matthew J. Carey ,  Bruce A. Gurney ,  Stefan Maat ,  Neil Smith

发明人： Matthew J. Carey ,  Bruce A. Gurney ,  Stefan Maat ,  Neil Smith

IPC分类号： G11B5/33

CPC分类号： B82Y25/00 ,  G01R33/093 ,  G01R33/095 ,  G11B5/3932 ,  G11B5/3993 ,  G11B2005/0008 ,  G11B2005/0016

摘要： An extraordinary magnetoresistance (EMR) sensor uses a ferromagnetic multilayer to provide perpendicular magnetic biasing for the sensor. The ferromagnetic multilayer has intrinsic perpendicular magnetic anisotropy and is preferably on top of the EMR active film. The multilayer comprises alternating films of Co, Fe or CoFe and Pt, Pd or PtPd with the preferred multilayer being alternating Co/Pt or Co/Pd films. A diffusion barrier may be located between the EMR active film and the ferromagnetic multilayer.

摘要翻译： 非常大的磁阻（EMR）传感器使用铁磁多层来为传感器提供垂直磁偏置。 铁磁性多层膜具有固有的垂直磁各向异性，优选在EMR活性膜的顶部。 多层包括Co，Fe或CoFe和Pt，Pd或PtPd的交替膜，优选的多层是交替的Co / Pt或Co / Pd膜。 扩散阻挡层可以位于EMR活性膜和铁磁性多层之间。

公开(公告)号：US06756128B2

公开(公告)日：2004-06-29

申请号：US10291119

申请日：2002-11-07

申请人： Matthew J. Carey ,  Bruce A. Gurney ,  Yongho Ju

发明人： Matthew J. Carey ,  Bruce A. Gurney ,  Yongho Ju

IPC分类号： G11C1102

CPC分类号： H01L43/08 ,  B82Y10/00 ,  B82Y25/00 ,  G01R33/093 ,  G01R33/098 ,  G11B5/3903 ,  G11B5/3909 ,  Y10T428/1114

摘要： A low resistance magnetic tunnel junction device, such as a memory cell in a nonvolatile magnetic random access memory (MRAM) array or a magnetoresistive read head in a magnetic recording disk drive, has a titanium oxynitride (TiOxNy) layer as the single-layer tunnel barrier or as one of the layers in a bilayer tunnel barrier. In a bilayer barrier the other barrier layer is an oxide or nitride of Al, Si, Mg, Ta, [[Si]] and Y, such as Al2O3, AlN, Si3N4, MgO, Ta2O5, TiO2, or Y2O3. The Ti barrier material can be alloyed with other known metals, such as Al and Mg, to produce barriers with TiAlOxNy and TiMgOxNy compositions.

摘要翻译： 诸如磁性随机存取存储器（MRAM）阵列中的存储单元或磁记录盘驱动器中的磁阻读取头的低电阻磁隧道结装置具有氧氮化钛（TiO x N y）层作为单层隧道 屏障或作为双层隧道屏障中的层之一。 在双层阻挡层中，另一阻挡层是Al，Si，Mg，Ta，[[Si]]和Y的氧化物或氮化物，例如Al 2 O 3，AlN，Si 3 N 4，MgO，Ta 2 O 5，TiO 2或Y 2 O 3。 Ti阻挡材料可以与其它已知的金属如Al和Mg合金化，以产生具有TiAlO x N y和TiMgO x N y组合物的阻挡层。

公开(公告)号：US07433162B2

公开(公告)日：2008-10-07

申请号：US11356891

申请日：2006-02-16

申请人： Matthew J. Carey ,  Brian R. York

发明人： Matthew J. Carey ,  Brian R. York

IPC分类号： G11B5/39

CPC分类号： G11B5/3906 ,  B82Y25/00 ,  G01R33/093 ,  H01F10/123 ,  H01F10/3254 ,  H01F10/3268 ,  H01F10/3286 ,  H01L43/08 ,  H01L43/10

摘要： An antiferromagnetically exchange-coupled structure for use in a magnetic device, such as a magnetoresistive sensor, includes an enhancement layer formed of a chemically-ordered tetragonal-crystalline alloy, a chemically-ordered tetragonal-crystalline Mn-alloy antiferromagnetic layer in contact with the enhancement layer, and a ferromagnetic layer exchange-coupled with the antiferromagnetic layer. The enhancement layer is an alloy selected from the group consisting of alloys of AuCu, FePt, FePd, AgTi3, Pt Zn, PdZn, IrV, CoPt and PdCd, and the antiferromagnetic layer is an alloy of Mn with Pt, Ni, Ir, Pd or Rh. The enhancement layer enhances the transformation of the Mn alloy from the chemically-disordered phase to the chemically-ordered phase.

摘要翻译： 用于诸如磁阻传感器的磁性装置中使用的反铁磁交换耦合结构包括由化学有序的四方晶合金形成的增强层，化学有序的四方晶形Mn合金反铁磁层，与 增强层和与反铁磁层交换耦合的铁磁层。 增强层是选自AuCu，FePt，FePd，AgTi 3，Pt Zn，PdZn，IrV，CoPt和PdCd的合金的合金，反铁磁层是Mn与Pt，Ni，Ir，Pd 或Rh。 增强层增强了Mn合金从化学无序相向化学有序相的转变。

公开(公告)号：US08611053B2

公开(公告)日：2013-12-17

申请号：US13415813

申请日：2012-03-08

申请人： Elizabeth Ann Brinkman ,  Matthew J. Carey ,  Jeffrey R. Childress ,  Young-suk Choi ,  Brian R. York

发明人： Elizabeth Ann Brinkman ,  Matthew J. Carey ,  Jeffrey R. Childress ,  Young-suk Choi ,  Brian R. York

IPC分类号： G11B5/39

CPC分类号： G11B5/3906 ,  H01F10/1936 ,  H01F10/325 ,  H01F10/3272 ,  H01F10/3295 ,  H01L43/08 ,  H01L43/10

摘要： A current-perpendicular-to-the-plane giant magnetoresistance (CPP-GMR) sensor has a multilayer reference layer containing a Heusler alloy. The multilayer reference layer may be a simple pinned layer or the AP2 layer of an antiparallel (AP)-pinned structure. The multilayer reference layer is formed of a crystalline non-Heusler alloy ferromagnetic layer on either an antiferromagnetic layer (in a simple pinned structure) or an antiparallel coupling (APC) layer (in an AP-pinned structure), a Heusler alloy layer adjacent the sensor's nonmagnetic electrically conducting spacer layer, and an intermediate substantially non-crystalline X-containing layer between the crystalline non-Heusler alloy layer and the Heusler alloy layer. The element X is selected from one or more of tantalum (Ta), hafnium (Hf), niobium (Nb) and boron (B).

摘要翻译： 电流垂直于平面的巨磁电阻（CPP-GMR）传感器具有包含Heusler合金的多层参考层。 多层参考层可以是简单的钉扎层或反平行（AP）钉结构的AP2层。 多层参考层由反铁磁层（简单的钉扎结构）或反平行耦合（APC）层（AP钉扎结构）中的结晶非Heusler合金铁磁层形成，与之相邻的Heusler合金层 传感器的非磁性导电间隔层，以及在结晶非Heusler合金层和Heusler合金层之间的中间基本上非结晶的含X的层。 元素X选自钽（Ta），铪（Hf），铌（Nb）和硼（B）中的一种或多种。

公开(公告)号：US20130236744A1

公开(公告)日：2013-09-12

申请号：US13415813

申请日：2012-03-08

申请人： Elizabeth Ann Brinkman ,  Matthew J. Carey ,  Jeffrey R. Childress ,  Young-suk Choi ,  Brian R. York

发明人： Elizabeth Ann Brinkman ,  Matthew J. Carey ,  Jeffrey R. Childress ,  Young-suk Choi ,  Brian R. York

IPC分类号： G11B5/39

CPC分类号： G11B5/3906 ,  H01F10/1936 ,  H01F10/325 ,  H01F10/3272 ,  H01F10/3295 ,  H01L43/08 ,  H01L43/10

摘要： A current-perpendicular-to-the-plane giant magnetoresistance (CPP-GMR) sensor has a multilayer reference layer containing a Heusler alloy. The multilayer reference layer may be a simple pinned layer or the AP2 layer of an antiparallel (AP)-pinned structure. The multilayer reference layer is formed of a crystalline non-Heusler alloy ferromagnetic layer on either an antiferromagnetic layer (in a simple pinned structure) or an antiparallel coupling (APC) layer (in an AP-pinned structure), a Heusler alloy layer adjacent the sensor's nonmagnetic electrically conducting spacer layer, and an intermediate substantially non-crystalline X-containing layer between the crystalline non-Heusler alloy layer and the Heusler alloy layer. The element X is selected from one or more of tantalum (Ta), hafnium (Hf), niobium (Nb) and boron (B).

摘要翻译： 电流垂直于平面的巨磁电阻（CPP-GMR）传感器具有包含Heusler合金的多层参考层。 多层参考层可以是简单的钉扎层或反平行（AP）钉结构的AP2层。 多层参考层由反铁磁层（简单的钉扎结构）或反平行耦合（APC）层（AP钉扎结构）中的结晶非Heusler合金铁磁层形成，与之相邻的Heusler合金层 传感器的非磁性导电间隔层，以及在结晶非Heusler合金层和Heusler合金层之间的中间基本上非结晶的含X的层。 元素X选自钽（Ta），铪（Hf），铌（Nb）和硼（B）中的一种或多种。

公开(公告)号：US08617644B2

公开(公告)日：2013-12-31

申请号：US13415808

申请日：2012-03-08

申请人： Matthew J. Carey ,  Shekar B Chandrashekariaih ,  Jeffrey R. Childress ,  Young-suk Choi ,  John Creighton Read

发明人： Matthew J. Carey ,  Shekar B Chandrashekariaih ,  Jeffrey R. Childress ,  Young-suk Choi ,  John Creighton Read

IPC分类号： G11B5/84

CPC分类号： G11B5/3163 ,  G01R33/093 ,  G11B5/3906 ,  H01F10/1936 ,  H01F10/3268 ,  H01F10/3295 ,  H01F41/303 ,  H01L43/08 ,  H01L43/12

摘要： A method for making a current-perpendicular-to the-plane giant magnetoresistance (CPP-GMR) sensor with a Heusler alloy pinned layer on the sensor's Mn-containing antiferromagnetic pinning layer uses two annealing steps. A layer of a crystalline non-Heusler alloy ferromagnetic material, like Co or CoFe, is deposited on the antiferromagnetic pinning layer and a layer of an amorphous X-containing ferromagnetic alloy, like a CoFeBTa layer, is deposited on the Co or CoFe crystalline layer. After a first in-situ annealing of the amorphous X-containing ferromagnetic alloy, the Heusler alloy pinned layer is deposited on the amorphous X-containing ferromagnetic layer and a second high-temperature annealing step is performed to improve the microstructure of the Heusler alloy pinned layer.

摘要翻译： 在传感器的含Mn反铁磁性钉扎层上制造具有Heusler合金钉扎层的电流垂直于平面的巨磁电阻（CPP-GMR）传感器的方法采用两个退火步骤。 一层结晶的非Heusler合金铁磁材料，如Co或CoFe，沉积在反铁磁性钉扎层上，并且含有非晶态的含铁铁磁性合金如CoFeBTa层沉积在Co或CoFe晶体层上 。 在非晶态含铁铁磁性合金的第一次原位退火之后，将Heusler合金钉扎层沉积在含非晶态的铁磁性层上，并执行第二个高温退火步骤，以改善Heusler合金被钉扎的微结构 层。