Micromagnetic design of spin dependent tunnel junctions for optimized sensing performance

Pinned spin dependent tunneling devices have been fabricated into high sensitivity magnetic field sensors with many favorable properties including high sensitivity (similar to 10 mu Oe/root Hz at 1 Hz and similar to 100 nOe/root Hz at > 10 kHz), a linear bipolar output versus applied field, high processing yields, and high temperature stability and operability (over 200 degrees C). However, the performance of fabricated sensors has not yet approached the theoretical limit one calculates assuming ideal behavior of the sensors' ferromagnetic layers' magnetizations. Given a total magnetoresistive signal of 30%, and typical anisotropy fields and hard axis biasing conditions, there should be a region of linear nonhysteretic response at zero field with a slope of greater than 20%/Oe. Measured responses are 1%-3%/Oe, and exhibit some hysteresis. These less than desirable effects are the result of several factors including: (1) Self-demagnetizing fields of the soft (sensing) layer; (2) stray fields from the hard (pinned) layer; (3) imperfect pinning of the hard layer; and (4) interlayer magnetic coupling across the tunnel barrier. This paper describes, in detail, the extent to which these factors affect sensor performance, and specific steps to be taken in order to minimize their deleterious influence. Specifically, the simple pinned layer is replaced by an exchange coupled synthetic antiferromagnet (CoFe/Ru/CoFe), the soft layer is made to be significantly larger in the plane than the pinned layer, and the soft layer is made as thin as possible. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics.[S0021- 8979(00)53008-4].