Tunable diode protection for GMR and TMR sensors

Author

Iben, Icko Eric Timothy ; Czarnecki, Stanley ; Herget, Philipp

Author_Institution

IBM Almaden Res. Center, San Jose

fYear

2007

fDate

16-21 Sept. 2007

Abstract

TMR and GMR sensors used today are highly susceptible to ESD damage with failure voltages as low as 0.5 V. Diode protection using a single diode connected in parallel with the sensor does not work for many advanced MR sensors due to the fact that the voltage at which diodes begin conducting significant current exceeds the damage voltage of many advanced MR sensors. This is due to limitations of the band gaps of the diode materials (Si and Ge) and the resistance of the diodes while conducting. Here we report several novel diode protection circuits which enable protecting the most sensitive devices while tuning the circuits to the electrical characteristics of the particular sensor being used.

Keywords

diodes; giant magnetoresistance; magnetic tunnelling; damage voltage; giant magnetoresistive; magnetoresistive sensors; tunable diode protection; tunnel junction magnetoresistive; Circuit optimization; Conducting materials; Diodes; Electric resistance; Electrostatic discharge; Low voltage; Photonic band gap; Protection; Sensor phenomena and characterization; Tunable circuits and devices;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

29th Electrical Overstress/Electrostatic Discharge Symposium, 2007. EOS/ESD

Conference_Location

Anaheim, CA

Print_ISBN

978-1-58537-136-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/EOSESD.2007.4401741

Filename

4401741