Nano-oxide layer formed on ruthenium of synthetic pinned-structure spin valve by ion beam and cluster ion beam oxidation

Author

Hu, C.-C. ; Mao, M. ; Devasahayam, A.J. ; Lee, C.L. ; Kools, J.C.S. ; Skinner, W. ; Hautala, J.

Author_Institution

Veeco Instrum., Plainview, NY, USA

Volume

40

Issue

4

fYear

2004

fDate

7/1/2004 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2203

Lastpage

2205

Abstract

In this paper, we report the performance of bottom synthetic spin-valve films with a newly developed ruthenium (Ru)-based nano-oxide layer (NOL). Two energetic oxidation techniques using an ion beam and a gas cluster ion beam were applied for the formation of the Ru NOL in the synthetic pinned layer. The giant magnetoresistance (GMR) was greatly enhanced from 13.8% to 15.7% with no sign of degradation in the pinning strength. In addition, these Ru NOL-bearing spin-valve films have demonstrated an excellent thermal stability, withstanding repeated thermal annealing cycles at elevated temperatures. This performance is clearly superior to that from the spin-valve films with a conventional CoFe-based NOL. The Ru NOL has shown a great potential for high-amplitude read sensor applications.

Keywords

annealing; giant magnetoresistance; ion beam applications; nanostructured materials; oxidation; ruthenium; spin valves; thermal stability; CoFe-based NOL; Ru-based NOL; bottom synthetic spin valve; cluster ion beam oxidation; energetic oxidation techniques; giant magnetoresistance; nanooxide layer; pinning field; pinning strength; read sensor applications; ruthenium; ruthenium-based nano-oxide layer; spin-valve films; synthetic pinned layer; synthetic pinned-structure spin valve; thermal annealing; thermal stability; Annealing; Argon; Giant magnetoresistance; Instruments; Ion beams; Ion sources; Oxidation; Spin valves; Thermal degradation; Thermal stability; Bottom synthetic spin valve; GCIB; GMR; IBO; NOL; Ru; gas cluster ion beam; giant magnetoresistance; ion beam oxidation; nano-oxide layer; oxidation; pinned layer; pinning field; ruthenium; thermal stability;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TMAG.2004.829314

Filename

1325453