Title :
Thermal stability of spin valve with NiO/α-Fe2O 3 bilayer antiferromagnets
Author :
Fujikata, Junichi ; Hayashi, Kazuhiko ; Saito, Mikiko ; Nakada, Masafumi
Author_Institution :
Functional Devices Res. Lab., NEC Corp., Tokyo, Japan
fDate :
7/1/1998 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
To enhance the thermal stability of the NiO pinning layers for spin valves, α-Fe2O3 layers, of which the Neel temperature is 680°C for bulk, are deposited on NiO layers. With 15-80 Å thick α-Fe2O3 layers on NiO layers, an exchange anisotropy field about five times larger than that of NiO/NiFe is obtained after 250°C thermal annealing. Spin valve multilayers with NiO/α-Fe2O3 antiferromagnets show about 12% MR ratio. After 150°C annealing, the MR ratio changes less than 20% for patterned spin valve multilayers with abutted junctioned hard magnets
Keywords :
Neel temperature; annealing; antiferromagnetic materials; iron compounds; magnetic multilayers; nickel compounds; thermal stability; 15 to 80 angstrom; 150 degC; 250 degC; Neel temperature; NiO pinning layers; NiO-Fe2O3; abutted junctioned hard magnets; bilayer antiferromagnets; exchange anisotropy field; spin valve; thermal annealing; thermal stability; Anisotropic magnetoresistance; Annealing; Antiferromagnetic materials; Helium; Magnetic multilayers; National electric code; Spin valves; Sputtering; Temperature; Thermal stability;
Journal_Title :
Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on
