Experimental study of the local magnetization reversal in exchange-biased spin-valve sensors

Author

Boeve, Hans ; De Boeck, Jo ; Borghs, Gustaaf

Author_Institution

IMEC, Leuven, Belgium

Volume

36

Issue

5

fYear

2000

fDate

9/1/2000 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

3059

Lastpage

3061

Abstract

During the write action in magnetoresistive random access memories, the bit status is set by applying current pulses through on-chip word lines. The magnetic fields generated in this way are sufficient for switching the bit status. In this paper, an experimental study of the switching process in small spin-valves is initiated by assessing the effect of magnetic fields, generated by the on-chip word lines, on the nucleation of magnetic domains. The transport properties of micron-scale exchange-biased spin-valve sensors were used to detect the influence of these local magnetic fields

Keywords

ferromagnetic materials; iron alloys; local moments; magnetic domains; magnetic sensors; magnetic storage; magnetic switching; magnetisation reversal; nickel alloys; nucleation; spin valves; Si; Ta-NiFe-Cu-Co-NiFe-FeMn-Ta; bit status; current pulses; exchange-biased spin-valve sensors; local magnetic fields effects; local magnetization reversal; magnetic domains nucleation; magnetoresistive RAM; on-chip word lines; random access memories; switching process; transport properties; write action; Couplings; Iron; Magnetic field measurement; Magnetic fields; Magnetic materials; Magnetic properties; Magnetic sensors; Magnetic switching; Magnetization reversal; Magnetoresistance;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/20.908679

Filename

908679