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

37

Issue

4

fYear

2001

fDate

7/1/2001 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

3062

Lastpage

3064

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

exchange interactions (electron); magnetic domains; magnetic sensors; magnetic storage; magnetic switching; magnetisation reversal; magnetoresistive devices; random-access storage; spin valves; exchange bias; local magnetization reversal; magnetic domain nucleation; magnetic field; magnetoresistive random access memory; spin valve sensor; switching process; transport properties; Couplings; Iron; Magnetic field measurement; Magnetic materials; Magnetic properties; Magnetic sensors; Magnetic switching; Magnetization reversal; Magnetoresistance; Random access memory;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/20.947064

Filename

947064