The design of magnetoresistive devices

Magnetoresistive materials exhibiting either the conventional anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) effect or the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) effect are used in many applications including magnetic field sensing and nonvolatile random access memory. Several types of materials exhibit the GMR effect including multilayers, sandwich material, single- and double spin valves, and granular materials. Properties of the different types of MR materials are compared, and typical field sensing strategies are discussed. New materials exhibiting the spin dependent tunneling (SDT) and colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) effects may be used in the next generation of magnetic devices