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Materials Development

Introduction

INESC-MN has a strong background on thin film preparation, by magnetron sputtering and ion beam deposition. The facilities available allow the preparation of several materials (research and service for outer groups), in substrates up to 200mm diameter: In particular, we highlight the research on spin valve structures and magnetic tunnel junctions. Here, we have been developing AlOx and MgO –based tunnel junctions for application in read heads, CIS and sensors (low resistances few W.mm2) and MRAM (average resistances, < kW.mm2).

For more information on this topic, contact Paulo Freitas or Susana Cardoso Freitas.

 

Main Results

  1. Optimization of the deposition conditions by Ion Beam (Nordiko 3000), for low deposition rates: beam profile tuned for lower voltages and low currents (7mA, 15 mA or 22 mA). As a consequence, better control of the Cu spacer thickness was achieved for spin valves, and lower interlayer coupling.

  2. Tunnel junctions based on Al films (down to 0.4nm thick) deposited by Ion beam (Nordiko 3000) showed TMR up to 55%. Also the growth of the AlOx and MgO barriers is strongly benefited with low energy beam deposition: low resistance junctions were optimized with RxA < 10 W.mm2.

  3. The study of MgO-based tunnel junctions has been carried out by Ion beam and sputtering, using Mg, MgO ceramic and MgO single crystal targets. The optimization of the growth conditions is monitored by X-ray diffraction in calibration films. Best results so far were obtained by sputtering out from a single crystal MgO target.

 

Projects and Collaborations 2004 - present

  • “Ultrasmooth magnetic layers for advanced devices” (ULTRASMOOTH), EU-FP6-MRTN CT-2003-504462, collaboration between UPS (Paris, FR), Univ. Kaiser. (DE), Univ.Muenster (DE), INESC-MN (Lisbon, PT), Univ.Durham (UK), Univ.Bochum (DE), IBM (Zurich), Siemens (DE), SINGULUS Technologies (DE) (2004-2008)

  • “Oxides for electronics”, POCTI/CTM/59318/2004, INESC-MN, Univ.Porto (2005-2006)

  • “Advanced devices based on magnetic tunnel junctions and spin valves for CPP transport”, POCTI/CTM/47463/2002, INESC-MN, ITN (2003-2005).

 

Industrial Collaborations

  • Seagate (Northern Ireland)

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