Infineon Technologies Ag

Andreas STRAßER

Bernhard Endres

Jürgen Förster

A magnetoresistive sensor includes a sensing element and a stress inducing layer. The sensing element has a layer stack that includes a reference layer having a fixed reference magnetization aligned with a magnetization axis; a magnetic free layer having a magnetically free magnetization, wherein the magnetically free magnetization is variable in a presence of an external magnetic field; and a non-magnetic layer arranged between the reference layer and the magnetic free layer. The stress inducing layer is coupled to the layer stack and is configured to apply a force to the layer stack to induce a mechanical stress in the layer stack along a mechanical stress axis such that the magnetization axis is aligned parallel with the mechanical stress axis or perpendicular with the mechanical stress axis.

Inducing mechanical stress in magnetoresistive sensing element to align magnetization axis of reference layer system in preferred direction for improved sensor performance

Growing community of inventors

Regensburg, Germany

Andreas STRAßER