Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.v.

International Business Machines Corporation

Hgst Netherlands, B.v.

Western Digital Technologies, Inc.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

University of California

Read Rite Corporation

Matthew Joseph Carey

Jeffrey Childress

Stefan Maat

Bruce Alvin Gurney

Eric Edward Fullerton

Neil Smith

Young-Suk Choi

John C Read

Philip M Rice

Bhagwati Prasad

Shekar B Chandrashekariaih

Brian Rodrick York

Bruce David Terris

Alan Kalitsov

Ren Xu

Thai Le

Robert Fontana

Dmytro Apalkov

Jordan Asher Katine

Hal Jervis Rosen

Manfred Ernst Schabes

David Thomas Margulies

Hoa Van Do

James Lamar Nix

Ronald Franklin Marks

Keith Chan

Robin Frederick Charles Farrow

Mustafa Pinarbasi

Daniele Mauri

Kuok San Ho

James Mac Freitag

Mohamad Towfik Krounbi

Neil Leslie Robertson

Yang Li

Patrick Braganca

Robert Earl Rottmayer

Satoru Araki

Robert Beach

Yoshihiro Ikeda

Ian Robson McFadyen

Goran Mihajlovic

Derek Stewart

Samuel Wonder Yuan

Kentaro Takano

Roman Chepulskyy

Alexey Vasilyevitch Khvalkovskiy

Tiffany Santos

Robert John Wilson

Yongho Ju

Thomas Robert Berthold

Elizabeth Ann Brinkman

Thomas Block

Stuart Stephen Papworth-Parkin

A magnetoresistive memory device includes a first electrode, a second electrode that is spaced from the first electrode, and a perpendicular magnetic tunnel junction layer stack located between the first electrode and the second electrode. The perpendicular magnetic tunnel junction layer stack includes, from one side to another: a reference layer having a fixed reference magnetization direction, a first spinel layer located including a first polycrystalline spinel material having () texture along an axial direction that is perpendicular to an interface with the reference layer, a magnesium oxide layer including a polycrystalline magnesium oxide material having () texture along the axial direction, a second spinel layer including a second polycrystalline spinel material having () texture along the axial direction, and a ferromagnetic free layer.

Spinel containing magnetic tunnel junction and method of making the same

Magnetoelectric or magnetoresistive memory cells include at least one of a high dielectric constant dielectric capping layer and/or a nonmagnetic metal dust layer located between the free layer and the dielectric capping layer.

Magnetoresistive memory device including a high dielectric constant capping layer and methods of making the same

A magnetic junction usable in magnetic devices is described. The magnetic junction includes a reference layer, a free layer, a nonmagnetic spacer layer between the reference and free layers, and a rare earth-transition metal (RE-TM) layer in the reference and/or free layers. The free layer is switchable between stable magnetic states when a write current is passed through the magnetic junction. If the RE-TM layer is in the free layer then the RE-TM layer is between hard and soft magnetic layers in the free layer. In this aspect, the RE-TM layer has a standby magnetic moment greater than a write magnetic moment. If the RE-TM layer is in the reference layer, then the magnetic junction includes a second RE-TM layer. In this aspect, a first saturation magnetization quantity of the RE-TM layer matches a second saturation magnetization quantity of the second RE-TM layer over an operating temperature range.

Method and system for providing magnetic junctions with rare earth-transition metal layers

A quantum computing device magnetic memory is described. The quantum computing device magnetic memory is coupled with a quantum processor including at least one quantum device corresponding to at least one qubit. The quantum computing device magnetic memory includes magnetic storage cells coupled with the quantum device(s) and bit lines coupled to the magnetic storage cells. Each of the magnetic storage cells includes at least one magnetic junction. The magnetic junction(s) include a reference layer, a nonmagnetic spacer layer, and a free layer. The nonmagnetic spacer layer is between the reference layer and the free layer. The magnetic junction(s) are configured to allow the free layer to be switched between stable magnetic states. The magnetic junction(s) are configured such that the free layer has a nonzero initial writing spin transfer torque in an absence of thermal fluctuations.

Quantum computing device spin transfer torque magnetic memory

A magnetic junction usable in a magnetic device and a method for providing the magnetic junction are described. The magnetic junction includes a free layer, a pinned layer and nonmagnetic spacer layer between the free and pinned layers. At least one of the free and pinned layers includes at least one engineered Heusler structure having a first magnetic layer, a second magnetic layer and an amorphous layer between the magnetic layers. At least one of the first and second magnetic layer(s) is a Heusler layer. The first magnetic layer's perpendicular magnetic anisotropy energy (PMAE) exceeds is out-of-plane demagnetization energy. The second magnetic layer's PMAE exceeds its out-of-plane demagnetization energy. The free layer and/or the pinned layer has a PMAE greater than an out-of-plane demagnetization energy. The free layer is switchable between stable magnetic states when a write current is passed through the magnetic junction.

Method and system for providing an engineered magnetic layer including Heusler layers and an amorphous insertion layer

A disk drive includes a disk including a magnetizable layer of material, and a transducer. The transducer has a read element that includes a first shield layer, a pinned layer, a metallic spacer, an AP (anti-parallel) free layer, and a second shield layer. The pinned layer has a surface area which is greater than the area of the AP free layer. The read element also includes an anti-ferromagnetic layer for substantially fixing the magnetic orientation of a plurality of domains in the pinned layer. The ferromagnetic layer is adjacent the pinned layer. The pinned layer, and the anti-ferromagnetic layer both have surface areas which are greater than the area associated with the AP free layer. The anti-ferromagnetic layer, in one embodiment, has a pinning strength in the range of 0.5 erg/cmto 1.5 erg/cm.

Giant magneto resistive sensor and method for making same

In one embodiment, a device includes a reference layer, a free layer positioned above the reference layer, and a spacer layer positioned between the reference layer and the free layer, the spacer layer providing a gap between the reference layer and the free layer, wherein the reference layer extends beyond a rear extent of the free layer in an element height direction perpendicular to a media-facing surface of the device, and wherein a rear portion of the spacer layer that extends beyond the rear extent of the free layer has an increased resistivity in comparison with a resistivity of a rest of the spacer layer. In other embodiments, a method for forming the device is presented, along with other device structures having an extended pinned layer (EPL).

Magnetic recording head with CPP-GMR spin-valve sensor and extended pinned layer

A current-perpendicular-to-the-plane giant magnetoresistance (CPP-GMR) has a multilayer reference layer containing a Heusler alloy. The multilayer reference layer includes a crystalline non-Heusler alloy ferromagnetic layer on an antiferromagnetic layer, a Heusler alloy layer, and an intermediate crystalline non-Heusler alloy of the form CoFeX, where X is one or more of Ge, Al, Si and Ga, located between the non-Heusler alloy layer and the Heusler alloy layer. The CoFeX alloy layer has a composition (CoFe)Xwhere y is between about 10 and 90 atomic percent, and z is between about 50 and 90 atomic percent. The CoFeX alloy layer induces very strong pinning, which greatly lessens the likelihood of magnetic instability by the spin polarized electron flow from the free layer to the reference layer.

Current-perpendicular-to-the-plane (CPP) magnetoresistive sensor with multilayer reference layer including a crystalline CoFeX layer and a Heusler alloy layer

A method for making a current-perpendicular-to-the-plane (CPP) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor that has a reference layer with low coercivity includes first depositing, within a vacuum chamber, a seed layer and an antiferromagnetic layer on a substrate without the application of heat. The substrate with deposited layers is then heated to between 200-600&#xb0; C. for between 1 to 120 minutes. The substrate with deposited layers is then cooled, preferably to room temperature (i.e., below 50&#xb0; C., but to at least below 100&#xb0; C., in the vacuum chamber. After cooling of the antiferromagnetic layer, the ferromagnetic reference layer is deposited on the antiferromagnetic layer. Then the substrate with deposited layers is removed from the vacuum chamber and subjected to a second annealing, in the presence of a magnetic field, by heating to a temperature between 200-400&#xb0; C. for between 0.5-50 hours.

Method for making a current-perpendicular-to-the-plane (CPP) magnetoresistive sensor having a low-coercivity reference layer

A magnetoresistive sensor that has a free layer with a face centered cubic, 100 crystal orientation formed on an underlayer structure that has been deposited in the presence of nitrogen. The free layer can be constructed of CoFe, Co(MnFe)X (where 0&#x2266;y&#x2266;1 and X is Si, Ge, Sn, Al, Ga, or a combination thereof), CoFeX (where X is Si, Ge, Sn, Al, Ga, or a combination thereof). The under-layer can include a layer of Ta, a Cu layer formed over the layer of Ta and deposited using a process gas comprising about 20 percent nitrogen and a layer of Ag deposited over the layer of Cu and deposited using a process gas comprising about 50 to 100 percent nitrogen.

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A method for making a current-perpendicular-to the-plane giant magnetoresistance (CPP-GMR) sensor with a Heusler alloy pinned layer on the sensor's Mn-containing antiferromagnetic pinning layer uses two annealing steps. A layer of a crystalline non-Heusler alloy ferromagnetic material, like Co or CoFe, is deposited on the antiferromagnetic pinning layer and a layer of an amorphous X-containing ferromagnetic alloy, like a CoFeBTa layer, is deposited on the Co or CoFe crystalline layer. After a first in-situ annealing of the amorphous X-containing ferromagnetic alloy, the Heusler alloy pinned layer is deposited on the amorphous X-containing ferromagnetic layer and a second high-temperature annealing step is performed to improve the microstructure of the Heusler alloy pinned layer.

Method for making a current-perpendicular-to-the-plane (CPP) magnetoresistive sensor containing a ferromagnetic alloy requiring post-deposition annealing

A current-perpendicular-to-the-plane giant magnetoresistance (CPP-GMR) sensor has a multilayer reference layer containing a Heusler alloy. The multilayer reference layer may be a simple pinned layer or the AP2 layer of an antiparallel (AP)-pinned structure. The multilayer reference layer is formed of a crystalline non-Heusler alloy ferromagnetic layer on either an antiferromagnetic layer (in a simple pinned structure) or an antiparallel coupling (APC) layer (in an AP-pinned structure), a Heusler alloy layer adjacent the sensor's nonmagnetic electrically conducting spacer layer, and an intermediate substantially non-crystalline X-containing layer between the crystalline non-Heusler alloy layer and the Heusler alloy layer. The element X is selected from one or more of tantalum (Ta), hafnium (Hf), niobium (Nb) and boron (B).

Current-perpendicular-to-the-plane (CPP) magnetoresistive sensor with multilayer reference layer including a Heusler alloy

A current-perpendicular-to-the-plane magnetoresistive sensor has magnetic damping material located adjacent either or both of the sensor side edges and back edge to reduce the effect of spin transfer torque. The damping material may be Pt, Pd, Os, or a rare earth metal from the 15 lanthanoid elements. The damping material may be an ultrathin layer in contact with the sensor edges. An insulating layer is deposited on the damping layer and isolates the sensor's ferromagnetic biasing layer from the damping layer. Instead of being a separate layer, the damping material may be formed adjacent the sensor edges by being incorporated into the material of the insulating layer.

Current-perpendicular-to-the-plane (CPP) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor with magnetic damping material at the sensor edges

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Matthew Joseph Carey