Canon Anelva Corporation

Yoshinori Nagamine

Koji Tsunekawa

Hiroki Maehara

Hiroyuki Hosoya

Shinji Furukawa

David Djulianto Djayaprawira

Naoki Watanabe

Shinji Yuasa

Akio Fukushima

Hitoshi Kubota

Yoshishige Suzuki

Takeshi Saruya

Hiroshi Tsunematsu

Kanto Nakamura

A magnetoresistance device has an MgO (magnesium oxide) layer provided between a first ferromagnetic layer and a second ferromagnetic layer. The device is manufactured by forming a film of the MgO layer in a film forming chamber. A substance whose getter effect with respect to an oxidizing gas is large is adhered to surfaces of components provided in the chamber for forming the MgO layer. The substance having a large getter effect is a substance whose value of oxygen gas adsorption energy is 145 kcal/mol or higher. Ta (tantalum), in particular, is preferable as a substance which constitutes the magnetoresistance device.

Method of manufacturing magnetoresistive device

A manufacturing method of a magneto-resistive effect device, the manufacturing method includes steps of: forming an Mg film on a substrate on which a reference layer is formed and oxidizing the Mg film to form an MgO layer on the reference layer; heating the substrate on which the MgO layer is formed; after the step of heating, forming an Mg layer on the MgO layer; cooling the substrate on which the Mg layer is formed; and forming a free layer on the Mg layer in a state where the substrate is cooled by the cooling step, and the step of forming the Mg layer, the step of cooling, and the step of forming the free layer are performed in the process same process chamber.

Manufacturing method of magneto-resistive effect device

The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a magnetoresistive effect device which can improve the through-put and achieve a high MR ratio. A method for manufacturing a magnetoresistive device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes steps of: forming a first ferromagnetic layer; forming a tunnel barrier layer on the first ferromagnetic layer in a first chamber; and forming a second ferromagnetic layer on the tunnel barrier layer, wherein the step of forming the tunnel barrier layer includes steps of: forming a metal layer on the first ferromagnetic layer; oxidizing the metal layer; and, before the step of forming the second ferromagnetic layer, reducing a pressure inside the first chamber to a predetermined pressure at which the metal layer vaporizes, while keeping a temperature inside the first chamber at a predetermined temperature.

Method for manufacturing magnetoresistive device

In an embodiment of the present invention, the following operations are performed while a substrate holder is being rotated at a fixed rotation speed with plasma being generated. Specifically, a first state where a substrate holding surface of the substrate holder is exposed to a target holder is formed to start a first deposition of divisional depositions, and a second state where the surface is shut off from the target holder is formed in T/X seconds after the start of the first divisional deposition. Moreover, the first state is formed to start an n-th deposition of the divisional depositions when a reference point set on the substrate holder arrived at a position rotated by (n&#x2212;1)&#xd7;360/X degrees from a position of the reference point located at the start of the targeted deposition, and the second state is formed in T/X seconds after the start of the n-th divisional deposition.

Sputter apparatus, control device for sputter apparatus and film formation method

Provided is a high-quality magnetoresistive thin film by using a method of controlling self bias of a high-frequency sputtering device. In order to control the self bias for the substrate by adjusting a substrate potential, the high-frequency sputtering device according to the present invention includes: a chamber; evacuation means for evacuating the inside of the chamber; gas introduction means for supplying a gas into the chamber; a substrate holder provided with a substrate mounting table; rotation drive means capable of rotating the substrate holder; a sputtering cathode provided with a target mounting table and arranged such that the surface of the target mounting table is non-parallel to the surface of the substrate mounting table; an electrode disposed inside the substrate holder; and a variable impedance mechanism electrically connected to the electrode, for adjusting the substrate potential on the substrate holder.

High-frequency sputtering device

The magnetic anisotropy of a magnetic layer in a spin valve tunnel magnetoresistive element or giant magnetoresistive element is enhanced. Deposition of the magnetic layer is performed by making sputtering particles obliquely incident on a substrate from a certain incident direction at a certain incident angle.

Method of manufacturing magnetoresistive element, sputter deposition chamber, apparatus for manufacturing magnetoresistive element having sputter deposition chamber, program and storage medium

The present invention provides a vacuum heating/cooling apparatus capable of rapidly heating and also rapidly cooling only a substrate while a high vacuum degree is maintained after film-formation processing. The vacuum heating/cooling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a vacuum chamber (), a halogen lamp () which emits heating light, a quartz window () for allowing the heating light to enter the vacuum chamber (), a substrate supporting base () having a cooling function, and a lift pin () which causes the substrate () to stand still at a heating position Pand a cooling position Pand moves the substrate () between the heating position Pand the cooling position P

Vacuum heating/cooling apparatus and manufacturing method of magnetoresistance element

An oxidizing method and oxidizing apparatus in which a plasma generating chamber having an oxidizing gas supply port and a substrate processing chamber having an exhaust port and internally having a substrate susceptor are connected via a partition having a number of through holes, a plasma of an oxidizing gas supplied into the plasma generating chamber is generated, and an oxide layer is formed on a substrate surface by supplying the generated active species onto a substrate are characterized in that the partition is connected to a power supply via a switching mechanism such that a positive, negative, or zero voltage is applied to the partition, and an oxidation process is performed by changing the ratio of radicals, positive ions, and negative ions in the active species supplied onto the substrate by switching the voltages at least once during the oxidation process.

Oxidizing method and oxidizing apparatus

A magnetoresistive device has an MgO (magnesium oxide) layer provided between a first ferromagnetic layer and a second ferromagnetic layer. The device is manufactured by forming a film of the MgO layer in a film forming chamber. A substance whose getter effect with respect to an oxidizing gas is large is adhered to surfaces of components provided in the chamber for forming the MgO layer. The substance having a large getter effect is a substance whose value of oxygen gas adsorption energy is 145 kcal/mol or higher. Ta (tantalum), in particular, is preferable as a substance which constitutes the magnetoresistive device.

Method of manufacturing magnetoresistive device and apparatus for manufacturing the same

According to the present invention, it can be switched whether or not to apply a magnetic field to a substrate depending on a material of a film to be formed, and a magnetic layer and a non-magnetic layer can be formed in the same chamber. A sputtering apparatusincludes a substrate holderconfigured to support a substrate W; magnet holdersthat are disposed around the substrate holder; magnetsthat are movably loaded on the magnet holders; supporting membersthat protrude from the substrate holder so as to face the magnets; connecting membersthat protrude from the magnets to face the substrate holder; a rotation mechanismconfigured to rotationally move at least one of the substrate holder and the magnet holders; and a connection switching mechanismconfigured to move, when positions of the supporting members and the connecting members are matched to each other by rotational movement of the rotation mechanism, the substrate holder upward and downward to engage the supporting members and the connecting members with each other or separate the supporting members and the connecting members from each other, and switch whether or not to apply a magnetic field to the substrate W.

Substrate processing apparatus and apparatus and method of manufacturing magnetic device

A tunnel magnetoresistive thin film has a high MR ratio and improves heat resistance while maintaining a thin film of a Ru layer used as a non-magnetic layer so that the Ru layer expresses a preferable exchange coupling magnetic field even through annealing is performed at a high temperature. In the tunnel magnetoresistive thin film, at least one of a first pinned magnetic layer and a second pinned magnetic layer that are layered having the non-magnetic layer for exchange coupling therebetween has a layered structure of two or more layers made of magnetic materials different from each other.

Tunnel magnetoresistive thin film

A magneto-resistive device has a magnetic free layer (), a magnetic pinned layer () having a magnetic moment larger than that of the magnetic free layer, and an intermediate layer () provided between the magnetic free layer and the magnetic pinned layer. The negative-resistance device is characterized in that the negative-resistance device shows negative resistance by making the magnetic free layer continually change the magnetization direction along with the increase of the voltage which is applied to a magneto-resistive device so that electrons flow into the negative-resistance device from a magnetic free layer side.

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Kawasaki, Japan

Yoshinori Nagamine