Method of producing a multi-layer magnetoelectronic device and magnetoelectronic device

Abstract

A method of producing a multilayer magnetoelectronic device and a related device. The method includes depositing a multilayer structure including at least two ferromagnetic layers disposed one on top of the other and each having a magnetic anisotropy with a corresponding magnetic moment. A magnetization curve is specified for the magnetoelectronic device. The number of ferromagnetic layers and, for each of the ferromagnetic layers, the magnetic moment and the magnetic hardness for obtaining the specified magnetization curve are determined. For each of the ferromagnetic layers a magnetic material, a thickness, an azimuthal angle and an angle of incidence are determined for obtaining the determined magnetic moment and magnetic hardness of the respective ferromagnetic layer. The multilayer structure is deposited using the determined material, thickness, azimuthal angle and angle of incidence for each of the ferromagnetic layers.

Claims

1. A method of producing a multilayer magnetoelectronic device, the method comprising: depositing a multilayer structure including at least two ferromagnetic layers disposed one on top of the other and each having a magnetic anisotropy with a corresponding magnetic moment, wherein each two adjacent ferromagnetic layers of the at least two ferromagnetic layers are separated by a respective nonmagnetic layer, and wherein each of the ferromagnetic layers is deposited at a respective azimuthal angle with respect to a reference direction extending in the plane of extension of the respective ferromagnetic layer and at a nonzero angle of incidence with respect to a direction perpendicular to the plane of extension of the respective ferromagnetic layer, such that the respective ferromagnetic layer exhibits uniaxial magnetic anisotropy, (a) wherein a magnetization curve is specified for the magnetoelectronic device to be produced, (b) wherein, after having specified the magnetization curve, the number of ferromagnetic layers and, for each of the ferromagnetic layers, the magnetic moment and the magnetic hardness are determined in such a manner that the specified magnetization curve is obtained, (c) wherein subsequent to having determined the number of ferromagnetic layers and their magnetic moments and magnetic hardnesses, for each of the ferromagnetic layers individually a magnetic material, a thickness, an azimuthal angle and an angle of incidence are determined in such a manner that the determined magnetic moment and magnetic hardness of the respective ferromagnetic layer is obtained, and (d) wherein finally the step of depositing the multilayer structure is carried out using the determined material, thickness, azimuthal angle and angle of incidence for each of the ferromagnetic layers.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein for at least one of the ferromagnetic layers the angle of incidence is greater than 45.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein for at least one of the ferromagnetic layers the angle of incidence is greater than 80.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein for each of the ferromagnetic layers the angle of incidence is chosen such that the respective ferromagnetic layer exhibits uniaxial magnetic anisotropy with the easy axis oriented perpendicularly with respect to a plane spanned by the direction of deposition and the projection of the direction of deposition onto the plane of extension of the respective ferromagnetic layer.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein for each two adjacent ferromagnetic layers of the at least two ferromagnetic layers the azimuthal angles are different, such that the resulting magnetic moments have different directions.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein for at least two adjacent ferromagnetic layers of the at least two ferromagnetic layers the difference in the azimuthal angles is between 1 and 89 or between 91 and 179.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein for each of the ferromagnetic layers the material is chosen from the group consisting of Fe, Co, Ni and alloys thereof.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein each two adjacent ferromagnetic layers have the same material composition or each two adjacent ferromagnetic layers have different material compositions.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining, for each of the nonmagnetic layers, the material and the thickness; and depositing the multilayer structure using the determined material and thickness for each of the nonmagnetic layers.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the deposition of the ferromagnetic layers and/or the deposition of the nonmagnetic layers is carried out by means of ion beam deposition or physical vapor deposition.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the multilayer structure is deposited onto a chemically inert, nonmagnetic substrate.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein a seed layer is arranged between the substrate and the multilayer structure and the seed layer is in contact with both the substrate and one of the ferromagnetic layers.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the magnetoelectronic device is a magnetic field sensor.

Description

DRAWINGS

(1) The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

(2) FIG. 1A shows schematic side and top views of an inert substrate onto which a ferromagnetic iron layer is deposited by oblique incidence sputter deposition.

(3) FIG. 1B shows schematic magnetization curves of the iron layer of FIG. 1a) for the easy axis and the hard axis, respectively.

(4) FIG. 2 shows schematic magnetization curves of the iron layer of FIG. 1a) for the three different deposition angles =0, 45 and 80.

(5) FIG. 3 illustrates for the iron layer of FIG. 1a) the dependence of the magnetic hardness on the angle of incidence of the iron atoms.

(6) FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a process in which a multilayer structure comprising multiple ferromagnetic iron layers separated by non-magnetic intermediate layers is deposited onto an inert substrate.

(7) FIG. 5A shows electronic and nuclear resonant (magnetic) X-ray reflectivity curves measured for the magnetoelectronic device 10 shown in FIG. 7A.

(8) FIG. 5B shows the magnetic saturation behavior of the magnetoelectronic device in dependence of an external magnetic field.

(9) FIG. 6A illustrates different combinations of magnetic moments of two adjacent iron layers of identical thickness separated by a non-magnetic layer and prepared in the same way as the multilayer structure of the magnetoelectronic device of FIG. 7A.

(10) FIG. 6B shows for each of the combinations of FIG. 6A the direction of the external magnetic field used for measuring magnetization curves.

(11) FIG. 6C illustrates schematic magnetization curves for each of the combinations of FIG. 6A.

(12) FIG. 7A shows a magnetoelectronic device produced by the process illustrated in FIG. 4.

(13) FIG. 7B illustrates the magnetic moments of the individual iron layers of one exemplary embodiment of the magnetoelectronic device of FIG. 7A.

(14) Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(15) Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(16) FIG. 1A schematically illustrates the deposition of a ferromagnetic iron layer 1 onto a chemically inert substrate 2 by means of oblique incidence sputter deposition of iron atoms in a side view and in a top view onto the iron layer 1 and the substrate 2. As can be seen in the side view, the direction 3 of the incident iron atoms is at a nonzero angle of, e.g., 80 with respect to the direction 4 perpendicular to the plane defined by the extension of the substrate 2 and of the iron layer 1. Further, in the illustrated example the deposition is effected at an azimuthal angle of 0 with respect to a reference direction 5 extending parallel to the plane of extension or the direction of extension of the iron layer 1, i.e. the angle between the reference direction 5 and the projection of the direction of incidence 3 onto the plane defined by the extension of the substrate 2 and of the iron layer 1 is zero.

(17) Due to this sputter deposition at a large oblique angle the deposited iron layer 1 exhibits uniaxial magnetic anisotropy with an uniaxial easy axis 6 perpendicular to the plane defined by the direction of incidence 3 and the projection of that direction onto the plane of extension of the substrate 2 and the iron layer 1. The uniaxial easy axis 6 corresponds to two possible directions 7 of the magnetic moment M.sub.r of the iron layer 1. One of the directions 7 can be selected for example by applying a small magnetic field during deposition.

(18) FIG. 1B shows schematic magnetization curves of the iron layer 1 of FIG. 1A corresponding to the easy axis 6 and to the hard axis perpendicular thereto. Such magnetization curves can be measure by, e.g., MOKE.

(19) In order to illustrate the dependence of the measured magnetization curves on the deposition angle , FIG. 2 shows the schematic magnetization curves for the free angles =0, 45 80. For =0, i.e. when oblique incidence deposition is not utilized, as common in the prior art, no uniaxial magnetic anisotropy is generated, so that no easy axis exists. Rather, the magnetization curve is then independent of the direction of measurement and the iron layer is soft magnetic. At an angle =45 a small increase in the magnetic anisotropy is present, and the easy axis is oriented perpendicularly with respect to the direction 3 of incidence of the iron atoms. This is also true for an angle =80, but additionally the iron layer 1 is hardmagnetic.

(20) FIG. 3 illustrates for the iron layer 1 of FIG. 1A the dependence of the magnetic hardness, i.e. of the coercive field, on the angle of incidence of the iron atoms. It can be seen that it is possible to continuously adjust the magnetic hardness by suitably selecting the angle . Thus, for any magnetic material, softmagnetic and hardmagnetic layers can be selectively produced in a multilayer structure.

(21) FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a process in which a multilayer structure comprising multiple ferromagnetic iron layers separated by non-magnetic intermediate layers is deposited onto an inert substrate, eventually resulting in a magnetoelectronic device. The first step of this process is essentially identical to FIG. 1A, i.e. a ferromagnetic iron layer 1 is deposited onto the substrate 2 by oblique incidence sputter deposition at a deposition angle of 80. However, different from the example of FIG. 1A, an azimuthal angle of +20 is utilized, resulting in a magnetic moment M.sub.1 of the iron layer 1.

(22) In the second step, subsequent to deposition of the first iron layer 1 directly onto the substrate, a non-magnetic carbon layer 8 is deposited onto the iron layer 1 at perpendicular incidence, i.e. at an angle of 0. Then, a second ferromagnetic iron layer 1 is deposited onto the carbon layer 8 in the same manner as the first iron layer 1 was deposited onto the substrate 2, but utilizing an azimuthal angle of 20, resulting in a magnetic moment M.sub.2 of this iron layer 1 perpendicular to the magnetic moment M.sub.1 of the first iron layer 1. After that, a second non-magnetic carbon layer 8 is deposited onto the second iron layer 1 at perpendicular incidence, i.e. at an angle of 0. These steps are repeated several times, such as, e.g., six times, so that eventually a multilayer structure is created comprising an alternating sequence of twelve iron and twelve carbon layers 1, 8 on the substrate 2, wherein each two adjacent iron layers 1 have magnetizations oriented at a relative angle of 40. The resulting multilayer structure, which constitutes a magnetoelectronic device 10, is illustrated in FIG. 7A and magnetically characterized in FIGS. 5A and 5B.

(23) FIG. 5A schematically shows electronic (the top curve) and nuclear (the two bottom curves) resonant (magnetic) X-ray reflectivity curves measured for the magnetoelectronic device 10 shown in FIG. 7A. Details of a method with which the measurement of these curves can be carried out can be taken from the publication K. Schlage and R. Rhlsberger, Nuclear resonant scattering of synchrotron radiation: Applications in magnetism of layered structures, J. Electron Spectrosc. Relat. Phenom (2013) (published online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.elspec.2013.02.005). It is also illustrated that the multilayer structure can assume two magnetic ground states, the second one of which is illustrated in FIG. 4. The ground states can be induced by a strong external magnetic field of e.g. 100 mT (see the left third of FIG. 5A and are characterized by a large opening angle of 140 of the two magnetic sublattices (low net magnetization) and by a small opening angle of 40, respectively (high net magnetization), see the right third of FIG. 5A. The ground state 1 having the opening angle of 140 leads to a strong magnetic superstructure peak in the reflectivity curves at an angle of 0.25.

(24) FIG. 5B shows the magnetic saturation behavior of the magnetoelectronic device in dependence of an external magnetic field for the ground state 1 with an increasing external field (black symbols) having been applied along the resulting hard axis. The curve corresponds to the intensity of the magnetic superstructure peak. As illustrated in FIG. 5B, the monotone change of the intensity corresponds to the saturation behavior of the two sublattices due to rotation of the magnetization of the individual iron layers 1 out of their easy axis. The grey symbols illustrate the development of the intensity of the magnetic superstructure peak if the external magnetic field is subsequently decreased again. The curve represented by the grey symbols is essentially identical to the curve represented by the black symbols, so that no hysteretic effect is present.

(25) FIG. 6B illustrates different combinations of imprinted magnetic anisotropy (characterized by the orientation of the easy axis and the magnetic hardness) of two adjacent iron layers 1 of identical thickness separated by a non-magnetic layer andapart from the lower number of layersprepared in the same way as the multilayer structure of the magnetoelectronic device 10 of FIG. 7A. The width of the arrows in FIG. 6A indicates the relative magnitude of the imprinted magnetic anisotropy, i.e. the magnetic hardness, wherein broader arrows represent a higher magnetic hardness than narrower arrows. They are realized by suitable choice of the deposition angles and the azimuthal angles during deposition of the iron layers 1. FIG. 6B shows for each of the options of FIG. 6A the direction of the external magnetic field used for measuring magnetization curves, which are shown in FIG. 6C. As can be seen, by selectively choosing the deposition angles and the azimuthal angles and, thereby, the magnetic hardnesses and the directions of magnetization of the individual iron layers 1, it is possible to selectively vary the characteristics of the magnetization curves in a wide range. For example, the magnetization curve can be made to exhibit a sharp jump (the top option), to exhibit a curved magnetic switching behavior (the middle option) or to exhibit an approximately linear relationship with the external magnetic field (the bottom option). For each option the left magnetization curve has been measured for a multilayer structure with a lower magnetic anisotropy than the right magnetization curve.

(26) The change of the magnetization corresponding to the magnetization curves results in a corresponding change of the magnetoresistance. Therefore, it is possible to define a magnetization curve which leads to field dependent magnetoresistance characteristics suitable for a particular application. Then, the magnetic properties and corresponding manufacturing parameters of the iron layers 1 and the intermediate layers 8 can be determined which result in the desired magnetization curve. For example, if a magnetization curve having linear characteristics is desired for a particular application, the bottom combination of the magnetic moments is chosen. Due to the possibility to realize curved, sloping or nearly linear characteristics of the magnetization curve, it is, for example, possible to produce magnetoelectronic devices which are able to carry out quantitative measurements of the external magnetic field. In contrast to the prior art, the present invention enables a flexible adjustment or setting of the magnetic field strength or the range of magnetic field strength and of other characteristics of the magnetic field that can be measured qualitatively and quantitatively, and such adjustment is possible in an easy manner.

(27) FIG. 7A shows a magnetoelectronic device 10 produced by the process illustrated in FIG. 4. FIG. 7B is a schematic top view of one exemplary embodiment of the device 10 in which the directions of the magnetic moments of the individual iron layers 1 are indicated. As can be seen, the direction of the magnetic moment varies gradually in the clockwise direction from the bottommost iron layer 1 to the topmost iron layer 1. This illustrates that it is possible to realize highly complex multilayer magnetization profiles.

(28) The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.