Spin valves and their application
Citation:
Emma Kerr, 'Spin valves and their application', [thesis], Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland). School of Physics, 2006, pp 158Download Item:
Abstract:
The discovery of giant magnetoresistance (GMR) in the late 1980's resulted in massive
interest in the deposition and characterisation of artificial layered magnetic structures.
Spin valves were discovered in 1991 and have been the subject of intense interest due to
their suitability for application in magnetoresistive read heads in magnetic hard disk drives.
The basic element of a spin valve is two ferromagnetic layers separated by a non-magnetic
spacer. The electrical resistance of the structure is low when the magnetisation directions
of the ferromagnetic layers are aligned parallel and high when they are antiparallel. One of
the ferromagnetic layers, the free layer, switches magnetisation direction close to zero
field. The other layer, the pinned layer, is grown next to an antiferromagnet and its
magnetisation direction is pinned at low fields. Switching of the free layer at low fields,
therefore, results in a transition from the parallel to antiparallel state and a linear change in
resistance. Hence the spin valve is a highly sensitive magnetic field sensor and can be
used in several applications. Spin valves can also be considered as one of the fundamental
building blocks necessary for developing more complicated spin electronic devices.
Author: Kerr, Emma
Advisor:
Coey, MichaelPublisher:
Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland). School of PhysicsNote:
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Full text availableKeywords:
Physics, Ph.D., Ph.D. Trinity College DublinMetadata
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