Home > Press > CNST Researchers Use Spin Waves to Measure Magnetic Polarization of Electrical Current
Abstract:
In the hard drive industry, the rapid growth of storage density has been propelled in part by developments in the sensors used to read the magnetic "bits" on the disk. Recently, the use of giant magnetoresistance (GMR) in such sensors, with current flowing in the plane of a multilayer film, has given way to the use of tunneling magnetoresistance, where current flows perpendicular to the plane of the multilayer through a tunnel barrier. To avoid the prohibitively high resistance of smaller tunnel junction sensors, future miniaturization of the sensors is projected to again require the use of GMR in all-metal multilayers, but with current flowing perpendicular to the plane. In a collaboration with researchers at Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, CNST researchers used their recently developed spin wave Doppler technique to measure the current polarization in novel (CoFe)1-xGex alloys being investigated for possible use in future disk drive read head sensors.* A critical parameter in determining the GMR of a multilayer sensor film is the current polarization, which is the degree to which the current carried in a magnetic metal is carried by electrons with spins either parallel or anti-parallel to the magnetization. The CNST researchers' measurement technique used nanostructured antennas to launch and detect spin waves in current-carrying (CoFe)1-xGex stripes, allowing them to measure shifts of a resonant transmission frequency that revealed the current-induced drift velocity of the magnetization and the current polarization. The results indicate polarization up to 95 % in these alloys. Although comparable polarization values have been found in materials that require annealing at prohibitively high temperatures, the (CoFe)1-xGex alloys are compatible with sensor manufacturing.
CNST Researchers Use Spin Waves to Measure Magnetic Polarization of Electrical Current
Boulder, CO | Posted on March 9th, 2011Enhanced magnetization drift velocity and current polarization in (CoFe)1−xGex alloys, M. Zhu, B. D. Soe, R. D. McMichael, M. J. Carey, S. Maat, and J. R. Childress, Applied Physics Letters 98, 072510-072510-3 (2011).
####
For more information, please click here
Contacts:
Robert McMichael
301-975-5121
Copyright © NIST
If you have a comment, please Contact us.Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Bookmark:
| Related News Press |
News and information
Sensors innovations for smart lithium-based batteries: advancements, opportunities, and potential challenges August 8th, 2025
Deciphering local microstrain-induced optimization of asymmetric Fe single atomic sites for efficient oxygen reduction August 8th, 2025
Lab to industry: InSe wafer-scale breakthrough for future electronics August 8th, 2025
Spintronics
Quantum materials: Electron spin measured for the first time June 9th, 2023
Memory Technology
First real-time observation of two-dimensional melting process: Researchers at Mainz University unveil new insights into magnetic vortex structures August 8th, 2025
Utilizing palladium for addressing contact issues of buried oxide thin film transistors April 5th, 2024
Interdisciplinary: Rice team tackles the future of semiconductors Multiferroics could be the key to ultralow-energy computing October 6th, 2023
Sensors
Sensors innovations for smart lithium-based batteries: advancements, opportunities, and potential challenges August 8th, 2025
Quantum engineers ‘squeeze’ laser frequency combs to make more sensitive gas sensors January 17th, 2025
Discoveries
Deciphering local microstrain-induced optimization of asymmetric Fe single atomic sites for efficient oxygen reduction August 8th, 2025
ICFO researchers overcome long-standing bottleneck in single photon detection with twisted 2D materials August 8th, 2025
New molecular technology targets tumors and simultaneously silences two ‘undruggable’ cancer genes August 8th, 2025
Simple algorithm paired with standard imaging tool could predict failure in lithium metal batteries August 8th, 2025
Announcements
Sensors innovations for smart lithium-based batteries: advancements, opportunities, and potential challenges August 8th, 2025
Deciphering local microstrain-induced optimization of asymmetric Fe single atomic sites for efficient oxygen reduction August 8th, 2025
Japan launches fully domestically produced quantum computer: Expo visitors to experience quantum computing firsthand August 8th, 2025
ICFO researchers overcome long-standing bottleneck in single photon detection with twisted 2D materials August 8th, 2025
 |
||
 |
||
| The latest news from around the world, FREE | ||
 |
||
|
|
||
| Premium Products | ||
 |
||
|
Only the news you want to read!
Learn More |
||
 |
||
|
Full-service, expert consulting
Learn More |
||
|
|
||