The influence of an MgO nanolayer on the planar Hall effect in NiFe films

Journal Article · Sat Mar 28 04:00:00 EDT 2015 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4916336· OSTI ID:22399337

Li, Minghua ^[1]; Zhao, Zhiduo; Ma, Lin; Lu, Xiangan; Teng, Jiao; Yu, Guanghua ^[1]; Yu, Guoqiang; Amiri, Pedram Khalili; Wang, Kang L. ^[2]; Zhou, Wenping ^[2]

---

1. Department of Material Physics and Chemistry, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083 (China)
2. Department of Electrical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095 (United States)

The Planar Hall Effect (PHE) in NiFe films was studied using MgO as the buffer and capping layer to reduce the shunt effect. The thermal annealing was found to be effective in increasing the sensitivity. The sensitivity of the magnetic field reached as high as 865 V/AT in a MgO (3 nm)/NiFe (5 nm)/MgO(3 nm)/Ta(3 nm) structure after annealing at 500 °C for 2 h, which is close to the sensitivity of semiconductor Hall Effect (HE) sensors. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) were used to study the sample. The results show that the top crystallization of MgO and NiFe (111) texture were improved by proper annealing. The smooth and clear bottom MgO/NiFe and top NiFe/MgO interface is evident from our data. In addition, the shunt current of Ta was decreased. These combined factors facilitate the improvement of the sensitivity of the magnetic field.

• OSTI ID: 22399337
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Applied Physics Journal Issue: 12 Vol. 117; ISSN JAPIAU; ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ANNEALING
CRYSTALLIZATION
ELECTRIC CURRENTS
HALL EFFECT
INTERFACES
INTERMETALLIC COMPOUNDS
IRON
LAYERS
MAGNESIUM OXIDES
MAGNETIC FIELDS
NICKEL
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SENSITIVITY
SENSORS
TANTALUM
THIN FILMS
TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
X-RAY DIFFRACTION
X-RAY PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY