Gas sensor
A gas sensor is described which incorporates a sensor stack comprising a first film layer of a ferromagnetic material, a spacer layer, and a second film layer of the ferromagnetic material. The first film layer is fabricated so that it exhibits a dependence of its magnetic anisotropy direction on the presence of a gas, That is, the orientation of the easy axis of magnetization will flip from out-of-plane to in-plane when the gas to be detected is present in sufficient concentration. By monitoring the change in resistance of the sensor stack when the orientation of the first layer's magnetization changes, and correlating that change with temperature one can determine both the identity and relative concentration of the detected gas. In one embodiment the stack sensor comprises a top ferromagnetic layer two mono layers thick of cobalt deposited upon a spacer layer of ruthenium, which in turn has a second layer of cobalt disposed on its other side, this second cobalt layer in contact with a programmable heater chip.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231
- Assignee:
- The Regents of the University of California (Oakland, CA)
- Patent Number(s):
- 8,826,726
- Application Number:
- 13/318,522
- OSTI ID:
- 1158792
- Resource Relation:
- Patent File Date: 2010 Apr 29
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Gas sensor
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patent | September 2014 |
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