Giant Magnetoresistive Tunneling Transistor

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目将展示巨磁阻比（GMR）隧道晶体管的可行性。GMR隧穿器件可以潜在地具有50%的室温磁阻（简单的两层磁性夹层的磁阻的许多倍），具有高阻抗和高面密度，并且可以在小磁场（一Oe）下操作。这些器件可以配置为存储器、场传感器、磁放大器和磁逻辑，这反过来又可以使电子器件小型化，并大大降低各种应用的功耗。基本的GMR隧穿器件由两层铁磁膜组成，两层铁磁膜之间由一层非常薄的（20）绝缘层隔开。隧穿电流取决于磁层的相对磁状态，其方式类似于最近对GMR材料的研究所表明的方式。对于隧穿晶体管，使用附加的金属线来产生调制两个磁性层的磁状态所需的磁场。器件电流相对于施加电压，材料特性和膜厚度，和磁状态的表征将被用来完善现有的模型。隧穿晶体管将被面包板来说明存储器操作、磁场感测、磁放大和磁逻辑。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will demonstrate the feasibility of a Giant Magnetoresistance Ratio (GMR) tunneling transistor. GMR tunneling devices can potentially have a room temperature magnetoresistance of 50% (many times the magnetoresistance of simple two-layer magnetic sandwiches) with a high impedance and high areal density, and can operate with small magnetic fields (one Oe). These devices can be configured for memory, field sensors, magnetic amplifiers, and magnetic logic, which can, in turn, miniaturize electronics and greatly reduce power consumption for a wide variety of applications. The fundamental GMR tunneling device consists of two ferromagnetic films separated by a very thin ((20 () insulating layer. The tunneling current depends on the relative magnetic states of the magnetic layers in a fashion similar to that indicated by recent work on GMR materials. For the tunneling transistor, an additional metal line is used to produce the magnetic field required to modulate the magnetic states of the two magnetic layers. Characterization of device current with respect to applied voltage, material properties and film thicknesses, and magnetic states will be used to refine an existing model. The tunneling transistor will be breadboarded to illustrate memory operation, magnetic field sensing, magnetic amplification, and magnetic logic.