SBIR Phase I: Ultra Low Hysteresis Giant-Magnetoresistive (GMR) Bridge Sensor

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目旨在展示建造巨磁阻(GMR)电桥传感器的可行性，这种传感器在滞后方面比现有的电桥传感器有十倍和更大的改善。独特的工艺可在GMR三明治电阻元件中实现边缘钉扎，从而提高稳定性并显著降低磁滞。开发低滞回电桥传感器所需的技术目标是：(1)确定边缘硬化机制；(2)开发单步边缘硬化工艺协议；(3)开发两步边缘硬化工艺协议；(4)利用低滞后设计传感器原型；以及(5)制造和表征硬边电桥传感器。这项研究将集中于首先了解和控制硬边治疗。这项工作将产生一种基本的低滞后电桥传感器。然后，该知识将被应用于处理给定设备内不同程度的硬边轮廓。这一努力的结果将是一个自偏置全输出新娘传感器和一个完全对称的电桥传感器。除了满足磁桥传感器的低滞后需求外，开发的工艺还可应用于集成的线性和数字输出传感器和信号隔离设备。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is designed to demonstrate the feasibility of building giant-magnetoresistive (GMR) bridge sensors that exhibit tenfold and greater improvement in hysteresis over existing bridge sensors. Unique processing enables edge pinning in GMR sandwich resistor elements that leads to increased stability and significant reduction in hysteresis. Technical objectives required to develop the low hysteresis bridge sensors are: (1) determine the edge hardening mechanism; (2) develop a single-step edge hardening process protocol; (3) develop a two-step edge hardening process protocol; (4) design sensor prototypes utilizing low hysteresis; and (5) build and characterize hard-edge bridge sensors. The research will focus on first gaining an understanding and control of the hard edge treatment. This effort will produce a basic low hysteresis bridge sensor. That knowledge will then be applied to processing variable degrees of hard edge profiles within a given device. The result of this effort will be a self-biased full-output bride sensor and a fully symmetric bridge sensor. In addition to addressing the need for low hysteresis in magnetic bridge sensors, the processes developed can be applied to integrated linear and digital output sensors and signal isolation devices.