Development of Next-Generation Magnetic Field Sensors Based on Magnetic Tunnel Junction Technology

基于磁隧道结技术的下一代磁场传感器的开发

• 批准号: 419045-2011
• 负责人: Liu, Jie
• 金额: $ 1.09万
• 依托单位: Carleton University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Collaborative Research and Development Grants
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2012-01-01 至 2013-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=498275
• 关键词: Development; Next; Generation; Magnetic; Field

Magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) technology has been advancing very rapidly in recent years and has already been successfully applied for the development of next-generation hard drives and non-volatile magnetic memories (known as MRAM). As its commercialization in the above two markets begins, this emerging quantum tunneling technology also offers a huge potential for super-sensitive low-field magnetic sensing, another billion-dollar market, thanks to its advantages of high sensitivity, small size, low cost, and low power consumption. Partnering with an Ottawa-based company, Guildline Instruments Limited (GIL), the proposed research is aimed to conduct experimental studies to investigate the underlying potentials of MTJs for ultra-low magnetic field sensing. Our ultimate goal is to transfer this emerging MTJ technology to real-world products by developing next-generation supersensitive magnetic field sensors to displace those based on older technologies (e.g., Hall Effect sensors). By experimentally quantifying and modeling the key parameters that hinder MTJs from practical applications, i.e., the temperature effects, noises, hysteresis, and nonlinearity, our research reduces guesswork. The findings of the research will permit GIL to target its resources with greater effectiveness in developing MTJ sensors, and these new-generation magnetic sensors will be a significant addition to the GIL's proud history and bring more sales and more jobs in Canada. Furthermore, the economic impact of the MTJ sensors is far greater than their sales volume because they would increase economic productivity by playing key roles in manufacturing technology, in health care, and in many other industries in Canada.

磁性隧道结（MTJ）技术近年来发展非常迅速，并且已经成功地应用于下一代硬盘驱动器和非易失性磁性存储器（称为MRAM）的开发。随着其在上述两个市场的商业化开始，这种新兴的量子隧道技术也为超灵敏的低场磁传感提供了巨大的潜力，这是另一个数十亿美元的市场，这要归功于其高灵敏度，小尺寸，低成本和低功耗的优势。与渥太华的Guildline Instruments Limited（GIL）公司合作，拟议的研究旨在进行实验研究，以调查MTJ用于超低磁场传感的潜在潜力。我们的最终目标是通过开发下一代超灵敏磁场传感器来取代基于旧技术的传感器（例如，霍尔效应传感器）。通过实验量化和建模阻碍MTJ实际应用的关键参数，即，温度效应、噪声、滞后和非线性，我们的研究减少了猜测。研究结果将使GIL能够更有效地利用其资源开发MTJ传感器，这些新一代磁传感器将成为GIL自豪历史的重要补充，并为加拿大带来更多的销售和更多的就业机会。此外，MTJ传感器的经济影响远远大于其销售量，因为它们将通过在加拿大的制造技术、医疗保健和许多其他行业中发挥关键作用来提高经济生产力。