SBIR Phase I: High-Resolution Absolute Linear Encoder Based on a Spintronic Sensing Array

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目将探索利用不断发展的自旋电子学技术开发绝对、高分辨率线性编码器的可行性。磁性隧道结传感器阵列将检测由光刻定义的具有已知几何形状的微米级载流导体产生的空间变化的磁场。绝对空间编码将通过传感器输出到线性位移的唯一映射来实现。建议的设备将是绝对编码器，这将极大地降低功耗。在第一阶段的工作中，这种基于隧道结技术的磁编码器的想法将从纯理论想法带入原型阶段。与现有技术相比，所提出的产品将具有低成本、低功耗、坚固耐用和极高的灵敏度，从而可能为编码器技术创造全新的市场。因此，拟议工作的潜在影响将在所有需要精确测量位移的领域感受到，例如个人电子产品、机器人、机床、晶片搬运设备、科学和医学成像、微操作和运动控制系统。具有亚微米分辨率的磁性隧道结阵列的发展将在许多基础和应用研究领域，特别是在新兴的纳米技术、生物磁学和自旋电子学领域具有重要的应用价值。

0340145This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will explore the feasibility of developing an absolute, high-resolution linear encoder leveraging the evolving technology of spintronics. An array of magnetic tunnel junction sensors will sense spatially varying magnetic fields generated by lithographically defined micron-scale current carrying conductors with known geometries. Absolute spatial encoding will be achieved by a unique mapping of sensor outputs to linear displacement. The proposed device will be an absolute encoder, which will dramatically reduce power consumption. In the Phase I work, this idea of a magnetic encoder based on tunnel junction technology will be brought from a purely theoretical idea to the prototyping stage.The proposed product will be low-cost, low power, robust, and extremely sensitive compared to existing techniques and thus may create brand new markets for encoder technology. The potential impact of the proposed work will thus be felt in every field requiring precise measurement of displacement, such as personal electronics, robotics, machine tools, wafer handling equipment, scientific and medical imaging, micromanipulation, and motion control systems. The development of an array of magnetic tunnel junctions with submicron resolution will be of great utility in many fields of basic and applied research, particularly in the emerging fields of nanotechnology, biomagnetism, and spintronics.