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

磁隧道结(MTJ)技术近年来发展非常迅速，已经成功地应用于下一代硬盘驱动器和非易失性磁存储器(MRAM)的开发。随着其在上述两个市场的商业化进程，这种新兴的量子隧道技术也因其高灵敏度、小体积、低成本和低功耗的优势，为超灵敏低场磁传感提供了巨大的潜力，这是另一个价值10亿美元的市场。这项拟议的研究与总部位于渥太华的Guildline Instruments Limited(GIL)合作，旨在进行实验研究，以调查MTJ在超低磁场传感方面的潜在潜力。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(例如霍尔效应传感器)的传感器，从而将这种新兴的MTJ技术转移到现实世界的产品中。通过对阻碍MTJ实际应用的关键参数，即温度效应、噪声、滞后和非线性进行实验量化和建模，我们的研究减少了猜测。研究结果将使GIL能够更有效地将其资源用于开发MTJ传感器，这些新一代磁性传感器将为GIL辉煌的历史增添重要的一笔，并在加拿大带来更多的销售和就业机会。此外，MTJ传感器的经济影响远远大于其销售量，因为它们将在加拿大的制造技术、医疗保健和许多其他行业发挥关键作用，从而提高经济生产率。

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.