Investigators: W. F. Egelhoff, P .J. Chen (guest researcher), T. Ha, J. H. Judy (U. Minn.), R. D. Gomez (U. Md.), H. D. Chopra (U. Md.), R. D. K. Misra (guest researcher), J. Nir (guest researcher)

Technical Description:

The objective of this program is to provide assistance to U.S. companies in the magnetic data- storage industry so they can operate successfully in the increasingly competitive world market. We have constructed an elaborate new facility to allow us to reach this objective. No facility of such complexity exists anywhere else in the world. Our work should provide U.S. companies with a significant competitive edge.

Technical Objectives:

• The objective of this program is to provide assistance in manufacturing process development to U.S. companies in the magnetic data-storage industry.

• Particular emphasis is placed on helping companies which have received Advanced Technology Program (ATP) grants.

• Our role is to investigate the science underlying the manufacturing process, something these companies cannot afford to do on their own.

Anticipated Outcome:

• The focus of our research for the past year has been to improve upon a new class of magnetic thin films which exhibit a property known as the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) effect.

• Thin-film GMR materials have great commercial potential in ultrahigh density data- storage products.

• It is likely that within a decade, GMR-based data-storage products will account for billions of dollars in annual sales for U.S. companies.

• Our research is anticipated to help make U.S. companies the world leaders in this field.

• In the year to come, we expect to continue to play a leading role in the development of improved manufacturing processes for GMR films.

• Our supply of novel, innovative, and unprecedented ideas for improving these materials shows no sign of diminishing.

Accomplishments for FY 1995:

• The past year was the first full year of operation for the Magnetic Engineering Research Facility (MERF) which was constructed for the competence program.

• The MERF is the most elaborately instrumented thin-film deposition facility in the world.

• MERF is designed to simulate the magnetic thin-film manufacturing environment and at the same time permit in situ application of the most advanced structural and magnetic diagnostic techniques.

• Research at MERF in the past year has achieved highest levels of the GMR effect ever recorded in samples of the type (spin valves) best suited to commercial products.

• The key variables for these record-setting results have been identified (e.g., low water vapor pressure during deposition, deposition of GMR films at cryogenic temperatures, and careful substrate cleaning).

• We have found that the response of the GMR film to an external magnetic field can be substantially increased if surfactant atoms such as Pb or In are added during deposition to produce the smoothest possible film.

Impacts and Technical Highlights:

• The information on our record-setting results has been transferred to our collaborators at IBM, Seagate, Hewlett-Packard, Nonvolatile Electronics, and Read-Rite.

• These collaborators are attempting to implement our findings in their production equipment.

• As far as we can determine, the foreign competitors of these U.S. companies are unaware of these recent developments. The U.S. companies thus have a headstart.

• During the coming year we will continue these collaborations and initiate a new one, with Motorola, which will develop a giant magnetoresistance (GMR)-based version of dynamic random access memory (DRAMs). We have Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) funding to support this collaboration.

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Last modified: Mon Jan 06 09:46:15 1997 Metallurgy Webmeister