Project Title: SPUTTERED MULTILAYER NANOSCALE MAGNETIC FILMS
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.
Back to Table of Contents
Last modified: Mon Jan 06 09:46:15 1997
Metallurgy Webmeister