Patent ID: 9478732
Filing Date: 2016-10-25
CPC Classification: B82Y,G01R,H01L

Claim Text:
1. A thin-film magnetoresistive sensor element for detecting a magnetic field component perpendicular to a plane of a substrate of its deposition, comprising: a single ferromagnetic free layer in which-an intrinsic easy axis of a material of the ferromagnetic free layer is set perpendicular to the plane of the substrate onto which the ferromagnetic free layer is deposited, a ferromagnetic reference layer in which a magnetization direction of the ferromagnetic reference layer is constrained to lie parallel to the plane of the substrate, wherein the ferromagnetic reference layer either includes a ferromagnetic layer that is magnetically coupled to an antiferromagnetic layer, or includes a ferromagnetic layer that has higher coercivity than the ferromagnetic free layer, and a spacer layer between the ferromagnetic free layer and the ferromagnetic reference layer, wherein the spacer layer comprising either an insulating or a conducting material, wherein: wherein the insulating first spacer layer includes an oxide.