Patent ID: 9721594
Date: 2017-08-01
CPC Classifications: B82Y,G11B,H01F,H01L,Y10T

Claim:
1. A method of manufacturing a spin torque oscillator, the method comprising: forming a metal layer to be converted into a current confinement layer on a stack including an oscillation layer comprising a magnetic material and a spin injection layer comprising a magnetic material; forming, on the metal layer, a mask layer with a tapered surface at an end thereof; and oxidizing or nitriding an end of the metal layer located under the mask layer formed to include the tapered surface at the end thereof, to form the current confinement layer comprising an insulating portion comprising an oxide or a nitride and a conductive portion comprising a nonmagnetic metal and penetrating the insulating portion in a direction of stacking, wherein the conductive portion of the current confinement layer has a rectangular planar shape, and a device region including the oscillation layer and the spin injection layer has a rectangular planar shape in a size of 50 nm×50 nm or less, and the conductive portion of the current confinement layer is positioned near a central portion of a plane of the device region including the oscillation layer and the spin injection layer, and the insulating portion is between each of three sides of the conductive portion and a corresponding one of four sides of the device region, and a fourth side of the conductive portion is at one of the four sides of the device region without the insulating portion being between the fourth side of the conductive region and the one of the four sides of the device region.