Patent ID: 8208231
Filing Date: 2012-06-26
Classification: B82Y,G01R,G11B,G11C,H01F,H01L,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A tunneling magnetic sensing element comprising: a laminate in which a pinned magnetic layer having a magnetization direction pinned, an insulating barrier layer, and a free magnetic layer having a magnetization direction variable with an external magnetic field, or the free magnetic layer, the insulating barrier layer, and the pinned magnetic layer are laminated in order from below, the pinned magnetic layer including a second pinned magnetic layer adjacent to the insulating barrier layer, wherein the insulating barrier layer is made of Mg—O, the free magnetic layer has a soft magnetic layer and an enhanced layer disposed between the soft magnetic layer and the insulating barrier layer to have a spin polarization ratio higher than the soft magnetic layer, and an insertion magnetic layer made of one selected from Co—Fe—B, Co—B, Fe—B, and Co—Fe is inserted into the soft magnetic layer in a direction parallel to the interface of each layer constituting the laminate, and the soft magnetic layer is divided into multiple layers in a thickness direction through the insertion magnetic layer, the multiple layers including a first soft magnetic layer between the insertion magnetic layer and the enhanced layer, wherein the second pinned magnetic layer, the insulating barrier layer Mg—O and the enhance layer have a body-centered cubic structure (bcc structure) in which equivalent crystal planes represented by a {100} plane are preferentially aligned in a direction parallel to the interface, wherein the soft magnetic layer has a face-centered cubic structure (fcc structure) in which equivalent crystal planes represented by a {111} plane are preferentially aligned in a direction parallel to the interface, and wherein the thickness of the first soft magnetic layer equal to or larger than 5 Å and equal to or less than 30 Å.