Patent ID: 8890266

Claim:
A magnetic sensor comprising at least one array, each array comprising: a plurality of groups, each group comprising one or more subgroupings of magnetic tunnel junction devices, each subgrouping comprising: a shaped reference element comprising: an electrode; and a shaped reference layer over the electrode, a tunnel barrier layer over the shaped reference layer; and a plurality of sense elements over the tunnel barrier layer, wherein a sense element, the portion of the tunnel barrier layer under the sense element, and the portion of the shaped reference element under the sense element form a magnetic tunnel junction device; and a plurality of conductors over the plurality of magnetic tunnel junction devices, wherein the plurality of conductors and one or more of the electrodes are configured to electrically couple one of: the magnetic tunnel junction devices within each group in parallel and the groups in series; or the magnetic tunnel junction devices within each of the plurality of groups in series and the plurality of groups in parallel.