US 2003/0196316 A1Published application

Method for manufacturing magnetoresistive element

AssigneeMatsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

InventorsYoshio Kawashima, Akihiro Odagawa, Nozomu Matsukawa, Yasunari Sugita, Yasunori Morinaga

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Abstract

The present invention provides a magnetoresistive element that can suppress the characteristic degradation even after high-temperature heat treatment, specifically at 400° C. to 450° C. This element is manufactured by a method that includes the following processes in the indicated order: a film formation process for forming at least a first ferromagnetic layer, a second ferromagnetic layer, and a non-magnetic layer on a substrate; a preheat process at 330° C. to 380° C. for not less than 60 minutes; and a heat treatment process at 400° C. to 450° C. This element has a resistance value that changes with a change in relative angle formed by the magnetization directions of the first ferromagnetic layer and the second ferromagnetic layer.

Claims10

Dependent claims

A method for manufacturing a magnetoresistive element,

the magnetoresistive element comprising:
a substrate;
and
a multilayer film formed on the substrate, the multilayer film comprising a first ferromagnetic layer, a second ferromagnetic layer, and a non-magnetic layer arranged between the first ferromagnetic layer and the second ferromagnetic layer,
wherein a resistance value changes with a change in relative angle formed by magnetization directions of the first ferromagnetic layer and the second ferromagnetic layer,
the method comprising:
a film formation process for forming at least the first ferromagnetic layer, the second ferromagnetic layer, and the non-magnetic layer on the substrate;
a preheat process at 330° C. to 380° C. for not less than 60 minutes performed after the film formation process;
and
a heat treatment process at 400° C. to 450° C. performed after the preheat process.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.