Research On The Anisotropic Magnetoresistive Sensor For Detecting The Geomagnetic Field

As one of the important earth resources, the geomagnetic field is closely linked with the modern production and life. It is needed for many aspects such as the geosciences, aeronautics, astronautics, resource probing, transportation, national defense construction, earthquake prediction and so forth. However all the above mentioned are based on weak magnetic sensors to detect the geomagnetic field which changes with time and space. The anisotropic magnetoresistive sensor (AMR sensor) has the merits of high sensitivity, high reliability, good linearity, low power consumption, easy miniaturization and so on. Therefore, it is very important to improve or optimize the performances of the AMR sensor to satisfy the requirements of geomagnetic measurement. In regard to the requirements to detect the geomagnetic field, the principles, the material and the structures of the anisotropic magnetoresistive sensors were studied in the thesis. The main contents are as follows:Firstly, with the principle of the anisotropic magnetoresistance effect, current research progress of the anisotropic magnetoresistance material was introduced. Then based on the characteristics of geomagnetic field, the pros and cons of the application of AMR sensors in the geomagnetic field measurement were discussed.Secondly, the anisotropic magnetoresistance films (Permalloy films) were prepared with magnetron sputtering method. And their structure, thickness and annealing temperature were studied. The Permalloy films were optimized with NiFeCr or Al2O3 as assisted seed layers and annealing technique. Measurement showed that the magnetoresistance curve of the material was quite smooth, and obvious peaks were found. The best magnetoresistance coefficient (R/ R) of the material reached a maximum of 1.5%.In the last chapter, the structure of the AMR sensor, including the wheatstone bridge, barber pole and current strap was investigated, and the lithography masks were designed with L-edit, also the process for the devices preparation and lithography process were stated.