Abstract
Less than thirty years after the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) effect was described, GMR sensors are the preferred choice in many applications demanding the measurement of low magnetic fields in small volumes. This rapid deployment from theoretical basis to market and state-of-the-art applications can be explained by the combination of excellent inherent properties with the feasibility of fabrication, allowing the real integration with many other standard technologies. In this paper, we present a review focusing on how this capability of integration has allowed the improvement of the inherent capabilities and, therefore, the range of application of GMR sensors. After briefly describing the phenomenological basis, we deal on the benefits of low temperature deposition techniques regarding the integration of GMR sensors with flexible (plastic) substrates and pre-processed CMOS chips. In this way, the limit of detection can be improved by means of bettering the sensitivity or reducing the noise. We also report on novel fields of application of GMR sensors by the recapitulation of a number of cases of success of their integration with different heterogeneous complementary elements. We finally describe three fully functional systems, two of them in the bio-technology world, as the proof of how the integrability has been instrumental in the meteoric development of GMR sensors and their applications.
Highlights
The giant magnetoresistance (GMR) effect was fully described in 1988 by A
In the last years, the GMR technology has been continuously demonstrating its capability of integration, monolithically, with a wide range of complementary technologies, which has allowed the enhancement of its intrinsic properties as well as the spreading of its range of application
Monolithic integration of GMR sensors with integrated circuits opens a wide range of cutting edge applications including, for example, bioengineering or spin microelectronics, which usually require a large number of connections and sensors
Summary
The giant magnetoresistance (GMR) effect was fully described in 1988 by A. GMR based sensors are well established, initially emerging by exploiting the linear range between both limit states They have been successfully used in a huge range of scenarios demanding small devices with good figures of merit. The fabrication of GMR devices can be carried out by means of traditional deposition (e.g., sputtering) and UV lithography systems, which are available in small laboratories as well as in big companies In this way, GMR sensors are, nowadays, the preferred option when the measurement of low magnetic fields in small spaces is required. In the last years, the GMR technology has been continuously demonstrating its capability of integration, monolithically, with a wide range of complementary technologies, which has allowed the enhancement of its intrinsic properties as well as the spreading of its range of application Among these accompanying technologies, we should highlight standard complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technologies and microfluidics as the more relevant. We will collect the state-of-the-art advances of the integration of GMR sensors with different heterogenic technologies
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