Tunable Perpendicular Magnetoresistive Sensor Driven by Shape and Substrate Induced Magnetic Anisotropy

Control of magnetization reversal processes is a key issue for the implementation of magnetic materials in technological applications. The modulation of shape magnetic anisotropy in nanowire structures with a high aspect ratio is an efficient way to tune sharp in-plane magnetic switching. However, control of fast magnetization reversal processes induced by perpendicular magnetic fields is much more challenging. Here, tunable sharp magnetoresistance changes, triggered by out-of-plane magnetic fields, are demonstrated in thin permalloy strips grown on LaAlO3 single crystal substrates. Micromagnetic simulations are used to evaluate the resistance changes of the strips at different applied field values and directions and correlate them with the magnetic domain distribution. The experimentally observed sharp magnetic switching, tailored by the shape anisotropy of the strips, is properly accounted for by numerical simulations when considering a substrate-induced uniaxial magnetic anisotropy. These results are promising for the design of magnetic sensors and other advanced magnetoresistive devices working with perpendicular magnetic fields by using simple structures.