TY - GEN
T1 - A novel low-cost high-throughput probe card scanner analyzer for characterization of magnetic tunnel junctions
AU - Pong, Philip W.T.
AU - Schmoueli, Moshe
AU - Marcus, Eliezer
AU - Egelhoff, William F.
PY - 2007
Y1 - 2007
N2 - The advancement of the technology of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) greatly hinges on the optimization of the magnetic materials, fabrication process, and annealing conditions which involve characterization of a large number of samples. As such, it is of paramount importance to have a rapid-turnaround characterization method since the characterization process can take even longer time than the fabrication. Conventionally, micropositioners and probe tips are manually operated to perform 4-point electrical measurement on each individual device which is a time-consuming, low-throughput process. A commercial automatic probe card analyzer can provide high turnaround; however, it is expensive and involves much cost and labor to install and maintain the equipment. In view of this, we have developed a novel low-cost, home-made, high-throughput probe card analyzer system for characterization of MTJs. It can perform fast 4-probe electrical measurements including current vs voltage, magnetoresistance, and bias dependence measurements with a high turnaround of about 500 devices per hour. The design and construction of the system is discussed in detail in this paper.
AB - The advancement of the technology of magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) greatly hinges on the optimization of the magnetic materials, fabrication process, and annealing conditions which involve characterization of a large number of samples. As such, it is of paramount importance to have a rapid-turnaround characterization method since the characterization process can take even longer time than the fabrication. Conventionally, micropositioners and probe tips are manually operated to perform 4-point electrical measurement on each individual device which is a time-consuming, low-throughput process. A commercial automatic probe card analyzer can provide high turnaround; however, it is expensive and involves much cost and labor to install and maintain the equipment. In view of this, we have developed a novel low-cost, home-made, high-throughput probe card analyzer system for characterization of MTJs. It can perform fast 4-probe electrical measurements including current vs voltage, magnetoresistance, and bias dependence measurements with a high turnaround of about 500 devices per hour. The design and construction of the system is discussed in detail in this paper.
KW - Alignment
KW - Magnetic tunnel junctions
KW - Probe card analyzer
KW - Tunneling magnetoresistance
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=42149182067&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=42149182067&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1117/12.731143
DO - 10.1117/12.731143
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:42149182067
SN - 9780819467966
T3 - Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
BT - Instrumentation, Metrology, and Standards for Nanomanufacturing
T2 - Instrumentation, Metrology, and Standards for Nanomanufacturing
Y2 - 29 August 2007 through 30 August 2007
ER -