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Extraordinary Hall effect in thin magnetic films and its potential for sensors, memories and

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2008 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 41 135001

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IOP PUBLISHING JOURNAL OF PHYSICS D: APPLIED PHYSICS
J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 41 (2008) 135001 (8pp) doi:10.1088/0022-3727/41/13/135001

Extraordinary Hall effect in thin magnetic

films and its potential for sensors,
memories and magnetic logic applications
J Moritz, B Rodmacq, S Auffret and B Dieny
SPINTEC, URA 2512 CEA-CNRS, CEA/INAC, 17 Avenue des Martyrs 38054 Grenoble Cedex 9,
France
E-mail: jerome.moritz@cea.fr

Received 13 February 2008, in final form 29 April 2008

Published 6 June 2008
Online at stacks.iop.org/JPhysD/41/135001

Abstract
We investigate the potential of the extraordinary Hall effect (EHE) in magnetic thin films with
out-of-plane anisotropy for sensors, memories or logic applications. The scalability of EHE at
decreasing lateral dimension has been first explored. In order for EHE to provide output
voltage compatible with CMOS technology, it is shown that the longitudinal resistivity of the
magnetic material must be considerably increased at decreasing size while keeping a large
Hall angle. Then the EHE properties of various classes of materials with out-of-plane
anisotropy ((Co/Pt) multilayers, FePt ordered alloys, rare-earth/transition metal alloys,
CoSiOx and CoPtSiOx heterogeneous composites) are measured and compared in order to
evaluate their potential for the envisioned applications. It is concluded that while EHE can
readily be used for large devices (size > micrometres), no materials are yet available which
offer suitable scalability towards the 22 nm microelectronic node.
(Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)

1. Introduction Ney et al have shown that, by using a MTJ, it was possible

Spin electronics has mainly benefited so far the fields of
magnetic recording and non-volatile magnetic memories. For
instance, giant magnetoresistance (GMR) has been used in
read-heads of hard disk drives from 1998 to 2004 [1]. Magnetic
tunnel junctions (MTJ) exhibiting tunnel magnetoresistance
constitute the storage elements of magnetic random access
memories (MRAM) [2]. These memories are a first example
of hybrid CMOS/MTJ devices. Besides these applications,
it has recently been proposed to improve existing electronic
devices by the addition of magnetic elements, with the aim of
creating active cells [3,4]. This can be achieved by combining
magnetic and semiconductor structures, which would have
lots of advantages such as infinite cyclability, low power
consumption and non-volatility. Using the same technology
as for MRAM, hybrid CMOS/MTJ logic components can be
conceived to process information. This approach has been
shown to be particularly interesting for reprogrammable digital
logic systems (field programmable gate array for instance)
and in the field of reconfigurable computing in general [5, 6].
to program four types of logic gates [7]. Richter et al
have demonstrated its feasibility and fabricated spin-logic
gates based on spin tunnelling elements, which they have
programmed from a NAND to a NOR [8]. Zhao et al
have conceived non-volatile flip-flop gate integrating CMOS
transistors and MTJs [6]. Other authors have developed
fully magnetic logic systems based on magnetic domain wall
propagation [9].
In this study, we investigate another approach for making
hybrid semiconductor/magnetic devices based on the use of
the extraordinary Hall effect (EHE). Large EHE signals with
very good signal-to-noise ratio can be easily obtained in
some magnetic materials exhibiting perpendicular-to-plane
anisotropy. EHE is a magnetotransport effect, which is
commonly measured in a cross geometry as depicted in
figure 1(a), with the magnetic field applied perpendicular to
the plane of the sample. When a current I flows along one arm
of the cross, the Hall voltage along the perpendicular arm has
two components:
VHall /I = (V+ − V− )/I = R0 H + REHE Mz . (1)

0022-3727/08/135001+08$30.00 1 © 2008 IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK

J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 41 (2008) 135001
Figure 1. (a) Geometry of Hall cross used for measuring EHE.
(b) Typical hysteresis loop obtained by measuring the Hall voltage
on perpendicular-to-plane Co/Pt multilayers.
The first term R0 is the ordinary Hall effect coefficient
proportional to the applied field H and related to the Lorentz
force acting on moving charge carriers; the second term is the
EHE coefficient proportional to the perpendicular component
of the magnetization [10]. The EHE coefficient is most of the
time much larger than the ordinary Hall one, and arises from
the spin dependent scattering of conduction electrons. Two
types of scattering are generally assumed to be at the origin
of EHE. The skew scattering characterizes the deflection of
the scattered carriers from their original trajectories [11]. The
side-jump mechanism results in a lateral displacement of the
charge’s trajectory at the scattering centre [12]. It was also
claimed that Hall and longitudinal resistivities were linked
together, because they both depend on scattering phenomena.
Combination of the two last mechanisms gives the relationship:
REHE = aρ + bρ 2 , (2)
where the first term a is attributed to the skew scattering and the
second one b to the side-jump mechanism. When ρ is small,
at low temperature or in pure metal for instance, the skew
scattering is believed to be the major contribution to REHE .
In alloys or disordered materials, when ρ is larger, the side-
jump mechanism is predominant. Equation (2) could then be
expressed as REHE = αρ n , with n = 1 for the skew scattering,
n = 2 for the side jump and 1 < n < 2 for their superposition.
However, many discrepancies to this model have been found
in heterogeneous materials such as granular or multilayered
systems [12], and even in bulk homogeneous ones [13], where
the exponent n could exceed 2. That is why the complete origin
of the EHE is not still completely clear.
In perpendicular-to-plane magnetized materials, the EHE
is expected to be large, because these materials often contain
2
J Moritz et al
heavy elements such as Pt, Au or rare earths, where the spin–
orbit interaction is significant. In thin films with well defined
out-of-plane anisotropy, the hysteresis under perpendicular-to-
plane field can be very square (see figure 1(b) for instance). In
this case, the remanent states in zero field can be used to store
binary information and the spontaneous EHE voltage allows
retrieval of the magnetic state of the device.
If the EHE were to be used in logic or memory hybrid
CMOS/EHE devices, the output signal from the magnetic EHE
cell (i.e. the Hall voltage) should be large enough to control
the opening/closing of a FET (field effect transistor) channel.
A FET needs at least 50 mV to be driven, and one seeks in the
present type of devices a supply voltage of the order of 1 V,
which leads to
VHall
≈ 0.05. (3)
VSupply
Still considering the Hall cross of figure 1(a), it is possible
to calculate the ratio given by (3). An applied current I
flows through the longitudinal arm, which generates a supply
voltage:
VSupply = ρxx Lj, (4)
where j is the current density given by I = j t, ρxx the
longitudinal resistivity, L and l the lateral and longitudinal
dimensions of the cross, respectively.
In the transverse direction, a Hall voltage appears, linked
to the Hall electrical field by
VHall = EHall  = ρxy lj. (5)
Consequently, by combining (4) and (5), one finds
VHall ρxy 
= , (6)
VSupply ρxx L
ρxy /ρxx is a dimensionless parameter called the Hall angle
which characterizes the ability of the material to deviate
the flow of electrons from the direction of the longitudinal
electrical field. /L is a geometrical parameter which is at
most of the order of 1. So if an EHE cell is coupled to a FET,
the Hall angle must be at least about 5%.
It is important to note that the Hall voltage does not
depend on the size of the cross (keeping an aspect ratio
of 1) as long as the supply voltage can be kept constant
across the longitudinal arm. However, this is possible only
as long as the current density through the device does not
exceed the electromigration limit, typically of the order of
jmax ∼ 107 A cm−2 . Since the current density is related
to the longitudinal resistivity and supply voltage by relation
(4), it is clear that the possibility of maintaining the voltage
Vsupply across a Hall cross of dimension L imposes for
the EHE magnetic material a minimum resistivity given by
ρxx min = Vsupply /Ljmax . For decreasing sizes corresponding
to the microelectronic nodes 90 nm, 60 nm, 32 nm, this
yields a minimum resistivity of, respectively, 11.1 m cm,
16.7 m cm and 31.3 m cm. These resistivities are much
above the resistivities of known magnetic metallic multilayers
or amorphous alloys exhibiting EHE, but are of the order
of magnitude of the resistivity of metal/insulator composite
J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 41 (2008) 135001 J Moritz et al

materials. This is the reason why in this study, we investigated (Pt 8Å/Co 6Å)4
the EHE properties of some composite materials. 1
Another important parameter is the electrical consumption
of the device. Indeed, the Joule dissipation, given by
0.5
P = VSupply
2
t/ρxx , shows that to minimize the electrical
consumption, it is also preferable to use highly resistive

ρxy (µΩ.cm)
materials with low thicknesses. 0
In this paper, we review different perpendicular-to-plane
magnetized materials with a large EHE signal, and compare
their transport properties to what is required for an application -0.5
in hybrid CMOS/EHE devices. In a first part, the EHE
properties of several families of continuous thin films or
multilayers such as Co/Pt multilayers, FePt alloys or rare- -1
-0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3
earth/transition metal alloys are discussed. In a second part, the
Hz (kOe)
EHE properties of composite granular films such as Co : Al2 O3
or NiFe : SiO2 are discussed, as well as as those of CoPt : SiO2 (Pt 20Å/Co 6Å)4
1
composite films in which larger EHE angle could be expected
due to the presence of Pt.
0.5
2. EHE in continuous magnetic thin films

2.1. Co/Pt multilayers
This system has been widely studied in the past decades,
as well as other similar transition metal superlattices
exhibiting interesting magnetic and transport phenomena,
which have found applications in magneto-optical recording
and magnetic recording in general. These transition metal
structures (Co/Au, Co/Pt, Co/Cu, Co/Pd) have revealed
that at small thicknesses the easy axis of magnetization
can switch from in-plane to perpendicular-to-plane [15–17].
This perpendicular anisotropy, which arises from strain and
electronic hybridization effects at the interfaces between Co
and Pt [18], is still not completely understood. It strongly
depends on growth conditions and, as mentioned above,
on respective thicknesses of 3d magnetic and non-magnetic
metals [19].
Typical multilayered structures Pt tbuffer /(Co tCo /Pt tPt )n
were deposited by dc magnetron sputtering onto SiO2
amorphous substrates. Deposition rates of Co and Pt were
0.5 Å s−1 and 1 Å s−1 , respectively, under an Ar pressure of
2.5 × 10−3 mbar. All depositions were carried out at room
temperature.
Figure 2 shows that above a minimum proportion of Pt
with respect to Co, a 100% perpendicular magnetic remanence
is observed (square hysteresis loops). It is possible to decrease
both Pt and Co thicknesses to almost one atomic layer while
keeping a perpendicular-to-plane anisotropy. In this case, the
Pt to Co content is close to 50% and the multilayered structure
becomes quite close to that of L10 ordered alloys (see next
section).
We have observed that the Hall resistivity hardly depends
on the number of repeats of the multilayer, but decreases
as the Pt content increases in each repeat (see figure 3).
The longitudinal resistivity of the multilayers also slightly
decreases as the Pt thickness is increased as well as the
Hall angle. Therefore the Hall angle is maximum in these
multilayers when the relative content of Pt to Co is as low as
ρxy (µΩ.cm)
0
-0.5
-1
-0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3
Hz (kOe)
Figure 2. Hysteresis loops measured on different Co/Pt multilayers,
where the thickness of Pt varies. The perpendicular-to-plane
anisotropy clearly depends on buffer and Pt layer thicknesses.
possible but still compatible with a perpendicular anisotropy,
i.e. of the order of 50 µ cm. The Hall angle is then equal
to 2.3% with ρxx ∼ 41 and ρxy ∼ 1 µ cm. Note that the
longitudinal multilayer resistivity is larger than the resistivity
of each constituent (ρCo ∼ 15 µ cm, ρPt ∼ 20 µ cm) due to
interfacial scattering and Pt/Co alloying. Furthermore, if the
thickness of the buffer layer is increased, the Hall resistivity
decreases due to shunting of the current in the buffer. The
variation of the Hall angle versus the Co thickness is shown in
figure 4. It slightly increases from 1.5% to 2.3%, but above 8 Å
the perpendicular anisotropy decreases. In summary, it is quite
difficult to reach a 5% Hall angle with these multilayers, and
even if the resistivity is larger than in the pure elements, it is
far from sufficient to fulfil the criterion required by scalability.
2.2. FePt ordered alloys
The FePt ordered alloys have a L1 0 structure, which consists
of an alternation of one atomic plane of Fe and one atomic
plane of Pt. In these ordered alloys, the degree of ordering
S depends a lot on the growth conditions, particularly on the
substrate temperature, as well as on the underlayer [20]. This
degree of order can be determined by x-ray diffraction by
looking at the ratio of the line intensities originating from Fe
atoms located at Fe sites and Pt sites. S can be improved by

3
J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 41 (2008) 135001 J Moritz et al

(Pt tPt/Co 6Å)4 (Pt tPt/Co 6Å)4 (Pt tPt/Co 6Å)4

1 42 0.025

0.8 40
ρxy (µΩ.cm)

ρxx (µΩ.cm)
0.02

Hall angle
0.6 38

0.4 36
0.015

0.2 34

0 32 0.01
6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22
tPt (Å) tPt (Å) tPt (Å)

Figure 3. Longitudinal and Hall resistivity and calculated Hall angle for Co/Pt multilayers where the thickness of the Pt layers increases.
The largest values are obtained when the Pt thickness tends to that of the Co.

(Pt 12/Co tCo)4/Pt 12 0.6 S~0.5

0.025 A
0.4
S~0.7
0.2
(µΩ.cm)
Hall angle=ρxy/ρxx

0.02
B
0
xy
ρ

-0.2

0.015
-0.4

-0.6
-10 -5 0 5 10
0.01 Hz (kOe)
3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7
tCo (Angstrom) Figure 5. EHE measured for two different ordered FePt alloys.
Sample A: MgO\FePt (10 nm)\Pt (1.5 nm); sample B:
Figure 4. Variation of the Hall angle versus Co thickness in a Co/Pt MgO\Cr(3 nm)\Pt(60 nm)\FePt (40 nm)\Pt(2 nm). The amplitude
multilayer. of the signal depends on the degree of order S.

post-deposition annealing at high temperature (400–550 ◦ C) (sample A: MgO\FePt(10 nm)\Pt(1.5 nm) and sample B:
or lower temperature (200–300 ◦ C) if combined with light ion MgO\Cr(3 nm)\Pt(60 nm)\FePt(40 nm)\Pt(2 nm)). FePt was
irradiation [21–23]. evaporated onto oriented MgO (0 0 1) substrates held at
Usually FePt structures (or equivalent FePd) are 500 ◦ C. The Cr/Pt buffer in sample B was deposited at room
evaporated on oriented single crystals such as MgO (0 0 1), temperature and annealed at 550 ◦ C. Sample B has a better
which favors epitaxial growth [24, 25]. In well ordered ordering (S = 0.7 as compared with 0.5 for sample A),
structures, a very strong perpendicular-to-plane anisotropy because of the Cr/Pt underlayer. The structural disorder
can appear, due to a tetragonal distortion of the lattice cell A
increases the longitudinal resistivity: ρxx = 39 µ cm to be
along the growth direction. This uniaxial anisotropy is about compared with ρxx = 30 µ cm. The Hall angles of these
B

(4–10)×107 erg cm−3 , one order of magnitude larger than what samples are, respectively: αA = (ρxy A A
/ρxx ) = 1.5% and
is observed in CoCr based alloys or in Co/Pt multilayers [26]. αB = (ρxy /ρxx ) = 1%.
B B

Note that polycrystalline thin films can also be obtained by
evaporating FePt on amorphous substrates such as glass or
SiO2 held at elevated temperatures [27, 28] or by dc sputtering
FePt on oriented MgO also at elevated temperature [29].
In these alloys, the degree of order plays a very
important role on the magnetic properties (in particular
the amplitude of the perpendicular anisotropy as mentioned
above) as well as on the transport properties (longitudinal
and transverse resistivity). As an example, figure 5
shows a comparison of the Hall resistivity in two samples
This relationship between the degree of order and the
EHE in L1 0 ordered alloys is corroborated by studies from
other groups. For instance Yu et al have reported transport
measurements carried out on three FePt samples with different
degrees of order [30]. The results summarized in table 1 show
the same variation of the Hall angle with S. Its maximum
value of about 3.3% is also larger than what was observed
in Co/Pt sputtered multilayers (2.3%), which is consistent
with the observation that the Hall angle increases when the
relative content of Co and Pt tends to be equal. However,

4
J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 41 (2008) 135001
Table 1. Hall resistivity, longitudinal resistivity and Hall angle from
different ordered L1 0 FePt alloys extracted from [29].
Degree of order ρxx (µ cm) ρxy (µ cm) Hall angle
(0 < S < 1) at 1.7 K at 1.7 K at 1.7 K
0.80 7.2 0.068 0.95 × 10−2
0.63 18.5 0.32 1.76 × 10−2
0.47 26.6 0.88 3.32 × 10−2
this gain in the Hall angle is not that large considering the
additional complexity introduced by the fact that the films
are grown by evaporation onto single crystals. Watanabe and
Masumoto have explored the transport properties of FePt alloys
deposited onto amorphous substrates compared with single
crystals [31]. Below 60% of Pt in the alloy, the resistivity
of the polycrystalline layer is larger than the superlattice one
(Hall angle of about 3.5%, ρxx ∼ 100 µ cm). Concerning the
ordered FePt evaporated film, the maximum value of the Hall
angle is 1.2%, with a resistivity usually lower than 100 µ cm.
In summary, it is possible to have a significant Hall angle
in these FePt alloys when some disorder is present in the
system. This disorder also yields an increased longitudinal
resistivity but not sufficient to ensure scalability at sub-100 nm
microelectronic nodes.
2.3. Rare-earth/transition metal alloys
Rare-earth–transition metal (RE–TM) ferrimagnetic alloys
have been extensively studied for their magneto-optic
properties (magneto-optic media for blue laser), especially
Tb based alloys with high coercivity [32]. Co-sputtered
onto glass substrates, their structure is amorphous and
they exhibit perpendicular-to-plane anisotropy when prepared
under special deposition conditions [33]. Heavy RE–TM
alloys are described by two magnetic anti-parallel subsystems
consisting of the heavy RE (Tb, Dy, Gd, etc) and TM spins.
The thermal variations of TM and RE magnetic moments are
quite different, so that at a particular temperature named the
compensation temperature (Tcomp ), the average magnetization
vanishes. Below the compensation point, RE moments
are dominant, whereas above Tcomp , TM moment is larger.
Similarly to the polarity of the Kerr effect, the Hall voltage
changes sign at Tcomp . It is well known that the extraordinary
Hall coefficient is negative for RE and positive for TM, except
for Ni. But it is not clear whether the EHE is associated
with TM sublattice [34, 35] or RE sublattice [36] or with both
lattices [37].
The resistivity of RE–TM alloys is relatively large,
typically of the order of 100–400 µ cm, because of the
amorphous structure. McGuire et al studied the transport
properties in Gd based alloys (CoGd, FeGd, CoGdMo and
AuCoGd) [37]. They reported longitudinal resistivities in the
range 138–211 µ cm at 77 K and a maximum Hall angle of
5.8% for Fe0.79 Gd0.21 . They showed also that the polarity of
the Hall coefficient depends on Gd concentration. Similar
results have been found in Co2 Y, Fe2.5 Y, Au0.28 Co0.72 [38],
Tb0.2 Fe0.8 [39]. Kim et al carried out a thorough study of
the influence of the rare-earth content on the longitudinal and
5
J Moritz et al
transverse resistivity in FeTb and FeSm [40]. They have
reported a maximum Hall angle of 4.8% in Fe78 Sm22 and a
large resistivity of about 150 µ cm. Note that the Hall angle
is generally larger in Fe based alloys than in Co based alloys
(2.5%) [41].
Although these systems provide the largest EHE signals
among the various families discussed so far, their resistivities
are still too low to ensure scalability towards 32 nm. Besides
that, another important question for hybrid CMOS/EHE
devices concerns the switching field. Indeed, rare-earth-based
alloys have been mainly studied with the aim of using them
as magneto-optical media, i.e. with large coercivity, whereas
most envisioned CMOS/EHE applications would require
magnetically soft materials. However, it has been shown that
relatively soft magnetic properties can be obtained in Gd based
alloys with switching fields lower than 100 Oe [41].
3. Giant Hall effect (GHE) in heterogeneous
granular magnetic films
Magnetic granular thin films have attracted much attention in
the last decade, mainly because of the observation of GMR in
magnetic–non-magnetic binary heterogeneous alloys. These
films, consisting of nanometre size clusters of magnetic metals
embedded in a metallic or an insulator matrix, exhibit specific
magnetotransport properties. For instance, it has been shown
that both GMR and EHE in AgCo granular system depend
strongly on Co particle size (rCo ) [42]. Hall resistivity in
CoCu alloy decreases with increasing rCo (ρxy ≈ 1/rCo 4
) [43].
Resistivities and magnetotransport effects in these granular
metallic materials can be correlated with the particles’ size and
their average spacing with respect to the effective mean free
path of conduction electrons.
Interestingly, when the matrix is an insulator such as SiO2
or Al2 O3 , a so-called GHE appears around and below a critical
metal volume fraction [44]. The absence of a continuous
metallic path explains this behaviour, when the metal volume
fraction approaches the metal–insulator transition xC . The
origin of this GHE is still not completely clear, but it can
be linked to the classical EHE measured on continuous films.
Models about spin dependent diffusive events on impurities in
the framework of EHE, such as side-jump mechanism or skew
scattering, have been developed in the case of a continuous
conductive path, so they could not be directly applied to
granular systems below the percolation threshold. But they
can still explain qualitatively the origin of the enhancement of
the EHE because of the relationship between the resistivities
ρxy and ρxx .
In 1995, Pakhomov et al reported the discovery of GHE
in composite materials consisting of magnetic metallic atoms
dispersed in an insulating matrix at concentrations close to
the percolation threshold [45]. They have reported transverse
Hall resistivities of the order of 200 µ cm in Ni : SiO2
composites. This effect was subsequently observed in a variety
of other composite materials (Co : SiO2 , CoFe : Al2 O3 , etc
[46–48]. In these composite materials, when the concentration
of the metal fraction varies, the resistivity tends to follow an
exponential law, and its amplitude can change by 5 orders of
J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 41 (2008) 135001 J Moritz et al

1000000
1.0

Longitudinal resistivity (µΩ.cm)

100000
0.5

10000
M/Ms

0.0
A00°
A20° 1000
A40°
-0.5
A60°
A80° 100
A90°
-1.0
0.4 0.6 0.
0.8 1..0
-4000 -2000 0 2000 4000 (a) (CoPt) x : (SiO2)1-x
Applied Field (Oe)

Figure 6. Hysteresis loops of (CoPt)0.66 : (SiO2 )0.34 granular system 4

obtained by vibrating sample magnetometer measurements. The
angle between the plane of the sample and the field direction has

Hall Angle (%)

been varied. No evidence of a perpendicular-to-plane anisotropy can 3
be seen for this composite material, neither in the as-deposited state
nor after annealing at 500 ◦ C. 2

magnitude [45]. Surprisingly, the Hall resistivity follows the 1

same variation. As a result, the Hall angle is almost constant in
a large range of resistivities but unfortunately it is quite small,
of the order 0.1%. This means that despite a very large Hall
resistivity, the output Hall voltage in a magnetic logic device
based on these EHE properties would remain quite small (of
the order of 1 mV) if the supply voltage is kept at 1 V. However,
an advantage is that the electrical consumption of EHE devices
based on these materials would be very low because of their
very high longitudinal resistivity.
One may argue though that the absence of heavy elements,
such as Pt, Pd or rare earth, in the composite structures
investigated so far, could explain the low value of the Hall
angle in these systems (weak spin–orbit scattering). Therefore
we have investigated the effect of Pt addition in a Co : SiO2
co-sputtered thin layer.
Samples were fabricated by co-sputtering from two
convergent CoPt and SiO2 targets onto amorphous SiO2
wafers. The proportion of Co in the CoPt target has been
chosen close to what is used in magnetic recording for CoPtCr
highly coercive media (65–75%) [49, 50]. It was calibrated
by magnetometry and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy.
The depositions were carried out under an Ar pressure of
2.5×10−3 mbar with 100 W RF power on the SiO2 target. The
deposition rates depended on the position of the 6 × 26 mm2
rectangular SiO2 samples on the sample holder, because of the
angle of the convergent targets. Thus the rates of CoPt and
SiO2 varied along the substrate, respectively, from 0.2 Å s−1
to 0.9 Å s−1 and from 0.4 Å s−1 to 0.3 Å s−1 , respectively.
A correlative thickness gradient was also present from 15 to
30 nm.
Vibrating sample magnetometer measurements were
carried out on different samples with CoPt concentration in
the range 0.25 < x < 0.60. Below x = 0.40, the material
exhibits paramagnetic behaviour. Figure 6 shows a series of
hysteresis loops, for which the angle between the applied field
0
0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1
(b) (CoPt) x : (SiO2)1-x
Figure 7. Longitudinal resistivity (a) and Hall angle (b) measured
on granular (CoPt)x : (SiO2 )1−x composites as a function of
composition x.
and the plane of the sample was varied (for x = 0.66). The
measurements clearly show that there is no perpendicular-to-
plane anisotropy, which does not change after an annealing at
400 or 500 ◦ C. Longitudinal resistivity is shown in figure 7(a)
versus CoPt concentration. From the inflection point of this
semilog plot, the percolation threshold seems to take place
around xc = 0.45. Below this value (i.e. in the hopping
conduction regime), the Hall angle presented in figure 7(b)
is quite small (0.07%), comparable to that of Co : SiO2 ,
CoFe : Al2 O3 heterogeneous composites without strong spin–
orbit scattering centres. It goes up to 2–3% in the range
of longitudinal resistivity 100–300 µ cm with a maximum
of 3.5% when x = 0.7. For this value, the longitudinal
resistivity is comparable to that of FePt alloys (100 µ cm).
In figure 8, the plot of longitudinal resistivity versus Hall
resistivity presents the same general trend as that observed
for Co or Ni metal clusters embedded in an insulator matrix
without heavy elements. However, whereas the longitudinal
resistivity decreases by 5 orders of magnitude, the Hall
resistivity only decreases by 3 orders of magnitude. The
addition of Pt seems to have changed the transport properties
in the metallic percolating regime but not in the hopping
regime. Therefore, these composite systems comprising high
spin–orbit scattering centres do not allow a sufficiently large
longitudinal resistivity (above 1000 µ cm) and large Hall

6
J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 41 (2008) 135001
1000000
Longitudinal resistivity (µΩ.cm)
100000
10000
1000
100
1 10
Hall resistivity (µΩ.cm)
Figure 8. Plot of the longitudinal resistivity versus Hall resistivity
for granular (CoPt)x : (SiO2 )1−x composites with 0.28 < x < 0.72.
angle (several %) to be obtained simultaneously, which would
be required for scalability in hybrid CMOS/EHE devices.
4. Conclusion
In this paper, we have investigated and compared
transport properties, particularly EHE, of several families
of multilayered, homogeneous or heterogeneous systems,
in order to evaluate their potential for hybrid CMOS/EHE
devices. It appears that none of the investigated materials offer
the combination of sufficiently large resistivity and large Hall
angle which is required to ensure a proper scalability of EHE
based devices at decreasing microelectronic technological
nodes. We have in particular investigated EHE in the so-
called ‘giant Hall effect’ heterogeneous composites (of the type
Co : SiOx ) and found that the Hall angle in these composites
is quite small. Introducing spin–orbit scattering centres in
these composite alloys allows the Hall angle to be increased in
the metallic regime but not in the hopping regime. However,
despite no EHE materials apparently available for scalable
microelectronic applications, materials such as weakly ordered
FePt alloys offer EHE properties suitable for magnetic field
sensor applications as long as device size remains above about
10 µm so as to provide an output signal of several tens of
millivolts for a supply voltage of the order of a volt.
Acknowledgments
The authors want to acknowledge Dr A Marty from
Nanostructure et Magnétisme CEA/INAC Grenoble, for
samples preparation, and Dr E Gautier from Spintec,
CEA/INAC Grenoble, for TEM analyses. This work was
partially supported by European funding under IST project
MAGLOG FP6-510993.
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