Nanofabrication of Patterned Nanomagnet Arrays
Engineering
EE 195 Senior Thesis
For my senior thesis research, I have researched the production of patterned nanomagnet arrays, which are the foundation of MRAM-based data storage. Nanomagnet arrays are composed of individual magnet "dots," or bits, on the scale of tens of nanometers. Using electron-beam lithography, I have developed a fabrication process for uniformly milling the individual magnetic bits on a silicon substrate, with sizes on the scale of 20nm, and bit densities as high as 1 bit/0.00562μm^2. The focus of the research has primarily been to optimize several parameters in the fabrication process in order to ensure reproducibility and maximize the density and regularity of the patterned bits. This research has demonstrated a process for fabricating nanomagnets down to sizes that are commercially relevant.
