title: Integration of GMR Sensors with Different Technologies.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronic Engineering, Universitat de Val&#232;ncia, Av. Universitat s/n, Burjassot 46100 , Spain. m.dolores.cubells@uv.es.
authors.forename: María-Dolores
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Cubells-Beltrán
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronic Engineering, Universitat de Val&#232;ncia, Av. Universitat s/n, Burjassot 46100 , Spain. candid.reig@uv.es.
authors.forename: Càndid
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Reig
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronic Engineering, Universitat Polit&#232;cnica de Catalunya, C. Jordi Girona, 1-3, Barcelona 08034, Spain. jordi.madrenas@upc.edu.
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Madrenas
authors.affiliation: Department of Industrial and Information Engineering and Economics, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila 67100, Italy. andrea.demarcellis@univaq.it.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Marcellis
authors.affiliation: INESC Microsistemas e Nanotecnologias, Rua Alves Redol 9, Lisbon 1000-029, Portugal. joana.dias.santos@ist.utl.pt.
authors.forename: Joana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: INESC Microsistemas e Nanotecnologias, Rua Alves Redol 9, Lisbon 1000-029, Portugal. scardoso@inesc-mn.pt.
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cardoso
authors.affiliation: INESC Microsistemas e Nanotecnologias, Rua Alves Redol 9, Lisbon 1000-029, Portugal. pfreitas@inesc-mn.pt.
authors.forename: Paulo P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Freitas
keywords: GMR; integration; technology