NUS team develops "terraced graphene" for ultrasensitive magnetic field sensors

National University of Singapore (NUS) scientists have developed a sensitive gaphene-enhanced 2D magnetic field sensor, which can potentially improve the detection of nanoscale magnetic domains for data storage applications.

Magnetoresistance (MR), the change in the electrical resistance of a material due to the influence of an external magnetic field, has been widely used in magnetic sensors, magnetic memories and hard disk drives. However, in traditional 3D material-based magnetic sensors that use giant MR (GMR) or tunneling MR (TMR) spin-valves, the detectable signal of the magnetic field decays exponentially with the thickness of its sensing layer. This limits the spatial resolution and sensitivity of the sensors. Therefore, a 2D-based sensor can potentially improve the detection of minuscule magnetic fields, as the decay is limited to only one atomic layer thickness.