This book deals with the application of giant magneto-resistance (GMR) effects to electronic devices. It will appeal to engineers and graduate students in the fields of electronic devices and materials. The main subjects are magnetic sensors with high resolution and magnetic read heads with high sensitivity, required for hard-disk drives with recording densities of several gigabytes. Another important subject is novel magnetic random-access memories (MRAM) with non-volatile non-destructive and radiation-resistant characteristics. Other topics include future GMR devices based on bipolar spin transistors, spin field-effect transistors (FETs) and double-tunnel junctions.

This is one of the first application-orientated books on the subject. The main topics are magnetic sensors with high resolutions and magnetic read heads with high sensitivities, required for hard-disk drives with recording densities of several gigabytes. Another important subject is novel magnetic random-access memory (MRAM) with non-volatile non-destructive and radiation-hard characteristics.