Highly flexible bismuth Hall sensors on polymeric foils are fabricated, and the key optimization steps that are required to boost their sensitivity to the bulk value are identified. The sensor can be bent around the wrist or positioned on the finger to realize an interactive pointing device for wearable electronics. Furthermore, this technology is of great interest for the rapidly developing market of ­eMobility, for optimization of eMotors and magnetic bearings.

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Summary: Cross‐linking of water‐soluble polymers by high‐energy irradiation provides a clean method for the synthesis of hydrogels. Some applications of stimuli‐sensitive polymers need different patterns in the micro‐ and submicrometer range on a supporting material. A dry layer of poly(vinyl methyl ether) on a Si‐wafer was cross‐linked and patterned by irradiation with the electron beam of a modified electron microscope. The patterns in the micro‐ and submicrometer range show good adhesion on the supporting material without adhesion promoter. The deformation and the elastic behavior of the pattern were tested by AFM. The formed gel structures were sensitive against changes in environmental condition. This offers a wide range of applications.

By introducing a photoresist buffer layer, the enhancement of giant magnetoresistance (GMR) values of Co/Cu multilayers deposited on oxidized Si substrates is up to around 365%. X-ray reflectivity measurements indicate that the interfacial roughness of Co/Cu bilayer stacks buffered with a photoresist layer is lower than that on bare oxidized Si substrates, although their surface roughnesses are similar. Magneto-optical Kerr effect hysteresis loops of (Co/Cu) N multilayers show that the antiferromagnetic coupling strength and fraction were significantly improved after photoresist buffering for all samples with N ranging from 8 to 50. The interface smoothening of photoresist-buffered multilayers may therefore contribute to such an enhancement, which in turn increases the corresponding GMR values.