Stabilization of magnetoresistive transducer using canted exchange bias
US5325253A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 17, 1993 |
| Grant date | Jun 28, 1994 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 17, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG11B5/399
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A magnetoresistive (MR) read transducer and method of fabricating same. A soft magnetic layer and an MR layer extend over a central active region and passive end regions of the transducer. A nonmagnetic spacer layer separates the soft magnetic film layer and MR layer and extends over the central active region and at least part of both passive end regions. An antiferromagnetic layer directly contacts the MR layer only in the end regions and produces an exchange bias field between the antiferromagnetic layer and the MR layer that is oriented at a preselected acute angle to the longitudinal direction of the transducer. This results in the MR layer being oriented at the preselected acute angle and the soft magnetic film layer in the passive end regions being transversely oriented by magnetostatic coupling to the MR layer. To fabricate the transducer, the antiferromagnetic layer is annealed in an external field above the Neel temperature to produce the canted exchange bias field. As a result of the canting, the magnetic moments of the central active region and the passive end regions are matched during a read operation.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.