Spin valve device with improved exchange layer defined track width and method of fabrication
US6469877B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 15, 1999 |
| Grant date | Oct 22, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 15, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG11B5/3932
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The present invention provides an exchange break to define the track width of a read head by selectively isolating an exchange coupling layer from an underlying ferromagnetic layer. In the preferred embodiment, the exchange break is provided over a portion of the free layer of a spin valve device so that it inhibits exchange coupling between an overlying portion of the exchange coupling layer and the underlying free layer to define an active region. It is preferred to form the exchange break of an electrically insulating material, to inhibit current shunting through the exchange break, and of a material that easily etches, to minimize inadvertent etching of the underlying free layer and to ensure complete removal of exchange break material when forming the exchange break from an exchange break layer. A reentrant profile photoresist structure may be used to define the exchange break and to define the exchange coupling layer. Drift portions of the exchange coupling layer, which typically form under the overhang of the photoresist and blur delineation of the active region, are separated from the underlying free layer by the exchange break, so that variations in thickness and in shifte…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.