Shape enhanced pin read head magnetic transducer with stripe height defined first and method of making same

US8836059B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• HGST Netherlands, B.V. · NL

Inventors

• Yongchul Ahn · San Jose, US
• Xiaozhong Dang · Fremont, US
• Yimin Hsu · Sunnyvale, US
• Quang Le · San Jose, US
• Thomas L. Leong · San Jose, US
• Simon Liao · Fremont, US
• Guangli Liu · Pleasanton, US
• Aron Pentek · San Jose, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Dec 21, 2012
• Grant date: Sep 16, 2014
• Expiry date: Dec 21, 2032

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G11B2005/3996
• WIPO field: Audio-visual technology
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

The present invention generally relates to a magnetic sensor in a read head having a hard or soft bias layer that is uniform in thickness within the sensor stack. The method of making such sensor is also disclosed. The free layer stripe height is first defined, followed by defining the track width, and lastly the pinned layer stripe height is defined. The pinned layer and the hard or soft bias layer are defined in the same process step. This approach eliminates a partial hard or soft bias layer and reduces potential instability issues.