Magnetic sensor with extended pinned layer and partial wrap around shield
US8941954B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 19, 2012 |
| Grant date | Jan 27, 2015 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 19, 2032 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01F10/3272
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A magnetic read head that has improved pinned layer stability while also maintaining excellent free layer stability. The free layer has sides that define a trackwidth of the sensor and a back edge that defines a functional stripe height of the sensor. However, the pinned layer can extend significantly beyond both the width of the free layer and the back edge (e.g. stripe height) of the free layer. The sensor also has a soft magnetic bias structure that compensates for the reduced volume presented by the side extension of the pinned layer. The soft magnetic bias structure can be magnetically coupled with the trailing magnetic shield, either parallel coupled or anti-parallel coupled. In addition, all or a portion of the soft magnetic bias structure can be exchange coupled to a layer of anti-ferromagnetic material in order to improve the robustness of the soft magnetic bias structure.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.