Reader side shield
AssigneeSeagate Technology LLC
InventorsXin Cao, Frances Paula McElhinney, Jiansheng Xu, Marcus Winston Ormston
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The implementations disclosed herein allow for formation of a magnetoresistive (MR) sensor shield that shields against both down track and cross-track interference. The shield can be formed in a single deposition step. In one implementation of the disclosed technology, a “tail” portion of the shield is eliminated by including a non-magnetic material adjacent to opposite sides of a middle portion of the sensor stack.
Claims11
A method comprising:
- forming a monolithic shield of a magnetoresistive (MR) sensor in a single deposition operation, the monolithic shield element including a top shield element, a first side shield element on side of a sensor stack, and a second shield element on an opposite side of the sensor stack.
An MR sensor comprising:
- a monolithic shield element including a top shield element, a first side shield element on side of a sensor stack, and a second shield element on an opposite side of the sensor stack, the monolithic shield element formed in a single deposition operation.
The MR sensor of claim 17, wherein the non-magnetic material is axially aligned with an SAF structure of the sensor stack and not axially aligned with a free layer of the sensor stack.
The MR sensor of claim 17, further comprising:
- a non-magnetic element adjacent opposite sides of the sensor stack in the cross-track direction, the non-magnetic element separated from an ABS by the monolithic shield element.
The MR sensor of claim 15, wherein the monolithic magnetic shield element is axially aligned with the non-magnetic material in a down-track direction and a cross-track direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.