Method of fabrication of striped magnetoresistive (SMR) and dual stripe magnetoresistive (DSMR) heads with anti-parallel exchange configuration

A method for forming a longitudinally magnetically biased dual stripe magnetoresistive (DSMR) sensor element comprising:

• forming a first patterned magnetoresistive (MR) layer,
• contacting a pair of opposite ends of said patterned magnetoresistive (MR) layer with a first pair of stacks defining a track width of said patterned magnetoresistive (MR) layer leaving an exposed surface of said first patterned MR layer,
• each of said stacks including as follows:
• a refill layer formed on the surface of said first patterned MR layer,
• a first Anti-Ferro-Magnetic (AFM) layer formed on the surface of said refill layer, and
• a first lead layer formed on the surface of said AFM layer, and
• annealing said device in the presence of a longitudinal external magnetic field,
• forming a planarized intermediate dielectric layer on the surface of said first lead layer and on the exposed surface of said first patterned MR layer,
• forming a second patterned MR layer,
• contacting a pair of opposite ends of said second patterned MR layer with a second pair of stacks defining a second track width of said second patterned MR layer leaving an exposed surface of said second patterned MR layer,
• each of said second pair of stacks including as follows:
• a second refill layer formed on the surface of said second patterned MR layer,
• a spacer layer composed of a metal formed on the surface of said second refill layer,
• a Ferro-Magnetic (FM) layer formed on the surface of said spacer layer,
• a second Anti-Ferro-Magnetic (AFM) layer and
• a second lead layer, and
• annealing said device in the presence of a second longitudinal external magnetic field.

A method for forming a longitudinally magnetically biased stripe magnetoresistive sensor element comprising:

• forming a shield layer composed of permalloy (NiFe) on a substrate composed of a material selected from a the group consisting of a ceramic, alumina, and titanium carbide,
• forming a first nonmagnetic spacer layer on said shield layer, composed of a material selected from a the group consisting of alumina, silicon oxide and titanium carbide,
• forming a first patterned magnetoresistive (MR) layer on said first nonmagnetic spacer layer,
• contacting a pair of opposite ends of said patterned magnetoresistive (MR) layer with a pair of stacks defining a track width of said patterned magnetoresistive (MR) layer composed on NiFe,
• each of said stacks including as follows:
• a second patterned magnetoresistive (MR) refill layer composed of NiFe formed on the surface of said first patterned MR layer,
• a second nonmagnetic spacer layer (SL/SR) composed of a metal formed directly on the surface of said second patterned MR refill layer composed of a metal selected from the group consisting of ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), copper (Cu) and chromium (Cr),
• a Ferro-Magnetic (FM) layer (FL/FR) composed of a metal selected from the group consisting of NiFe, Co, Fe, NiCo and CoFe formed directly on of said second nonmagnetic spacer layer,
• an Anti-Ferro-Magnetic (AFM) layer (AL/AR) composed of a metal selected from the group consisting of IrMn, NiMn, PtMn, PdPtMn and FeMn formed directly on of said Ferro-Magnetic (FM) layer, and
• a lead layer, and
• annealing said device in the presence of a longitudinal external magnetic field.

A method for forming a longitudinally magnetically biased dual stripe magnetoresistive (DSMR) sensor element comprising:

• forming a shield layer composed of permalloy (NiFe) on a substrate composed of a material selected from a the group consisting of a ceramic, alumina, and titanium carbide,
• forming a first nonmagnetic spacer layer on said shield layer, composed of a material selected from a the group consisting of alumina, silicon oxide and titanium carbide,
• forming a first patterned magnetoresistive (MR) layer,
• contacting a pair of opposite ends of said patterned MR layer with a first pair of stacks defining a track width of said patterned MR layer leaving an exposed surface of said first patterned MR layer,
• each of said stacks including as follows:
• a refill layer formed on the surface of said first patterned MR layer,
• a first Anti-Ferro-Magnetic (AFM) layer formed on the surface of said refill layer, and
• a first lead layer formed on the surface of said AFM layer, and
• annealing said device in the presence of a longitudinal external magnetic field,
• forming a planarized intermediate dielectric layer on the surface of said first lead layer and on the exposed surface of said first patterned MR layer,
• forming a second patterned MR layer,
• contacting a pair of opposite ends of said second patterned MR layer with a second pair of stacks defining a second track width of said second patterned MR layer leaving an exposed surface of said second patterned MR layer,
• each of said second pair of stacks including as follows:
• a second refill layer formed on the surface of said second patterned MR layer,
• a spacer layer composed of a metal formed on the surface of said second refill layer, said spacer layer being composed of a metal selected from the group consisting of ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), copper (Cu) and chromium (Cr),
• a Ferro-Magnetic (FM) layer formed on the surface of said spacer layer, said Ferro-Magnetic layers being composed of a metal selected from the group consisting of NiFe, Co, Fe, NiCo and CoFe,
• a second Anti-Ferro-Magnetic (AFM) layer, said AFM layers being composed of a metal selected from the group consisting of IrMn, NiMn, PtMn, PdPtMn and FeMn, and
• a second lead layer, and
• annealing said device In the presence of a second longitudinal external magnetic field.