Dual hybrid magnetic tunnel junction/giant magnetoresistive sensor

A dual hybrid magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ)/giant magnetoresisive (GMR) sensor, comprising:

• an MTJ stack including:
• A first AFM layer;
• a first AP-pinned layer comprising:
• a first ferromagnetic (FM) layer;
• a second FM layer;
• and
• an antiparallel coupling (APC) layer disposed between said first and second FM layers;
• a tunnel barrier layer, said tunnel barrier layer adjacent to and in contact with said second FM layer;
• a GMR stack including:
• a second AFM layer;
• a second AP-pinned layer comprising:
• a fourth FM layer in contact with said second AFM layer;
• a third FM layer;
• and
• an APC layer disposed between said third and fourth FM layers;
• and
• a spacer layer, said spacer layer adjacent to and in contact with said third FM layer;
• and
• a ferromagnetic free layer disposed between the tunnel barrier layer and the spacer layer.

A dual hybrid magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ)/giant magnetoresisive (GMR) sensor, comprising:

• an MTJ stack including:
• an first AFM layer;
• a first AP-pinned layer comprising:
• a first ferromagnetic (FM) layer;
• a second FM layer;
• and
• an antiparallel coupling (APC) layer disposed between said first and second FM layers;
• a tunnel barrier layer, said tunnel barrier layer adjacent to and in contact with said second FM layer;
• a GMR stack including:
• a second AMR layer;
• a second AP-pinned layer comprising:
• a fifth FM layer in contact with said second AFM layer;
• a fourth FM layer;
• an APC layer disposed between said fourth and fifth FM layers;
• a third FM layer;
• and
• an APC layer disposed between said third and fourth FM layers;
• a spacer layer, said spacer layer adjacent to and in contact with said third FM layer;
• and
• a ferromagnetic free layer disposed between the tunnel barrier layer and the spacer layer, said free layer comprising;
• a ferromagnetic first sense layer adjacent to said tunnel barrier layer;
• a ferromagnetic second sense layer;
• and
• an APC layer layer disposed between said first and second sense layers.

A magnetic read/write head, comprising:

• a write head including:
• at least one coil layer and an insulation stack, the coil layer being embedded in the insulation stack;
• first and second pole piece layers connected at a back gap and having pole tips with edges forming a portion of an air bearing surface (ABS);
• the insulation stack being sandwiched between the first and second pole piece layers;
• and
• a write gap layer sandwiched between the pole tips of the first and second pole piece layers and forming a portion of the ABS;
• a read head including:
• a dual hybrid MTJ/GMR sensor and first and second shield layers, the MTJ/GMR sensor being sandwiched between the first and second shield layers, the MTJ/GMR sensor including:
• an MTJ stack including:
• a first AFM layer;
• a first AP-pinned layer comprising:
• a first ferromagnetic (FM) layer;
• a second FM layer;
• and
• an antiparallel coupling (APC) layer disposed between said first and second FM layers;
• a tunnel barrier layer, said tunnel barrier layer adjacent to and in contact with said second FM layer;
• a GMR stack including:
• a second AFM layer;
• a second AP-pinned layer comprising:
• a fourth FM layer in contact with said second AFM layer;
• a third FM layer;
• and
• an APC layer disposed between said third and fourth FM layers;
• and
• a spacer layer, said spacer layer adjacent to and in contact with said third FM layer;
• and
• a ferromagnetic free layer disposed between the tunnel barrier layer and the spacer layer;
• and
• an insulation layer disposed between the second shield layer of the read head and the first pole piece layer of the write head.

A disk drive system comprising:

• a magnetic recording disk;
• a magnetic read/write head for magnetically recording data on the magnetic recording disk and for sensing magnetically recorded data on the magnetic recording disk, said magnetic read/write head comprising:
• a write head including:
• at least one coil layer and an insulation stack, the coil layer being embedded in the insulation stack;
• first and second pole piece layers connected at a back gap and having pole tips with edges forming a portion of an air bearing surface (ABS);
• the insulation stack being sandwiched between the first and second pole piece layers;
• and
• a write gap layer sandwiched between the pole tips of the first and second pole piece layers and forming a portion of the ABS;
• a read head including:
• a dual hybrid MTJ/GMR sensor and first and second shield layers, the MTJ/GMR sensor being sandwiched between the first and second shield layers, the MTJ/GMR sensor including:
• an MTJ stack including:
• a first AFM layer;
• a first AP-pinned layer comprising:
• a first ferromagnetic (FM) layer;
• a second FM layer;
• and
• an antiparallel coupling (APC) layer disposed between said first and second FM layers;
• a tunnel barrier layer, said tunnel barrier layer adjacent to and in contact with said second FM layer;
• a GMR stack including:
• a second AFM layer;
• a second AP-pinned layer comprising:
• a fourth FM layer in contact with said second AFM layer;
• a third FM layer;
• and
• an APC layer disposed between said third and fourth FM layers;
• and
• a spacer layer, said spacer layer adjacent to and in contact with said third FM layer;
• and
• a ferromagnetic free layer disposed between the tunnel barrier layer and the spacer layer;
• an insulation layer disposed between the second shield layer of the read head and the first pole piece layer of the write head;
• an actuator for moving said magnetic read/write head across the magnetic disk so that the read/write head may access different regions of the magnetic recording disk;
• and
• a recording channel coupled electrically to the write head for magnetically recording data on the magnetic recording disk and to the MTJ/GMR sensor of the read head for detecting changes in resistance of the MTJ/GMR sensor caused by rotation of the magnetization axis of the ferromagnetic free layer relative to the fixed magnetizations of the first and second AP-pinned layers in response to magnetic fields from the magnetically recorded data.