Loading patent…
AssigneeAlps Electric Co., Ltd.
InventorsMasamichi Saito, Kenichi Tanaka, Yosuke Ide, Naoya Hasegawa
Estimating the term…
A spin valve thin film magnetic element is provided composed of an antiferromagnetic layer; a pinned magnetic layer, formed in contact with the antiferromagnetic layer, in which the direction of magnetization is pinned by an exchange coupling magnetic field with the antiferromagnetic layer; a nonmagnetic conductive layer in contact with the pinned magnetic layer; and a free magnetic layer in contact with the nonmagnetic conductive layer, wherein the free magnetic layer is composed of a nonmagnetic intermediate layer, and the first and second free magnetic layers holding the nonmagnetic intermediate layer therebetween; the first free magnetic layer and the second free magnetic layer are antiferromagnetically coupled to enter the ferrimagnetic state; and a resistivity of the first free magnetic layer in the side farther from the nonmagnetic intermediate layer is higher than a resistivity of the second free magnetic layer in the nonmagnetic intermediate layer side. According to the spin valve thin film magnetic element, it is possible to increase the detection sensitivity for the external magnetic field, to reduce the shunt loss of the sensing current, and to increase the rate of change in magnetoresistance.
A spin valve thin film magnetic element comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
Drawings are temporarily unavailable. Open the PDF at USPTO
From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Magnetoresistive devices: using multilayer structures, e.g. giant magnetoresistance sensors
Nanotechnology for information processing, storage or transmission
Nanomagnetism
Using magneto-resistive devices or effects: using magnetic thin film layers or their effects, the films being part of integrated structures
Term ended 14 Sep 2021 (estimated)
USPTO file history isn’t available for this patent, so only indexed dates are shown.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to spin valve thin film magnetic elements and thin film magnetic heads. In particular, the present invention relates to spin valve thin film magnetic elements in which shunt losses of sensing currents are reduced and rates of change in magnetoresistance are increased.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a spin valve thin film magnetic element according to the first embodiment of the present invention viewed from a magnetic recording medium side.
FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of the spin valve thin film magnetic element shown in FIG. 1 viewed from a track width direction.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a floating magnetic head providing a thin film magnetic head according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The present invention will be explained using the following embodiments with reference to the drawings.
First Embodiment
FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a spin valve thin film magnetic element 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention viewed from a magnetic recording medium side, and FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of the spin valve thin film magnetic element 1 viewed from a track width direction.