US 6,665,154 B2 · Spin valve head with a current channeling layer

Abstract

Spin valve heads with overlaid leads have several advantages over butted contiguous junction designs, including larger signal output and better head stability. However, in any overlaid design there is always present at least one high resistance layer between the GMR layer and the conductive leads. This leads to an effective read width that is greater than the actual physical width. This problem has been overcome by inserting a highly conductive channeling layer between the GMR stack and the conducting lead laminate. This arrangement ensures that, at the intersection between the leads and the GMR stack, virtually all the current moves out of the free layer into the leads thereby providing an effective read width for the device that is very close to the physical read width defined by the spacing between the two leads. A process for manufacturing the device is also described.

Claims21

Dependent claims

A bottom spin valve GMR read head, comprising:

on a dielectric layer, a GMR stack that further comprises a free layer on a non-magnetic layer on a pinned layer on a pinning layer, said free layer having an electrical conductance;
on said free layer, a channeling layer whose conductance is between 1 and 3 times the conductance of the free layer;
on the channeling layer, a first lead stabilization layer;
on said first lead stabilization layer, a conductive lead layer;
on the conductive lead layer, a second lead stabilization layer;
and
said first and second lead stabilization layers and said conductive lead layers having the form of a GMR read head located between opposing conductive leads.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Spin valve head with a current channeling layer

Life of this patent

Spin valve head with a current channeling layer

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims21