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US 7,583,478 B2Granted
Thin-film magnetic head, head gimbal assembly, head arm assembly and magnetic disk drive
AssigneeTDK Corporation
InventorsTakahiko Machita, Kei Hirata, Koji Shimazawa
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A thin-film magnetic head comprises: a magnetoresistive element: first and second read shield layers disposed to sandwich the magnetoresistive element; and bias field applying layers for applying a bias magnetic field to the magnetoresistive element. Each of the first and second read shield layers has: a first end face located in a medium facing surface; a second end face opposite to the first end face; a first width changing portion that continuously decreases in width as the distance from the first end face decreases; and a second width changing portion that continuously decreases in width as the distance from the second end face decreases.
Claims20
A thin-film magnetic head comprising:
- a medium facing surface that faces toward a recording medium;
- a magnetoresistive element disposed near the medium facing surface and having a first surface and a second surface that face toward opposite directions and that intersect the medium facing surface, the magnetoresistive element reading data stored on the recording medium by means of a perpendicular magnetic recording system;
- a first read shield layer disposed to face toward the first surface of the magnetoresistive element;
- a second read shield layer disposed to face toward the second surface of the magnetoresistive element;
- and
- bias field applying layers for applying a bias magnetic field to the magnetoresistive element, wherein:
- each of the first and second read shield layers has:
- a first end face located in the medium facing surface;
- a second end face opposite to the first end face;
- a first width changing portion that continuously decreases in width as a distance from the first end face decreases;
- and a second width changing portion that continuously decreases in width as a distance from the second end face decreases;
- each of the first and second read shield layers has such a plane geometry that four corners of a circumscribed rectangle that circumscribes the plane geometry are cut off;
- and
- assuming that, among four pieces separated from the circumscribed rectangle to form the plane geometry, two of the pieces closer to the first end face are defined as first pieces while the other two of the pieces closer to the second end face are defined as second pieces, and that the plane geometry and the circumscribed rectangle are folded along an imaginary center line parallel to the medium facing surface, a value obtained by dividing an area of portions of the first and second pieces that are not laid over each other by a sum of areas of the first and second pieces falls within a range of 0 to 0.2 inclusive.
11 more elements
A thin-film magnetic head comprising:
- a medium facing surface that faces toward a recording medium;
- a magnetoresistive element disposed near the medium facing surface and having a first surface and a second surface that face toward opposite directions and that intersect the medium facing surface, the magnetoresistive element reading data stored on the recording medium by means of a perpendicular magnetic recording system;
- a first read shield layer disposed to face toward the first surface of the magnetoresistive element;
- a second read shield layer disposed to face toward the second surface of the magnetoresistive element;
- bias field applying layers for applying a bias magnetic field to the magnetoresistive element;
- a coil for generating a magnetic field corresponding to data to be written on the recording medium;
- and
- a pole layer having an end face located in the medium facing surface, allowing a magnetic flux corresponding to the field generated by the coil to pass therethrough, and generating a write magnetic field for writing the data on the recording medium by means of the perpendicular magnetic recording system;
- a write shield layer having a first end face located in the medium facing surface and having a portion located away from the medium facing surface and coupled to the pole layer;
- and
- a gap layer provided between the pole layer and the write shield layer and having an end face located in the medium facing surface, wherein:
- in the medium facing surface, the first end face of the write shield layer is located forward of the end face of the pole layer along a direction of travel of the recording medium with a specific space created by a thickness of the gap layer;
- the first end face of the write shield layer is greater in width than the end face of the pole layer;
- each of the first read shield layer and the second read shield layer has:
- a first end face located in the medium facing surface;
- a second end face opposite to the first end face;
- a first width changing portion that continuously decreases in width as a distance from the first end face decreases;
- and a second width changing portion that continuously decreases in width as a distance from the second end face decreases;
- the write shield layer further has:
- a second end face opposite to the first end face;
- a first width changing portion that continuously decreases in width as a distance from the first end face decreases;
- and a second width changing portion that continuously decreases in width as a distance from the second end face decreases;
- each of the first read shield layer, the second read shield layer and the write shield layer has such a plane geometry that four corners of a circumscribed rectangle that circumscribes the plane geometry are cut off;
- and
- assuming that, among four pieces separated from the circumscribed rectangle to form the plane geometry, two of the pieces closer to the first end face are defined as first pieces while the other two of the pieces closer to the second end face are defined as second pieces, and that the plane geometry and the circumscribed rectangle are folded along an imaginary center line parallel to the medium facing surface, a value obtained by dividing an area of portions of the first and second pieces that are not laid over each other by a sum of areas of the first and second pieces falls within a range of 0 to 0.2 inclusive.
22 more elements
A head gimbal assembly comprising:
- a slider including a thin-film magnetic head and disposed to face toward a recording medium;
- and a suspension flexibly supporting the slider, the thin-film magnetic head comprising:
- a medium facing surface that faces toward the recording medium;
- a magnetoresistive element disposed near the medium facing surface and having a first surface and a second surface that face toward opposite directions and that intersect the medium facing surface, the magnetoresistive element reading data stored on the recording medium by means of a perpendicular magnetic recording system;
- a first read shield layer disposed to face toward the first surface of the magnetoresistive element;
- a second read shield layer disposed to face toward the second surface of the magnetoresistive element;
- and
- bias field applying layers for applying a bias magnetic field to the magnetoresistive element, wherein:
- each of the first and second read shield layers has:
- a first end face located in the medium facing surface;
- a second end face opposite to the first end face;
- a first width changing portion that continuously decreases in width as a distance from the first end face decreases;
- and a second width changing portion that continuously decreases in width as a distance from the second end face decreases;
- each of the first and second read shield layers has such a plane geometry that four corners of a circumscribed rectangle that circumscribes the plane geometry are cut off;
- and
- assuming that, among four pieces separated from the circumscribed rectangle to form the plane geometry, two of the pieces closer to the first end face are defined as first pieces while the other two of the pieces closer to the second end face are defined as second pieces, and that the plane geometry and the circumscribed rectangle are folded along an imaginary center line parallel to the medium facing surface, a value obtained by dividing an area of portions of the first and second pieces that are not laid over each other by a sum of areas of the first and second pieces falls within a range of 0 to 0.2 inclusive.
13 more elements
A head gimbal assembly comprising:
- a slider including a thin-film magnetic head and disposed to face toward a recording medium;
- and a suspension flexibly supporting the slider, the thin-film magnetic head comprising:
- a medium facing surface that faces toward the recording medium;
- a magnetoresistive element disposed near the medium facing surface and having a first surface and a second surface that face toward opposite directions and that intersect the medium facing surface, the magnetoresistive element reading data stored on the recording medium by means of a perpendicular magnetic recording system;
- a first read shield layer disposed to face toward the first surface of the magnetoresistive element;
- a second read shield layer disposed to face toward the second surface of the magnetoresistive element;
- bias field applying layers for applying a bias magnetic field to the magnetoresistive element;
- a coil for generating a magnetic field corresponding to data to be written on the recording medium;
- a pole layer having an end face located in the medium facing surface, allowing a magnetic flux corresponding to the field generated by the coil to pass therethrough, and generating a write magnetic field for writing the data on the recording medium by means of the perpendicular magnetic recording system;
- a write shield layer having a first end face located in the medium facing surface and having a portion located away from the medium facing surface and coupled to the pole layer;
- and
- a gap layer provided between the pole layer and the write shield layer and having an end face located in the medium facing surface, wherein:
- in the medium facing surface, the first end face of the write shield layer is located forward of the end face of the pole layer along a direction of travel of the recording medium with a specific space created by a thickness of the gap layer;
- the first end face of the write shield layer is greater in width than the end face of the pole layer;
- each of the first read shield layer and the second read shield layer has:
- a first end face located in the medium facing surface;
- a second end face opposite to the first end face;
- a first width changing portion that continuously decreases in width as a distance from the first end face decreases;
- and a second width changing portion that continuously decreases in width as a distance from the second end face decreases;
- the write shield layer further has:
- a second end face opposite to the first end face;
- a first width changing portion that continuously decreases in width as a distance from the first end face decreases;
- and a second width changing portion that continuously decreases in width as a distance from the second end face decreases;
- each of the first read shield layer, the second read shield layer and the write shield layer has such a plane geometry that four corners of a circumscribed rectangle that circumscribes the plane geometry are cut off;
- and
- assuming that, among four pieces separated from the circumscribed rectangle to form the plane geometry, two of the pieces closer to the first end face are defined as first pieces while the other two of the pieces closer to the second end face are defined as second pieces, and that the plane geometry and the circumscribed rectangle are folded along an imaginary center line parallel to the medium facing surface, a value obtained by dividing an area of portions of the first and second pieces that are not laid over each other by a sum of areas of the first and second pieces falls within a range of 0 to 0.2 inclusive.
23 more elements
A head arm assembly comprising:
- a slider including a thin-film magnetic head and disposed to face toward a recording medium;
- a suspension flexibly supporting the slider;
- and an arm for making the slider travel across tracks of the recording medium, the suspension being attached to the arm, the thin-film magnetic head comprising:
- a medium facing surface that faces toward the recording medium;
- a magnetoresistive element disposed near the medium facing surface and having a first surface and a second surface that face toward opposite directions and that intersect the medium facing surface, the magnetoresistive element reading data stored on the recording medium by means of a perpendicular magnetic recording system;
- a first read shield layer disposed to face toward the first surface of the magnetoresistive element;
- a second read shield layer disposed to face toward the second surface of the magnetoresistive element;
- and
- bias field applying layers for applying a bias magnetic field to the magnetoresistive element, wherein:
- each of the first and second read shield layers has:
- a first end face located in the medium facing surface;
- a second end face opposite to the first end face;
- a first width changing portion that continuously decreases in width as a distance from the first end face decreases;
- and a second width changing portion that continuously decreases in width as a distance from the second end face decreases;
- each of the first and second read shield layers has such a plane geometry that four corners of a circumscribed rectangle that circumscribes the plane geometry are cut off;
- and
- assuming that, among four pieces separated from the circumscribed rectangle to form the plane geometry, two of the pieces closer to the first end face are defined as first pieces while the other two of the pieces closer to the second end face are defined as second pieces, and that the plane geometry and the circumscribed rectangle are folded along an imaginary center line parallel to the medium facing surface, a value obtained by dividing an area of portions of the first and second pieces that are not laid over each other by a sum of areas of the first and second pieces falls within a range of 0 to 0.2 inclusive.
14 more elements
A head arm assembly comprising:
- a slider including a thin-film magnetic head and disposed to face toward a recording medium;
- a suspension flexibly supporting the slider;
- and an arm for making the slider travel across tracks of the recording medium, the suspension being attached to the arm, the thin-film magnetic head comprising:
- a medium facing surface that faces toward the recording medium;
- a magnetoresistive element disposed near the medium facing surface and having a first surface and a second surface that face toward opposite directions and that intersect the medium facing surface, the magnetoresistive element reading data stored on the recording medium by means of a perpendicular magnetic recording system;
- a first read shield layer disposed to face toward the first surface of the magnetoresistive element;
- a second read shield layer disposed to face toward the second surface of the magnetoresistive element;
- bias field applying layers for applying a bias magnetic field to the magnetoresistive element;
- a coil for generating a magnetic field corresponding to data to be written on the recording medium;
- a pole layer having an end face located in the medium facing surface, allowing a magnetic flux corresponding to the field generated by the coil to pass therethrough, and generating a write magnetic field for writing the data on the recording medium by means of the perpendicular magnetic recording system;
- a write shield layer having a first end face located in the medium facing surface and having a portion located away from the medium facing surface and coupled to the pole layer;
- and
- a gap layer provided between the pole layer and the write shield layer and having an end face located in the medium facing surface, wherein:
- in the medium facing surface, the first end face of the write shield layer is located forward of the end face of the pole layer along a direction of travel of the recording medium with a specific space created by a thickness of the gap layer;
- the first end face of the write shield layer is greater in width than the end face of the pole layer;
- each of the first read shield layer and the second read shield layer has:
- a first end face located in the medium facing surface;
- a second end face opposite to the first end face;
- a first width changing portion that continuously decreases in width as a distance from the first end face decreases;
- and a second width changing portion that continuously decreases in width as a distance from the second end face decreases;
- the write shield layer further has:
- a second end face opposite to the first end face;
- a first width changing portion that continuously decreases in width as a distance from the first end face decreases;
- and a second width changing portion that continuously decreases in width as a distance from the second end face decreases;
- each of the first read shield layer, the second read shield layer and the write shield layer has such a plane geometry that four corners of a circumscribed rectangle that circumscribes the plane geometry are cut off;
- and
- assuming that, among four pieces separated from the circumscribed rectangle to form the plane geometry, two of the pieces closer to the first end face are defined as first pieces while the other two of the pieces closer to the second end face are defined as second pieces, and that the plane geometry and the circumscribed rectangle are folded along an imaginary center line parallel to the medium facing surface, a value obtained by dividing an area of portions of the first and second pieces that are not laid over each other by a sum of areas of the first and second pieces falls within a range of 0 to 0.2 inclusive.
24 more elements
A magnetic disk drive comprising:
- a slider including a thin-film magnetic head and disposed to face toward a circular-plate-shaped recording medium that is driven to rotate;
- and an alignment device supporting the slider and aligning the slider with respect to the recording medium, the thin-film magnetic head comprising:
- a medium facing surface that faces toward the recording medium;
- a magnetoresistive element disposed near the medium facing surface and having a first surface and a second surface that face toward opposite directions and that intersect the medium facing surface, the magnetoresistive element reading data stored on the recording medium by means of a perpendicular magnetic recording system;
- a first read shield layer disposed to face toward the first surface of the magnetoresistive element;
- a second read shield layer disposed to face toward the second surface of the magnetoresistive element;
- and
- bias field applying layers for applying a bias magnetic field to the magnetoresistive element, wherein:
- each of the first and second read shield layers has:
- a first end face located in the medium facing surface;
- a second end face opposite to the first end face;
- a first width changing portion that continuously decreases in width as a distance from the first end face decreases;
- and a second width changing portion that continuously decreases in width as a distance from the second end face decreases;
- each of the first and second read shield layers has such a plane geometry that four corners of a circumscribed rectangle that circumscribes the plane geometry are cut off;
- and
- assuming that, among four pieces separated from the circumscribed rectangle to form the plane geometry, two of the pieces closer to the first end face are defined as first pieces while the other two of the pieces closer to the second end face are defined as second pieces, and that the plane geometry and the circumscribed rectangle are folded along an imaginary center line parallel to the medium facing surface, a value obtained by dividing an area of portions of the first and second pieces that are not laid over each other by a sum of areas of the first and second pieces falls within a range of 0 to 0.2 inclusive.
13 more elements
A magnetic disk drive comprising:
- a slider including a thin-film magnetic head and disposed to face toward a circular-plate-shaped recording medium that is driven to rotate;
- and an alignment device supporting the slider and aligning the slider with respect to the recording medium, the thin-film magnetic head comprising:
- a medium facing surface that faces toward the recording medium;
- a magnetoresistive element disposed near the medium facing surface and having a first surface and a second surface that face toward opposite directions and that intersect the medium facing surface, the magnetoresistive element reading data stored on the recording medium by means of a perpendicular magnetic recording system;
- a first read shield layer disposed to face toward the first surface of the magnetoresistive element;
- a second read shield layer disposed to face toward the second surface of the magnetoresistive element;
- bias field applying layers for applying a bias magnetic field to the magnetoresistive element;
- a coil for generating a magnetic field corresponding to data to be written on the recording medium;
- a pole layer having an end face located in the medium facing surface, allowing a magnetic flux corresponding to the field generated by the coil to pass therethrough, and generating a write magnetic field for writing the data on the recording medium by means of the perpendicular magnetic recording system;
- a write shield layer having a first end face located in the medium facing surface and having a portion located away from the medium facing surface and coupled to the pole layer;
- and
- a gap layer provided between the pole layer and the write shield layer and having an end face located in the medium facing surface, wherein:
- in the medium facing surface, the first end face of the write shield layer is located forward of the end face of the pole layer along a direction of travel of the recording medium with a specific space created by a thickness of the gap layer;
- the first end face of the write shield layer is greater in width than the end face of the pole layer;
- each of the first read shield layer and the second read shield layer has:
- a first end face located in the medium facing surface;
- a second end face opposite to the first end face;
- a first width changing portion that continuously decreases in width as a distance from the first end face decreases;
- and a second width changing portion that continuously decreases in width as a distance from the second end face decreases;
- the write shield layer further has:
- a second end face opposite to the first end face;
- a first width changing portion that continuously decreases in width as a distance from the first end face decreases;
- and a second width changing portion that continuously decreases in width as a distance from the second end face decreases;
- each of the first read shield layer, the second read shield layer and the write shield layer has such a plane geometry that four corners of a circumscribed rectangle that circumscribes the plane geometry are cut off;
- and
- assuming that, among four pieces separated from the circumscribed rectangle to form the plane geometry, two of the pieces closer to the first end face are defined as first pieces while the other two of the pieces closer to the second end face are defined as second pieces, and that the plane geometry and the circumscribed rectangle are folded along an imaginary center line parallel to the medium facing surface, a value obtained by dividing an area of portions of the first and second pieces that are not laid over each other by a sum of areas of the first and second pieces falls within a range of 0 to 0.2 inclusive.
23 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.