Current-perpendicular-to-the-plane (CPP) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor with magnetic damping material at the sensor edges

A current-perpendicular-to-the-plane (CPP) giant magnetoresistive (GMR) read head structure for reading magnetically recorded data from tracks on a magnetic recording disk in a disk drive, the read head structure comprising:

• an air-bearing slider having an air-bearing surface (ABS) for facing the disk and a trailing surface generally orthogonal to the ABS;
• a first shield layer of magnetically permeable material on the slider's trailing surface;
• a GMR read head comprising a stack of layers on the first shield layer and having a front edge substantially at the ABS, a back edge recessed from the front edge, and two spaced-apart side edges that define a read head trackwidth (TW);
• a damping layer on and in contact with at least one of (a) the side edges of the read head and (b) the back edge of the read head, the damping layer consisting essentially of an element selected from the group consisting of Pt, Pd, Os, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Th, Yb, and Lu;
• an insulating layer on and in contact with the damping layer and on regions of the first shield layer adjacent the read head side edges;
• a ferromagnetic biasing layer on the insulating layer;
• and
• a second shield layer of magnetically permeable material on the read head and the ferromagnetic biasing layer.

A magnetoresistive sensor structure for sensing magnetically recorded data from a magnetic recording medium, the structure comprising:

• a substrate;
• a first shield layer of magnetically permeable material on the substrate;
• a magnetoresistive sensor comprising a stack of layers on the first shield layer and having a front edge for facing a magnetic recording medium, a back edge recessed from the front edge, and two spaced-apart side edges that define a sensor track width (TW) at the front edge, the sensor being capable of sensing magnetically recorded data when a sense current is applied perpendicular to the planes of the layers in the sensor stack;
• and
• an insulating layer on and in contact with the sensor side edges and on regions of the first shield layer adjacent the sensor side edges, wherein damping material is incorporated into the insulating layer, said damping material being selected from the group consisting of Pt, Pd, Os, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Th, Yb, and Lu.