Read head with multiple reader stacks
AssigneeSeagate Technology LLC
InventorsMark Thomas Kief, Thomas Roy Boonstra, Victor Boris Sapozhnikov, Harry Sam Edelman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A read head includes a bottom shield configured as a bottom electrical contact. A bottom reader stack is disposed on and electrically coupled to the bottom shield. A middle electrical contact is electrically coupled to a top layer of the bottom reader stack. A top reader stack is disposed on the bottom reader stack. A bottom layer of the top reader stack electrically coupled to the middle electrical contact. A top shield is configured as a top electrical contact. The top shield is disposed on and electrically coupled to the top reader stack.
Claims20
A read head, comprising:
- a bottom shield configured as a bottom electrical contact;
- a bottom reader stack disposed on and electrically coupled to the bottom shield and comprising a cap layer;
- a top reader stack disposed on the bottom reader stack with no intervening layers between the cap layer of the bottom reader stack and a seed layer of the top reader stack;
- a middle electrical contact recessed from a media-facing surface of the read head and abutting an edge of the top reader stack that faces away from the media-facing surface, the middle electrical contact electrically coupled to the cap layer of the bottom reader stack;
- and
- a top shield configured as a top electrical contact, the top shield disposed on and electrically coupled to the top reader stack.
A read head, comprising:
- a bottom shield configured as a bottom electrical contact;
- a bottom reader stack disposed on and electrically coupled to the bottom shield;
- at least one middle shield disposed on the bottom reader stack and configured as at least one middle electrical contact;
- a top reader stack disposed on the at least one middle shield;
- and
- a top shield configured as a top electrical contact, the top shield disposed on and electrically coupled to the top reader stack, at least one of the top and bottom reader stacks are electrically coupled to the at least one middle shield, a selected one of the top and bottom reader stack comprising long seed layers that extend further away from a media-reading surface of the read head than seed layers of the other of the top and bottom reader stack.
A read head, comprising:
- a bottom shield configured as a bottom electrical contact;
- a bottom reader stack disposed on and electrically coupled to the bottom shield;
- a first middle electrical contact recessed from a media-facing surface of the read head and electrically coupled to a cap layer of the bottom reader stack;
- a middle reader stack, a seed layer of the middle reader stack being disposed on the cap layer of the bottom reader stack with no intervening layers therebetween, the seed layer of the middle reader stack electrically coupled to the first middle electrical contact, an edge of the middle reader stack that faces away from the media-facing surface abutting the first middle electrical contact;
- a second middle electrical contact recessed from the media-facing surface electrically coupled to a cap layer of the middle reader stack and;
- a top reader stack, seed layer of the top reader stack being disposed on the cap layer of the middle reader stack with no intervening layers therebetween, the seed layer of the top reader stack electrically coupled to the second middle electrical contact, an edge of the top reader stack that faces away from the media-facing surface abutting the second middle electrical contact;
- and
- a top shield configured as a top electrical contact, the top shield disposed on and electrically coupled to a cap layer of the top reader stack.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.