Overlaid MR structure with magnetostatic stabilized soft adjacent layer
First Claim
1. A magnetoresistive read sensor comprising:
- a gap layer;
a soft adjacent layer on a center region of the gap layer, where first and second outside regions of the gap layer are separated by the center region;
a spacer layer on the soft adjacent layer;
an underlayer on the first and second outside regions of the gap layer, thereby forming first and second passive regions above the underlayer and an active region above the soft adjacent layer;
a first hard-biasing film on the underlayer in the first and second passive regions, the first hard-biasing film for biasing the soft adjacent layer;
a layer of low-resistivity material on the first hard-biasing film in the first and second passive regions;
a second hard-biasing film positioned on the layer of low-resistivity material in the first and second passive regions;
a magnetoresistive layer on the spacer layer and the second hard-biasing film such that it extends through the active region and the first and second passive regions with the second hard-biasing film biasing the magnetoresistive layer; and
a cap layer on the magnetoresistive layer in the active region and the first and second passive regions.
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Abstract
The present invention is a magnetoresistive (MR) sensor (100) that combines the advantages of abutted junction structure and regular overlaid structure. The abutted junction design is used with the soft adjacent layer (SAL) (108) and the overlaid structure is used with the MR element (120). The method of making the MR sensor (100) comprises depositing SAL (108) on top of the gap layer (106) and depositing spacer material (110) on top of the SAL (108). A mask (130) is placed over the central region of the spacer material (110) and SAL (108). The spacer material (110) and SAL (108) are removed in the areas not covered by the mask (130). An underlayer material (112) is deposited in the areas where the SAL (108) and spacer material (110) were removed. A hard-biasing material (114) is deposited on top of the underlayer (112). The mask (130) is removed and the MR element (120) is deposited on top of the spacer material (110) in the active region of the sensor (132) and on top of the hard-biasing material (114) in the passive regions of the sensor (134, 136). A cap layer (122) is deposited on top of the MR element (120) in the active (132) and passive regions (134, 136) of the MR sensor (100). Contacts (124) are placed on top of the cap layer (122) in the passive regions of the sensor (134, 136).
In another embodiment of the method, additional material is added to separate the hard-biasing material (114), thus improving the signal to noise ratio. A low resistivity material (116) is added after the first hard-biasing material (114) and a second hard-biasing material (118) is deposited on top of the low-resistivity material (116). The additional materials are deposited before the mask (130) is removed. Once the mask (130) is removed, the MR senor (100) is built in accordance with the first embodiment.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A magnetoresistive read sensor comprising:
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a gap layer;
a soft adjacent layer on a center region of the gap layer, where first and second outside regions of the gap layer are separated by the center region;
a spacer layer on the soft adjacent layer;
an underlayer on the first and second outside regions of the gap layer, thereby forming first and second passive regions above the underlayer and an active region above the soft adjacent layer;
a first hard-biasing film on the underlayer in the first and second passive regions, the first hard-biasing film for biasing the soft adjacent layer;
a layer of low-resistivity material on the first hard-biasing film in the first and second passive regions;
a second hard-biasing film positioned on the layer of low-resistivity material in the first and second passive regions;
a magnetoresistive layer on the spacer layer and the second hard-biasing film such that it extends through the active region and the first and second passive regions with the second hard-biasing film biasing the magnetoresistive layer; and
a cap layer on the magnetoresistive layer in the active region and the first and second passive regions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A magnetoresistive read sensor comprising:
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a first passive region comprising an underlayer, a first hard-biasing layer positioned on the underlayer, a layer of low-resistivity material positioned on the first hard-biasing layer, a second hard-biasing layer positioned on the layer of low-resistivity material, a first passive region of a magnetoresistive layer positioned on the second hard-biasing layer and a first passive region of a cap layer positioned on the first passive region of the magnetoresistive layer;
a second passive region comprising an underlayer, a first hard-biasing layer positioned on the underlayer, a layer of low-resistivity material positioned on the first hard-biasing layer, a second hard-biasing layer positioned on the layer of low-resistivity material, a second passive region of the magnetoresistive layer positioned on the second hard-biasing layer and a second passive region of the cap layer positioned on the second passive region of the magnetoresistive layer; and
an active region separating the first and second passive regions, the active region including a soft adjacent layer, a spacer layer positioned on the soft adjacent layer, an active region of the magnetoresistive layer positioned on the spacer layer, and an active region of the cap layer positioned on the active region of the magnetoresistive layer, wherein the soft adjacent layer is magnetostatically-coupled to the first hard-biasing layer, and wherein the first and second passive regions of the magnetoresistive layer are exchange-coupled to second hard-biasing layers of respective first and second passive regions. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A magnetoresistive read sensor comprising:
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a gap layer;
a soft adjacent layer on a center region of the gap layer, where first and second outside regions of the gap layer are separated by the center region;
a spacer layer on the soft adjacent layer;
an underlayer on the first and second outside regions of the gap layer, thereby forming first and second passive regions above the underlayer and an active region above the soft adjacent layer;
a first hard-biasing layer on the underlayer in the first and second passive regions;
a layer of low-resistivity material on the first hard-biasing layer in the first and second passive regions;
a second hard-biasing layer positioned on the layer of low-resistivity material in the first and second passive regions;
a magnetoresistive layer on the spacer layer and the second hard-biasing layer; and
a cap layer on the magnetoresistive layer in the active region and the first and second passive regions. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification
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- Resources
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Current AssigneeSeagate Technology LLC (Seagate Technology Holdings Plc)
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Original AssigneeSeagate Technology LLC (Seagate Technology Holdings Plc)
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InventorsDing, Juren, Dolejsi, James, Fernandez-deCastro, Juan, Xue, Song Sheng, Ryan, Patrick Joseph
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Primary Examiner(s)Letscher, George J.
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Application NumberUS09/180,560Publication NumberTime in Patent Office1,404 DaysField of Search360/327.1, 360/327.31, 360/327.33, 360/327.22, 360/327.23US Class Current360/327.31CPC Class CodesB82Y 25/00 Nanomagnetism, e.g. magneto...G01R 33/093 using multilayer structures...G11B 5/3903 using magnetic thin film la...G11B 5/3932 Magnetic biasing filmsY10T 29/49044 Plural magnetic deposition ...
