Seagate Technology Incorporated

Western Digital (Fremont), Inc.

Read Rite Corporation

Bogdan M Simion

Yiming Huai

Song Sheng Xue

Yingjian Chen

Kroum Stanimirov Stoev

Jing Zhang

Patrick Joseph Ryan

Francis H Liu

Marcos Moises Lederman

James F Dolejsi

Mark S Miller

Mathew Gibbons

Aparna C Vadde

Magnetoresistive (MR) sensors have leads that overlap a MR structure and distribute current to the MR structure so that the current is not concentrated in small portions of the leads. An electrically resistive capping layer can be formed between the leads and the MR structure to distribute the current. The leads can include resistive layers and conductive layers, the resistive layers having a thickness-to-resistivity ratio that is greater than that of each of the conductive layers. The resistive layers may protect the conductive layers during MR structure etching, so that the leads have broad layers of electrically conductive material for connection to MR structures. The broad leads conduct heat better than the read gap material that they replace, further reducing the temperature at the connection between the leads and the MR structure.

Magnetoresistive sensor with overlapping leads having distributed current

The present invention is a magnetoresistive (MR) sensor that combines a hard-biasing material with an underlayer of cubic-titanium-tungsten to improve the stability of the MR sensor. The permanency of the hard-biasing material affects both the transverse and longitudinal biasing of the MR sensor, which in turn affects the stability of the MR sensor. The stability of the hard-biasing material is improved by combining it with an underlayer of cubic-titanium-tungsten. The underlayer enhances the hard-biasing material by improving the longitudinal magnetic anisotropy, the coercivity, and the in-plane squareness of the hard-biasing material. The combination of hard-biasing material and cubic-titanium-tungsten underlayer can be used in a variety of MR sensor embodiments, specifically an abutted junction or an overlaid structure. The method of making the abutted junction or overlaid structures is also improved by using cubic-titanium-tungsten as the underlayer of the hard-biasing material. The cubic-titanium-tungsten underlayer can be deposited at temperatures which are normal for the manufacturing of MR sensors, thus extra process steps are not needed. In addition, the process is more consistent and reliable.

Magnetoresistive sensor having a hard-biasing material and a cubic-titanium-tungsten underlayer

Bias layers for a magnetoresistive (MR) sensor have an in-plane easy axis of magnetization for providing a longitudinal bias to MR layers. The bias layers include cobalt (Co), and are formed on various underlayers having crystalline structures that encourage an in-plane alignment of the C-axis of that Co. Preferred underlayers include nickel aluminum (NiAl) and magnesium oxide (MgO), and an interlayer containing chromium (Cr) may be interposed between a bias layer and an underlayer.

Bias layers which are formed on underlayers promoting in-plane alignment of the c-axis of cobalt used in magnetoresistive transducers

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Pleasanton, CA, United States of America

Bogdan M Simion