Seagate Technology Incorporated

Brian William Karr

Eric Walter Singleton

Zheng Gao

Lance Eugene Stover

Gary Joseph Kunkel

Manuel Charles Anaya-Dufresne

Zhen Wei

Song Sheng Xue

Declan Macken

Joel William Hoehn

Qing I He

Eric Shane Linville

Eric Leroy Granstrom

Jianxin Zhu

Janusz Jozef Nowak

Khuong T Tran

Yi X Li

Michael C Kautzky

Mark Thomas Kief

Sining Mao

Joachim Walter Ahner

Olle Gunnar Heinonen

Sarbeswar Sahoo

Paul E Anderson

Jason Wayne Riddering

Kurt W Wierman

Shaun Eric McKinlay

Erik Jon Hutchinson

John West Dykes

Jiaoming Qiu

Timothy William Stoebe

John L Brand

Michael B Hintz

Ibro Tabakovic

Jorge Vicente Hanchi

Mary Cynthia Hipwell

James E Angelo

Maissarath Nassirou

Xilin Peng

Christopher Loren Platt

Jeremy Adam Thurn

Kristin Joy Duxstad

Janusz Josef Nowak

David James Larson

William D Mosley

Mei-Ling Wu

Richard T Greenlee

Younghua Chen

David H Olson

Peter Hampden Clifton

A sensor supported by a head transducer has a temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) and a sensor resistance. The sensor operates at a temperature above ambient and is responsive to changes in sensor-medium spacing. Conductive contacts connected to the sensor have a contact resistance and a cross-sectional area adjacent to the sensor larger than that of the sensor, such that the contact resistance is small relative to the sensor resistance and negligibly contributes to a signal generated by the sensor. A multiplicity of head transducers each support a TCR sensor and a power source can supply bias power to each sensor of each head to maintain each sensor at a fixed temperature above an ambient temperature in the presence of heat transfer changes impacting the sensors. A TCR sensor of a head transducer can include a track-oriented TCR sensor wire for sensing one or both of asperities of the medium.

Resistive temperature sensors for improved asperity, head-media spacing, and/or head-media contact detection

A magnetic sensor includes a magnetic layer comprising magnetic material and a grain refining agent. The magnetic layer having a grain-refined magnetic layer surface. A layer adjacent the magnetic layer has a layer surface that conforms to the grain-refined magnetic layer surface.

Magnetic layer with grain refining agent

An apparatus comprising a writer, a reader, and a sensor configured to at least sense thermal asperities of a magnetic storage medium. The apparatus includes a writer heater configured to thermally actuate the writer, a reader heater configured to thermally actuate the reader, and a sensor heater configured to thermally actuate the sensor. The thermally actuated sensor is configured to detect thermal asperities arising from the magnetic storage medium during a topographical survey of the medium. The sensor heater is configured to be rendered inoperable subsequent to the survey in response to receiving a predetermined signal while the writer and the reader heaters remain operable.

Electrically removable heater for a thermally actuatable thermal asperity sensor

A method including forming a multilayer structure. The multilayer structure includes a seed layer comprising a first component selected from the group consisting of a Pt-group metal, Fe, Mn, Ir and Co. The multilayer structure also includes an intermediate layer comprising the first component and a second component selected from the group consisting of a Pt-group metal, Fe, Mn, Ir and Co. The second component is different than the first component. The multilayer structure further includes a cap layer comprising the first component. The method further includes heating the multilayer structure to an annealing temperature to cause a phase transformation of the intermediate layer. Also a hard magnet including a seed layer comprising a first component selected from the group consisting of a Pt-group metal, Fe, Mn, Ir and Co. The hard magnet also includes a cap layer comprising the first component. The hard magnet further includes an intermediate layer between the seed layer and the cap layer. The intermediate layer includes the first component and a second component selected from the group consisting of a Pt-group metal, Fe, Mn, Ir and Co. The first component is different than the second component. Additionally, a read/write head including the hard magnet.

Hard magnet with cap and seed layers and data storage device read/write head incorporating the same

A device having an air bearing surface, the device including a writer portion having an air bearing surface at the air bearing surface of the device; and an overcoat layer disposed on at least a portion of the air bearing surface of the writer portion, wherein the overcoat includes a material having a magnetic moment of at least about 0.1 Tesla (T).

Overcoats that include magnetic materials

A contact pad includes a first layer of material with a first yield strength and a second layer of material with a second yield strength is laminated to the first layer. A third yield strength of the laminated composite of the first layer and the second layer exceeds the first yield strength and the second yield strength due to the Hall-Petch phenomenon. An overcoat covers an edge of the first layer and the second layer of the contact pad to prevent wear. A method of creating the contact pad or other microelectronic structure includes depositing a first layer of material with a first yield strength on a substrate. A second layer of material with a second yield strength is deposited on the first layer. An edge of the first layer and the second layer is coated with an overcoat material to prevent wear of the first and second layers.

Laminated contact pad for a transducer head

Recording heads for a data storage system include a first side having at least a portion of a metal component. A carbon overcoat is on the first side and covers the at least a portion of a metal component. A corrosion inhibitor is incorporated in the carbon overcoat. The corrosion inhibitor is illustratively located between the carbon overcoat and the at least a portion of a metal component, on top of the carbon overcoat, or within the carbon overcoat. In an embodiment, the carbon overcoat includes diamond-like carbon.

Corrosion inhibitor incorporated in carbon overcoats

A magnetic sensor includes a sensor stack having a first magnetic portion, a second magnetic portion, and a barrier layer between the first magnetic portion and the second magnetic portion. At least one of the first magnetic portion and the second magnetic portion includes a multilayer structure having a first magnetic layer having a positive magnetostriction adjacent to the barrier layer, a second magnetic layer, and an intermediate layer between the first magnetic layer and the second magnetic layer. The magnetic sensor has an MR ratio of at least about 80% when the magnetic sensor has a resistance-area (RA) product of about 1.0 &#x3a9;&#xb7;&#x3bc;m.

Magnetic sensing device including a sense enhancing layer

A transistor has an emitter, a spin-selective base, a collector, a first barrier interposed between the spin-selective base and the emitter, a second barrier interposed between the spin-selective base and the collector, and a transfer ratio of more than 10.

Spin transistor with ultra-low energy base-collector barrier

A tunneling magnetoresistive stack includes a first ferromagnetic layer, a tunnel barrier layer on the first ferromagnetic layer, and a second ferromagnetic layer on the tunnel barrier layer. The tunneling magnetoresistive stack exhibits a negative exchange coupling between the first ferromagnetic layer and the second ferromagnetic layer indicating that the tunneling magnetoresistive stack has a high quality tunnel barrier layer.

TMR sensor with oxidized alloy barrier layer and method for forming the same

The present invention provides a tunneling magneto-resistive read sensor structure that improves sensitivity and linear density of the sensor structure. The sensor includes first and second electrodes and a stack positioned between the electrodes. The stack includes first and second free layers with magnetization orientations that are biased relative to each other. A tunneling barrier (insulating layer) or non-magnetic metal spacer is positioned between the first and second free layers. A sense current is passed between the first and second free layers of the stack. The amount of current passing through the first and second free layer changes based upon the orientation of the first and second free layers relative to each other.

Structure to achieve sensitivity and linear density in tunneling GMR heads using orthogonal magnetic alignments

Growing community of inventors

Savage, MN, United States of America

Brian William Karr