Seagate Technology Incorporated

Eric Walter Singleton

Jae-Young Yi

Shaun Eric McKinlay

Liwen Tan

Victor Sapozhnikov

Konstantin Nikolaev

Taras Grigorievich Pokhil

Mohammed Shariat Ullah Patwari

Mohammed Patwari

Declan Macken

Qing I He

David James Larson

Jae Young Yi

Dimitar Velikov Dimitrov

Kristin Joy Duxstad

Zhiguo Ge

Song Sheng Xue

Brian William Karr

David A Deen

ZhiGuo Ge

Junjie Quan

Zheng Gao

Kaizhong Gao

Vasudevan Ramaswamy

Andrzej Adam Stankiewicz

Stacey Christine Wakeham

Carolyn Pitcher Van Dorn

Sining Mao

Olle Gunnar Heinonen

Jason Bryce Gadbois

Alexander Mikhailovich Shukh

Yonghua Chen

Paul E Anderson

Jiaoming Qiu

Michael B Hintz

Thomas Roy Boonstra

Mai Ghaly

Antonia Tsoukatos

Steven Paul Bozeman

Jae-Young Li

Patrick John Moran

Samuel Martin Barthell

Matt Johnson

Peter Jeremy Czoschke

Michael Allen Seigler

Michael C Kautzky

Wei Tian

Mark Thomas Kief

Huaqing Yin

Mark William Covington

Sakhrat Khizroev

Venkateswara R Inturi

Daniel Paul Burbank

Kurt W Wierman

Dian Song

Dmitri Litvinov

Eric Shane Linville

Hua Yuan

Eric Leroy Granstrom

John Wolf

Brenda Anne Everitt

Steven B Slade

Xilin Peng

Christopher Loren Platt

Mohammed Sharia Ullah Patwari

Jiansheng Xu

Xuefei Tang

Chunhong Hou

Vladyslav Alexandrovich Vas'ko

James Kent Howard

Zhengqi Lu

Daniel Hassett

Bradley Hugh Miller

Levent Colak

Thu-Van Thi Nguyen

Shaun E Mckinlay

Mohammend Patwari

Ann Lynch

Younghua Chen

Vladyslav A Vas′ko

Peter Hampden Clifton

A magnetoresistive sensor includes a free layer and a cap over the free layer. The cap includes an upper layer and an insertion layer between the upper layer and the free layer. The insertion layer includes a non-magnetic alloy formed of at least one refractory metal and at least one ferromagnetic metal.

Stack cap with a non-magnetic layer including ferromagnetic elements

A fabrication method that includes cryogenically cooling a multi-layered structure, which includes a barrier layer, in a multi-purpose chamber having a single enclosure around at least one sputtering target and a substrate support. The method also includes depositing a ferromagnetic layer over the barrier layer of the cryogenically cooled multi-layered structure in the single enclosure when the multi-layered structure is supported on the substrate support.

Fabrication of a multi-layered magnetic element

A magnetic stack is disclosed. The magnetic stack includes a magnetically responsive lamination that includes a ferromagnetic free layer, a synthetic antiferromagnetic (SAF) structure, and a spacer layer positioned between the ferromagnetic free layer and the SAF structure. The magnetically responsive lamination is separated from a sensed data bit stored in an adjacent medium by an air bearing surface (ABS). The stack also includes a first antiferromagnetic (AFM) structure coupled to the SAF structure a predetermined offset distance from the ABS, and a second AFM structure that is separated from the first AFM structure by a first shield layer.

Magnetic element with reduced shield-to-shield spacing

Implementations described and claimed herein include a reader structure, comprising a first reader, including a sensor stack and a top shield structure, the top shield structure comprises a synthetic antiferromagnetic shield (SAF) structure, including a reference layer including at least a layer of NiFe and an impurity additive, an RKKY coupling layer RKKY coupling layer (e.g., Ru layer), and a pinned layer. In another implementation, the RL of the SAF shield structure of a first reader includes at least a layer of amorphous magnetic material. Yet, in another implementation, the SAF shield structure includes an insertion layer of amorphous magnetic material under the SAF shield RL, within the SAF shield RL or between the SAF shield RL and SAF shield Ru.

Magnetoresistive sensor fabrication

A magnetic sensor assembly includes first and second shields each comprised of a magnetic material. The first and second shields define a physical shield-to-shield spacing. A sensor stack is disposed between the first and second shields and includes a seed layer adjacent the first shield, a cap layer adjacent the second shield, and a magnetic sensor between the seed layer and the cap layer. At least a portion of the seed layer and/or the cap layer comprises a magnetic material to provide an effective shield-to-shield spacing of the magnetic sensor assembly that is less than the physical shield-to-shield spacing.

Method for fabricating a magnetic sensor assembly

A data reader generally capable of sensing data bits may be configured at least with a magnetic stack that has free and fixed magnetization structures atop a magnetic seed layer. A bottom shield may be positioned contactingly adjacent the magnetic stack opposite a top shield with the bottom shield having a fixed pinning magnetization set to a predetermined magnetic orientation.

Method of making a bottom shield stabilized magnetic seed layer

A method of making an MgO barrier layer for a TMR sensor, the method including depositing a first Mg layer in a first chamber, depositing a second Mg layer on the first Mg layer using a reactive oxide deposition process in the presence of oxygen in the first chamber or in a second chamber different than the first chamber, depositing a third Mg layer on the second MgO layer in either the first chamber, the second chamber, or a third chamber, and annealing the first layer, the second layer, and the third layer to form an MgO barrier layer.

Methods of forming MgO barrier layer

A multi-sensor reader that includes a first sensor that has a first sensor stack, which includes a sensing layer that has a magnetization that changes according to an external magnetic field. The first sensor also includes a first seed layer below the first sensor stack. The multi-sensor reader also includes a second sensor stacked over the first sensor. The second sensor includes a second sensor stack, which includes a sensing layer that has a magnetization that changes according to the external magnetic field. The second sensor also includes a second seed layer below the second sensor stack. A stabilization element is included to maintain a magnetization direction of the second seed layer and to stabilize the second seed layer.

Stabilization of one or more upper sensors in multi-sensor readers

Various embodiments of a magnetic stack are disclosed. In one or more embodiments, the magnetic stack includes first and second shield layers, and a magnetically responsive lamination disposed between the first and second shield layers. The magnetically responsive lamination can be configured to receive a sense current Itherethrough. The magnetic stack also includes a cooling element disposed between the first and second shield layers and thermally coupled to the magnetically responsive lamination. The cooling element can be configured to receive a bias current Itherethrough. And the cooling element can be configured to cool the magnetically responsive lamination during a read function.

Magnetic stack including cooling element

Implementations described and claimed herein provide a system comprising an external magnetic field generator, wherein the external field magnetic field generator is configured to rock an effective annealing magnetic field between a first positive angle and a second negative angle compared to a desired pinning field orientation in an AFM/PL structure.

Magnetic sensor annealing using a rocking field

A magnetoresistive (MR) sensor including a synthetic antiferromagnetic (SAF) structure that is magnetically coupled to a side shield element. The SAF structure includes at least one magnetic amorphous layer that is an alloy of a ferromagnetic material and a refractory material. The amorphous magnetic layer may be in contact with a non-magnetic layer and antiferromagnetically coupled to a layer in contact with an opposite surface of the non-magnetic layer.

Magnetoresistive sensor with SAF structure having amorphous alloy layer

A lateral spin valve reader includes a channel layer having a first end that is proximate to a bearing surface and a second end that is away from the bearing surface. The lateral spin valve reader also includes a detector structure disposed over an upper surface of a first portion of the channel layer that is proximate to the first end of the channel layer. A spin injection structure disposed below a lower surface of a second portion of the channel layer is proximate to the second end of the channel layer. An area of overlap between the spin injection structure and the second portion of the channel layer is substantially larger than an area of overlap between the detector structure and the first portion of the channel layer.

Lateral spin valve reader with large-area tunneling spin-injector

A multi-sensor reader that includes a first sensor that has a sensing layer with a magnetization that changes according to an external magnetic field. The first sensor also includes first and second side biasing magnets having a magnetization substantially along a first direction. The first and second side biasing magnets align the magnetization of the sensing layer substantially along the first direction when the sensing layer is not substantially influenced by the external magnetic field. The multi-sensor reader further includes a second sensor that is stacked over the first sensor. The second sensor includes a reference layer that has a magnetization that is set substantially along a second direction. The first sensor further includes at least one sensor-stabilization feature that counteracts an influence of a magnetic field utilized to set the magnetization of the reference layer of the second sensor in the second direction on the magnetization of at least one of the first and second side biasing magnets in the first direction.

Sensor stabilization in a multiple sensor magnetic reproducing device

An apparatus comprises a head transducer and a resistive temperature sensor provided on the head transducer. The resistive temperature sensor comprises a first layer comprising a conductive material and having a temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) and a second layer comprising at least one of a specular layer and a seed layer. A method is disclosed to fabricate such sensor with a laminated thin film structure to achieve a large TCR. The thicknesses of various layers in the laminated thin film are in the range of few to a few tens of nanometers. The combinations of the deliberately optimized multilayer thin film structures and the fabrication of such films at the elevated temperatures are disclosed to obtain the large TCR.

Thin films having large temperature coefficient of resistance and methods of fabricating same

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Maple Plain, MN, United States of America

Eric Walter Singleton