Hitachi, Ltd.

Hiroshi Kamio

Takao Imagawa

Shigeru Tadokoro

Katsuro Watanabe

Takashi Kawabe

Satoshi Shigematsu

Koichi Nishioka

Katsuhisa Usami

Yasunari Tajima

Magnetoresistive and spin valve heads have a layered structure. Common to each of the layered structures of these heads is the combination of a soft-magnetic layer of essentially NiFe near a spacer layer of essentially Ta, which is used for insuring (,) crystal orientation of the NiFe layer. An isolate layer is interposed between the spacer layer and the soft-magnetic layer to prevent a diffusion boundary from being created at the interface of these layers which tends to degrade the soft-magnetic property of the NiFe layer, especially when the thickness of the soft-magnetic layer is 10 and nm or less. The isolate layer is one of a composition in which the principal component is a magnetic element that is not solid soluble with Ta, a composition in which the principal component is a non-magnetic element that is not solid soluble with Ni and Fe, a composition in which the principal component is at least one of the elements of Co, Fe, Ti, V, Zr, Nb, Mo, Hf, W, Tc, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Re, Os, Ir, Pt and Au; or a composition in which the principal component is of Co,Fe,, where 20&gE;X>O. The isolate layer has a structure that is amorphous, an fcc structure.

Magnetic head

A magnetoresistive head in which Barkhausen noise is substantially suppressed and a variation in reproduction is minimized, and a magnetic disk apparatus using the same magnetic head have been provided. The feature of the magnetic head and the magnetic disk apparatus of the invention resides in the provision of the longitudinal bias layer which comprises a hard magnetic thin film formed on an underlayer made of either of a ferromagnetic thin film having a body-centered cubic lattice crystal structure formed of body-centered cells, an amorphous ferromagnetic thin film or antiferromagnetic thin film having a body-centered cubic lattice crystal structure formed of body-centered cells.

Magnetoresistive head and magnetic disk apparatus

A magnetoresistive head in which Barkhausen noise is substantially suppressed and a variation in reproduction is minimized, and a magnetic disk apparatus using the same magnetic head have been provided. The feature of the magnetic head and the magnetic disk apparatus of the invention resides in the provision of a longitudinal bias layer which comprises a hard magnetic thin film formed on an underlayer made of either a ferromagnetic thin film having a body-centered cubic lattice crystal structure, or an amorphous ferromagnetic thin film or antiferromagnetic thin film having a body-centered cubic lattice crystal structure.

Magnetoresistive and spin valve heads have a layered structure. Common to each of the layered structures of these heads is the combination of a soft-magnetic layer of essentially NiFe near a spacer layer of essentially Ta, which is used for insuring (111) crystal orientation of the NiFe layer. An isolate layer is interposed between the spacer layer and the soft-magnetic layer to prevent a diffusion boundary from being created at the interface of these layers which tends to degrade the soft-magnetic property of the NiFe layer, especially when the thickness of the soft-magnetic layer is 10 and nm or less. The isolate layer is one of a composition in which the principal component is a magnetic element that is not solid soluble with Ta, a composition in which the principal component is a non-magnetic element that is not solid soluble with Ni and Fe, a composition in which the principal component is at least one of the elements of Co, Fe, Ti, V, Zr, Nb, Mo, Hf, W, Tc, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Re, Os, Ir, Pt and Au; or a composition in which the principal component is of Co.sub.(100-x) Fe.sub.(x), where 20.gtoreq.X&gt;O. The isolate layer has a structure that is amorphous, an fcc structure.

A magnetic head having a magnetoresistive head having a spin valve structure in which a composite magnetic layer of a rotatable magnetizing direction layer and oxide or the like is used for a lower shielding layer and/or an upper shielding layer and a magnetic disk apparatus using such a head are disclosed. According to the invention, a magnetic head having a head of a magnetoresistance effect type generating a high output with low noises and a magnetic disk apparatus having a large quantity with high recording density can be realized.

Growing community of inventors

Odawara, Japan

Hiroshi Kamio