Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.v.

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Japan, Ltd.

Hgst Netherlands, B.v.

Hitachi Metals, Ltd.

Western Digital Technologies, Inc.

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies

Hiroyuki Hoshiya

Kazuhiro Nakamoto

Kenichi Meguro

Katsumi Hoshino

Yasuyuki Okada

Yoshiaki Kawato

Masato Shiimoto

Hiroyuki Katada

Susumu Soeya

Hiroshi Fukui

Yo Sato

Mikito Sugiyama

Katsuro Watanabe

Moriaki Fuyama

Yasunori Abe

Chiaki Ishikawa

Katsuya Mitsuoka

Masafumi Mochizuki

Alexander Goncharov

James Terrence Olson

Reiko Arai

Masaaki Sano

Fumio Sato

Hisashi Kimura

Hiroshi Ide

Hiromasa Takahashi

Yohji Maruyama

Nobuo Yoshida

Susumu Okamura

Takashi Kawabe

Isao Nunokawa

Shigeru Tadokoro

Yuko Tsuchiya

Yoshihiro Hamakawa

Takeshi Nakagawa

Masahiko Hatatani

Kaori Totsuka

Shunichi Narumi

Keizou Katou

Harukazu Miyamoto

Kan Yasui

Matahiro Komuro

Kazue Kudo

Masashige Sato

Takao Imagawa

Hirotsugu Fukuoka

Takahiro Ibusuki

Taku Shintani

Yasunari Tajima

Kikuo Kusukawa

Tetsuya Matsusaki

Kazuhito Miyata

Atsuko Okawa

Hisako Takei

Kentaro Namikawa

Tomomitsu Inoue

Kojiro Komagaki

Keizo Kato

Kenichi Meguroo

You Sato

A write head for a data storage device comprises a main pole, a trailing shield, and a write-field enhancement structure disposed in a write gap between the main pole and the trailing shield. The write-field enhancement structure comprises a non-magnetic spacer, a non-magnetic layer, and a magnetic DC-field-generation (DFG) layer. The DFG layer is sandwiched between the non-magnetic layer and the non-magnetic spacer. The write head also includes at least one magnetic notch adjacent to at least one of the main pole or the trailing shield. The non-magnetic spacer is adjacent to a magnetic notch. Some embodiments include multiple magnetic notches. Also disclosed are data storage devices comprising such write heads.

Magnetic write head with write-field enhancement structure including a magnetic notch

Disclosed herein are perpendicular magnetic recording writers for providing spin-torque-assisted write field enhancement, and hard disk drives comprising such magnetic write heads. A spin-torque-assisting element is disposed in the write gap and extends to the air-bearing surface (ABS). The spin-torque-assisting element comprises a non-magnetic layer in contact with a main pole, a DC-field generation (DFG) layer with a first side in contact with the non-magnetic layer, and a spacer layer in contact with a second side of the DFG layer. A magnetization of the DFG layer is configured to be aligned substantially parallel to a write gap magnetic field generated by the main pole during a write process, and the magnetization of the DFG layer is configured to flip its direction in response to application of a bias current exceeding a specified magnitude.

Magnetic write head for providing spin-torque-assisted write field enhancement

Disclosed herein are magnetic write heads and hard disk drives comprising such magnetic write heads. A magnetic head comprises a magnetic pole, a first shield separated from the magnetic pole at an air-bearing surface (ABS) of the magnetic head, a magnetic layer disposed between the magnetic pole and the first shield, wherein the magnetic layer comprises at least of iron, cobalt, or nickel, a first non-magnetic layer disposed between the magnetic pole and the magnetic layer, and a second non-magnetic layer disposed between the magnetic layer and the first shield, wherein the magnetic layer is the only magnetic layer at the ABS that is between the main pole and the first shield that is not adjacent to the main pole or the first shield.

Disclosed herein are magnetic write heads for providing spin-torque-assisted write field enhancement, and hard disk drives comprising such magnetic write heads. Within the write gap, each magnetic write head comprises a main pole, a trailing shield, a spacer disposed between the main pole and the trailing shield, a non-magnetic layer disposed between the main pole and the trailing shield, and a magnetic DC-field-generation (DFG) layer adjacent to the spacer and disposed between the spacer and the non-magnetic layer. In some embodiments, the DFG layer is the only magnetic layer within the write gap that is not adjacent to the main pole or the trailing shield.

A magnetic sensor includes a plurality of magneto-resistive effect elements each configured by using a magneto-resistive effect film formed by laminating a pinned layer, a nonmagnetic layer, and a free layer in order from a side of a substrate. A first linear pattern is formed in a first portion on the substrate in a first direction. A second linear pattern is formed in a second portion on the substrate in a second direction. A magnetization direction of the first portion is different from a magnetization direction of the second portion. The magneto-resistive effect film is further formed on the substrate. Each of the plurality of magneto-resistive effect elements includes a pair of electrodes formed by the magneto-resistive effect film processed into a predetermined shape.

Method for producing magneto-resistive effect element, magnetic sensor, rotation-angle detection device

Embodiments of the present invention help to reduce mag-noise in a magnetoresistive head without deterioration in reproduced output and improve the signal/noise ratio (SNR) of the magnetoresistive head. According to one embodiment, the magnetoresistive head uses a synthetic ferri free layer and it is arranged such that the magnetic field which is applied to an end of a free layer with smaller film thickness and saturation magnetization in the track width direction by a coupling field is larger than the magnetic field which is applied to it by a bias layer.

Magnetic head using a synthetic ferri free structure

Embodiments of the present invention provide a perpendicular magnetic recording head which can suppress reduction in recording field and efficiently reduce a fringe field. According to one embodiment, a side shield disposed at a side of each side face in a cross track direction of a main pole is arranged at a far leading side compared with the main pole.

Perpendicular magnetic recording head and method of manufacturing the same

A heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) air-bearing slider has an optically-transparent protective film over the near-field transducer (NFT) to protect the NFT from excessive heat caused by the accumulation of carbonaceous material on the slider's overcoat. The NFT is thus separated from the overcoat by the protective film. The protective film does not cover the write pole end, which is covered only by the overcoat, so there is no spacing loss between the write pole end and the recording layer on the disk. In one embodiment the protective film is coplanar with the recording-layer-facing surface of the slider and the overcoat covers both the protective film and the write pole end. In another embodiment the overcoat has a window that surrounds the protective film, with the protective film being substantially coplanar with the air-bearing surface (ABS) of the slider. In both embodiments the smooth topography of the slider's ABS is maintained.

Heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) write head with recessed near-field transducer and optically transparent protective film

Embodiments of the present invention provide a practical magneto-resistive effect element for CPP-GMR, which exhibits appropriate resistance-area-product and high magnetoresistance change ratio, and meets the demand for a narrow read gap. Certain embodiments of a magneto-resistive effect element in accordance with the present invention include a pinned ferromagnetic layer containing a first ferromagnetic film having a magnetization direction fixed in one direction, a free ferromagnetic layer containing a second ferromagnetic film having a magnetization direction varying in response to an external magnetic field, an intermediate layer provided between the pinned ferromagnetic layer and the free ferromagnetic layer, and a current confinement layer for confining a current. At least one of the pinned ferromagnetic layer or the free ferromagnetic layer includes a highly spin polarized layer.

Magneto-resistive effect element, magnetic head, and magnetic recording/reading apparatus

To provide a method which can define the direction and orientation of magnetization of a pinned layer while reducing the number of steps of forming a GMR film. The magnetization direction of the pinned layer is defined in a plurality of directions by forming a plurality of patterns having directivities. Further, when the magneto-resistive effect film is formed, a magnetic field is applied in a direction at an angle set between the angles of the plurality of patterns.

Method for producing magnetoresistive effect element, magnetic sensor, rotation-angle detection device

According to one embodiment, a differential magnetoresistive effect element comprises a first magnetoresistive effect element having a first pinning layer, a first intermediate layer, and a first free layer. The differential magnetoresistive effect element also comprises a second magnetoresistive effect element stacked via a spacer layer above the first magnetoresistive effect element, the second magnetoresistive effect element having a second pinning layer, a second intermediate layer, and a second free layer. The first magnetoresistive effect element and the second magnetoresistive effect element show in-opposite-phase resistance change in response to a magnetic field in the same direction, and tptpis satisfied when a thickness of the first pinning layer is tp, and a thickness of the second pinning layer is tp. In another embodiment, the first and second magnetoresistive effect elements may be CPP-GMR elements. Other elements, heads, and magnetic recording/reading devices are described according to other embodiments.

Differential magnetoresistive effect head and magnetic recording/reading device

A magnetic sensor having a novel hard bias structure that provides reduced gap spacing for increased data density. The magnetic sensor includes a sensor stack with first and second sides formed on a magnetic shield. A thin insulation layer is formed over the sides of the sensor stack and over the bottom shield. An under-layer comprising Cu&#x2014;O is formed over the insulation layer and a hard magnetic bias layer is formed over the under-layer. The use of Cu&#x2014;O as the under-layer allows the under-layer to be made thinner while still maintaining excellent magnetic properties in the hard bias layers formed there-over. This reduced thickness of the under-layer allows the gap spacing (spacing between the top and bottom magnetic shields) to be reduced, which in turn provides increased data density.

Magnetic sensor having a hard bias seed structure

There is provided an angle sensor and angle detection device of high output and high accuracy with a wide operating temperature range. First through eighth sensor unitsandare produced from spin valve magnetoresistive films that use a self-pinned type ferromagnetic pinned layer comprising two layers of ferromagnetic films that are strongly and anti-ferromagnetically coupled. The respective sensor units are produced via the formation and patterning of thin-films magnetized at angles that differ by 90&#xb0;, and the formation of insulation films. By using, for the ferromagnetic films, CoFe and FeCo films that have similar Curie temperatures to make the difference in magnetization amount be zero, high immunity to external magnetic fields, a broad adaptive temperature range, and high output are realized.

Angle sensor, angle sensor manufacturing method, and angle detection device using the angle sensor

Embodiments of the present invention aim suppress the generation of spin torque noise in a current perpendicular to plane magnetoresistive head. According to one embodiment, when sensing current is applied to a current perpendicular to plane magnetoresistive head from a free layer toward a first pinned layer, a configuration wherein the relative angle between the magnetization of a second pinned layer and the magnetization of the free layer is in the range of 70 to 80 degrees is used. Further, when sensing current is applied to a current perpendicular to plane magnetoresistive head from a first pinned layer toward a free layer, a configuration wherein the relative angle between the magnetization of a second pinned layer and the magnetization of the free layer is in the range of 100 to 110 degrees is used.

Current perpendicular to plane magnetoresistive head having suppressed spin torque noise

According to one embodiment, a magnetoresistive effect head includes a magnetically pinned layer having a direction of magnetization that is pinned, a free magnetic layer positioned above the magnetically pinned layer, the free magnetic layer having a direction of magnetization that is free to vary, and a barrier layer comprising an insulator positioned between the magnetically pinned layer and the free magnetic layer, wherein at least one of the magnetically pinned layer and the free magnetic layer has a layered structure, the layered structure including a crystal layer comprising one of: a CoFe magnetic layer or a CoFeB magnetic layer and an amorphous magnetic layer comprising CoFeB and an element selected from: Ta, Hf, Zr, and Nb, wherein the crystal layer is positioned closer to a tunnel barrier layer than the amorphous magnetic layer. In another embodiment, a magnetic data storage system includes the magnetoresistive effect head described above.

Magnetoresistive effect head having a multilayered pinned layer and/or free layer having amorphous and crystalline layers, and systems thereof

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Odawara, Japan

Hiroyuki Hoshiya