Seagate Technology Incorporated

Marcus Winston Ormston

Kevin Anthony McNeill

Sameh Hassan

Mark Thomas Kief

Aidan Dominic Goggin

Adam Andrzej Lapicki

Sameh Sayed Ali Hassan

Jiansheng Xu

Xin Cao

Yuqing Du

Frances Paula McElhinney

YuQing Du

Wonjoon Jung

Peter Kevin McGeehin

Denis O'Donnell

Gabriel McCafferty

Victor Sapozhnikov

Robert William Lamberton

Zhiran Wang

Alexey Dobrynin

Patrick Gabriel McCafferty

Sameh Sayad Ali Hassan

Emeline Hassen

Gabriel G McCafferty

A multi-layer barrier and method of formation. The method includes applying oxidation to a top of a reference layer, and depositing a plurality of different metal layers over the reference layer. The method also includes providing different oxidation doses at different temperatures to different layers of the plurality of metal layers. The method further includes performing an annealing operation after depositing at least two of the plurality of different metal layers.

Multilayer barrier and method of formation

A magnetoresistive (MR) sensor shield shields against both down track and cross-track interference and is formed in a single deposition step. A 'tail' portion of the shield is eliminated by including a non-magnetic material adjacent to opposite sides of a middle portion of the sensor stack.

Manufacturing method for reader side shield

A data reader may consist of at least a magnetoresistive stack positioned on an air bearing surface. A portion of the magnetoresistive stack may be set to a first fixed magnetization by a pinning structure separated from the air bearing surface by a front shield that is set to a second fixed magnetization by a biasing structure. The front shield may be separated from the biasing structure by a coupling structure.

Data reader with front shield coupling structure

A read sensor that includes a free layer having a magnetization that changes according to an external magnetic field. The read sensor also includes an additional magnetic layer and a non-magnetic layer. The non-magnetic layer may include a corrugated surface facing the additional magnetic layer. The corrugated surface is configured to enhance uniaxial anisotropy in the read sensor.

Magnetoresistive sensor with enhanced uniaxial anisotropy

A read sensor having a bearing surface and an antiferromagnetic (AFM) layer recessed from the bearing surface. The read sensor includes a synthetic antiferromagnetic (SAF) structure over the AFM layer. The SAF structure includes a recessed lower pinned layer, an upper pinned layer, a reference layer and a stabilization feature. The stabilization feature may include deliberate reduction of the antiferromagnetic coupling energy density between the upper pinned layer and the reference layer, so that it becomes lower than the first energy density of antiferromagnetic coupling between the upper pinned layer and the lower pinned layer. The stabilization feature may alternatively include an intermediate pinned layer between the lower pinned layer and the upper pinned layer. The intermediate pinned layer is antiferromagnetically coupled to both the lower pinned layer and the upper pinned layer, and at least a portion of the intermediate pinned layer is recessed behind the bearing surface.

Magnetoresistive sensor with recessed antiferromagnetic layer and stabilization feature

A data reader may have a magnetoresistive stack consisting of at least magnetically free and magnetically fixed structures with the magnetically fixed structure set to a first magnetization direction by a pinning structure separated from an air bearing surface by a front shield portion of a magnetic shield. The pinning structure can meet the front shield portion with a planar sidewall angled at 10&#xb0; or less with respect to the ABS.

Method of manufacturing a recessed data reader pinning structure with vertical sidewall

A read sensor and fabrication method thereof. The method includes forming a bottom stack that includes an antiferromagnetic (AFM) layer, a lower ferromagnetic stitch layer above the AFM layer and a sacrificial cap layer on the lower ferromagnetic stitch layer. The sacrificial cap layer is formed of a material that alloys magnetically with the lower ferromagnetic stitch layer. The method further includes substantially removing the sacrificial cap layer. After substantially removing the sacrificial layer, an upper ferromagnetic stitch layer is deposited on the lower ferromagnetic stitch layer of the bottom stack to form a stitch interface that provides relatively strong magnetic coupling between the lower ferromagnetic stitch layer of the bottom stack and the upper ferromagnetic stitch layer.

Recessed AFM stitch interface engineering

A data reader can be configured with at least a magnetoresistive stack contacting one or more magnetic shields. The magnetoresistive stack can be separated from a magnetic shield by a seed lamination on an air bearing surface with the seed lamination consisting of at least three sub-layers that are constructed with different material compositions.

Data reader shield seed buffer

A magnetoresistive (MR) sensor shield shields against both down track and cross-track interference. The shield can be formed in a single deposition step. In one implementation of the disclosed technology, a 'tail' portion of the shield is eliminated by including a non-magnetic material adjacent to opposite sides of a middle portion of the sensor stack.

Reader side shield

A data storage device may be configured at least with a magnetic stack that contacts a magnetic shield. The magnetic stack can be disposed between first and second side shields and having at least one layer constructed of a CoFeNiB material. The magnetic shield may have a synthetic antiferromagnet with a non-magnetic layer disposed between first and second ferromagnetic layers.

Data reader magnetic shield with CoFeNiB material

A magnetic sensor may generally be configured as a data reader capable of sensing data bits from an adjacent data storage medium. Various embodiments of a magnetic element may have at least a magnetic stack that contacts at least a first shield. The first shield can have at least one synthetic antiferromagnetic structure (SAFS) that is pinned by a high-coercivity ferromagnetic (HCFM) layer.

Magnetic sensor shield pinned by a high-coercivity ferromagnet

A data storage system may be configured at least with a seed lamination that is disposed between a magnetic stack and a magnetic shield. The seed lamination may be constructed and operated with a coupling buffer layer and a seed layer with the coupling buffer layer fabricated of an alloy of cobalt and a transition metal.

Magnetic stack coupling buffer layer

A data storage device may be constructed to sense data bits with at least a magnetic stack contacting a shield that has a horizontal lamination of magnetic and non-magnetic layers. The magnetic layer may be configured with a first width at an air bearing surface (ABS) that defines a first aspect ratio and a different second width that defines a different second aspect ratio distal the ABS.

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Derry, United Kingdom

Marcus Winston Ormston