Seagate Technology Incorporated

Yuqing Du

Marcus Winston Ormston

Kevin Anthony McNeill

Sameh Sayed Ali Hassan

Sameh Hassan

Adam Andrzej Lapicki

Denis O'Donnell

Gabriel G McCafferty

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 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 magnetic element may generally be configured at least with a magnetic stack contacting a leading shield with a seed trilayer. The seed trilayer may have a magnetic layer formed of a metal material and disposed between first and second non-magnetic layers while at least one of the non-magnetic layers constructed of the metal material.

Seed trilayer for magnetic element

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Londonderry, Ireland

Yuqing Du