The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 18, 1998
Filed:
Nov. 27, 1996
Danielle Mauri, San Jose, CA (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A self-biased spin valve (SV) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor is disclosed having a free layer separated from a pinned layer by a spacer1 layer and further having the free layer separated from a keeper layer by a spacer2 layer. The free layer being disposed between the keeper layer and the pinned layer. The keeper layer in combination with the sense current flowing in the sensor is used as a means of pinning the magnetization of the pinned layer. By using the soft keeper layer in combination with the sense current as a means of pinning the pinned layer magnetization as opposed to the use of the conventional antiferromagnetic layer, the SV sensor dependency on the blocking temperature of the antiferromagnetic layer is eliminated.