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:
Feb. 11, 2003
Filed:
Jun. 02, 2000
Yoshihiko Kakihara, Niigata-ken, JP;
Alps Electric Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A spin-valve thin-film element includes a substrate, an antiferromagnetic layer formed on the substrate, a pinned magnetic layer formed on the antiferromagnetic layer, a nonmagnetic conductive layer formed on the pinned magnetic layer, a free magnetic layer formed on the nonmagnetic conductive layer, a hard biasing layer, a conductive layer for supplying a detecting current to the pinned magnetic layer, the nonmagnetic conductive layer, and the free magnetic layer, a biasing conductive layer for controlling the direction of a variable magnetization of the free magnetic layer, and a current supply unit for supplying a current to the conductive layer and the biasing conductive layer. The current applied to the biasing conductive layer forms a current magnetic field for controlling the direction of the variable magnetization of the free magnetic layer. The spin-valve thin-film element exhibits high heat resistance, high reliability, and small asymmetry.