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:
Mar. 25, 2003
Filed:
Aug. 23, 2000
Yoshihiko Kakihara, Niigata-ken, JP;
Kiyoshi Sato, Niigata-ken, JP;
Alps Elctric Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A magnetoresistive element includes a nonmagnetic conductive layer, first and second ferromagnetic layers which are conductive and which sandwich the nonmagnetic conductive layer, an antiferromagnetic layer magnetically coupled to the first ferromagnetic layer for fixing the magnetization direction of the first ferromagnetic layer, a bias layer magnetically coupled to the second ferromagnetic layer for aligning the magnetization direction of the second ferromagnetic layer in a direction crossing to the magnetization direction of the first ferromagnetic layer, and a pair of electrode layers for applying a sensing current to the first and second ferromagnetic layers and the nonmagnetic conductive layer. The antiferromagnetic layer, the first ferromagnetic layer, the nonmagnetic conductive layer, the second ferromagnetic layer, and the bias layer are deposited in that order. The pair of electrode layers are disposed on both ends of the bias layer, and the bias layer at a position which is not covered by the pair of electrode layers is modified to form a nonmagnetic layer for determining a track width. A method of fabricating the magnetoresistive element is also disclosed.