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:
Jan. 24, 2006
Filed:
Sep. 30, 2002
Kroum Stoev, Fremont, CA (US);
Mathew Gibbons, Livermore, CA (US);
Francis Liu, Fremont, CA (US);
Bogdan M. Simion, Pleasanton, CA (US);
Aparna C. Vadde, Fremont, CA (US);
Jing Zhang, San Jose, CA (US);
Yiming Huai, Pleasanton, CA (US);
Marcos M. Lederman, San Francisco, CA (US);
Kroum Stoev, Fremont, CA (US);
Mathew Gibbons, Livermore, CA (US);
Francis Liu, Fremont, CA (US);
Bogdan M. Simion, Pleasanton, CA (US);
Aparna C. Vadde, Fremont, CA (US);
Jing Zhang, San Jose, CA (US);
Yiming Huai, Pleasanton, CA (US);
Marcos M. Lederman, San Francisco, CA (US);
Western Digital (Fremont), Inc., Fremont, CA (US);
Abstract
Magnetoresistive (MR) sensors have leads that overlap a MR structure and distribute current to the MR structure so that the current is not concentrated in small portions of the leads. An electrically resistive capping layer can be formed between the leads and the MR structure to distribute the current. The leads can include resistive layers and conductive layers, the resistive layers having a thickness-to-resistivity ratio that is greater than that of each of the conductive layers. The resistive layers may protect the conductive layers during MR structure etching, so that the leads have broad layers of electrically conductive material for connection to MR structures. The broad leads conduct heat better than the read gap material that they replace, further reducing the temperature at the connection between the leads and the MR structure.