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:
Oct. 17, 2006
Filed:
Sep. 24, 2003
Rachid Sbiaa, Chuo-ku, JP;
Mikio Matsuzaki, Chuo-ku, JP;
Haruyuki Morita, Chuo-ku, JP;
TDK Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
The thin-film magnetic head of the present invention is provided with an antiferromagnetic layer, a pinned layer whose direction of magnetization is fixed by exchange-coupling with the antiferromagnetic layer, a free layer whose direction of magnetization varies according to external magnetic field, an intermediate layer disposed between the pinned layer and free layer, and a pair of electrode layers for supplying a sense current in a layer thickness direction of the free layer. One electrode layer is connected to the pinned layer. Due to this configuration, a sense current flows through the free layer, the intermediate layer, and the pinned layer, but basically does not flow through the antiferromagnetic layer. As a consequence, the antiferromagnetic layer does not contribute to total resistance of the magnetoresistance element, allowing a high magnetoresistance ratio to be obtained.