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:
Apr. 13, 2010
Filed:
Aug. 10, 2006
James Mac Freitag, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Kuok San Ho, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Mustafa Michael Pinarbasi, Morgan Hill, CA (US);
Ching Hwa Tsang, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
James Mac Freitag, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Kuok San Ho, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Mustafa Michael Pinarbasi, Morgan Hill, CA (US);
Ching Hwa Tsang, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B. V., Amsterdam, NL;
Abstract
A current perpendicular to plane (CPP) magnetoresistive sensor having a current path defined by first and second overlying insulation layers between which an electrically conductive lead makes content with a surface of the sensor stack. The current path being narrower than the width of the sensor stack allows the outer edges of the sensor stack to be moved outside of the active area of the sensor. This results in a sensor that is unaffected by damage at outer edges of the sensor layers. The sensor stack includes a free layer that is biased by direct exchange coupling with a layer of antiferromagnetic material (AFM layer). The strength of the exchange field can be controlled by adding Cr to the AFM material to ensure that the exchange field is sufficiently weak to avoid pinning the free layer.