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. 08, 2013
Filed:
Nov. 24, 2010
Liubo Hong, San Jose, CA (US);
Honglin Zhu, Fremont, CA (US);
Tsann Lin, Saratoga, CA (US);
Zheng Gao, San Jose, CA (US);
Liubo Hong, San Jose, CA (US);
Honglin Zhu, Fremont, CA (US);
Tsann Lin, Saratoga, CA (US);
Zheng Gao, San Jose, CA (US);
HGST Netherlands B.V., Amsterdam, NL;
Abstract
The present invention generally relates to a TMR reader and a method for its manufacture. The TMR reader discussed herein adds a shield layer to the sensor structure. The shield layer is deposited over the capping layer so that the shield layer and the capping layer collectively protect the free magnetic layer within the sensor structure from damage during further processing. Additionally, the hard bias layer is shaped such that the entire hard bias layer underlies the hard bias capping layer so that a top lead layer is not present. By eliminating the top lead layer and including a shield layer within the sensor structure, the read gap is reduced while still protecting the free magnetic layer during later processing.