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:
Nov. 11, 2014
Filed:
Aug. 22, 2011
Applicants:
Yuchen Zhou, San Jose, CA (US);
Joe Smyth, Aptos, CA (US);
Min LI, Fremont, CA (US);
Glen Garfunkel, San Jose, CA (US);
Inventors:
Yuchen Zhou, San Jose, CA (US);
Joe Smyth, Aptos, CA (US);
Min Li, Fremont, CA (US);
Glen Garfunkel, San Jose, CA (US);
Assignee:
Headway Technologies, Inc., Milpitas, CA (US);
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G11B 5/127 (2006.01); H04R 31/00 (2006.01); G01R 33/09 (2006.01); B32B 38/10 (2006.01); B32B 37/02 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G01R 33/098 (2013.01); B32B 38/10 (2013.01); B32B 37/02 (2013.01); B32B 2309/105 (2013.01); B32B 2457/08 (2013.01); B32B 2307/212 (2013.01);
Abstract
A method is described to improve performance of a magneto-resistive (MR) sensor under conditions of high areal density. The free layer is partially etched away, the removed material being replaced by a magnetic flux guide structure that reduces the free layer's demagnetization field. This in turn reduces the stripe height of the sensor so that the resolution and the read-back signal are enhanced without increasing noise and instability.