Side-Shielded Tunneling Magnetoresistive Read Head for High-Density Recording

Abstract

To reduce the side-reading effect and obtain a narrower effective read track width, the side-shield effect was studied by computer simulations and experiments. Computer simulations show that the side shield, which consists of a soft magnet, can reduce the effective read track width. To examine the effect, a sideshielded tunneling magnetoresistive head was fabricated. In the head, to place a soft magnet by the sensor side, a closed-flux structure was applied for longitudinal bias instead of a conventional abutted junction. Microtrack profile measurements agreed with simulated results, and the side-shield effect was clearly demonstrated.Index Terms-CPP-GMR/TMR, effective track width, longitudinal bias, magnetic heads, side shield.