Contact-dependent reliability of spin valve heads

Author

Tsu, I-Fei ; Morrone, Augusto ; Huang, Rong-Tan ; Chen, Fu-Rong

Author_Institution

Seagate Technol., Minneapolis, MN, USA

Volume

36

Issue

5

fYear

2000

fDate

9/1/2000 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2602

Lastpage

2604

Abstract

Contact-dependent failure modes were observed in spin valve sensors in nominal current density range of 2-5×10⁷ A/cm² at 70°C ambient. At high bias condition, continually decreased quasistatic test (QST) transfer curve amplitude with negligible resistance change was observed in sensors abutted with Ta contact. In contrast, steady resistance rise with relatively unchanged amplitude was seen in Ta/Au/Ta-contact device prior to catastrophic burnout. Void formation is apparent in the Au layer of the burnout device. Locations of the voids show bias polarity dependency, suggesting an electromigration mechanism in the Au layer

Keywords

current density; electromigration; failure analysis; magnetic heads; reliability; spin valves; 70 degC; Ta-Au-Ta; bias condition; bias polarity dependency; burnout device; catastrophic burnout; contact-dependent reliability; current density; electromigration mechanism; failure modes; quasistatic test; resistance change; spin valve heads; spin valve sensors; transfer curve amplitude; Gold; Magnetic field measurement; Magnetic heads; Magnetic sensors; Ovens; Scanning electron microscopy; Spin valves; Temperature sensors; Thermal conductivity; Thermal sensors;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/20.908529

Filename

908529