Thermal and electrical reliability of dual-stripe MR heads

Author

Zolla, Howard G.

Author_Institution

Headway Technologies, Milpitas, CA, USA

Volume

33

Issue

5

fYear

1997

fDate

9/1/1997 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2914

Lastpage

2916

Abstract

Dual-Stripe Magnetoresistive heads are subjected to accelerated life tests through elevated temperature and excess current. The time to failure is well described by the Arrhenius model, yielding an activation energy of 1.99±0.11 eV. Extrapolation of the time to failure (TTF) of the total head population to nominal operating conditions yields a mean TTF (MTTP) well in excess of the 1 Mhr called for in high performance applications. Based on these measurements, calculated annual failure rates (AFR) in the ppm/year range are expected over a nominal field service period of 10⁵ hours (11 years)

Keywords

failure analysis; life testing; magnetic heads; magnetoresistive devices; 1.88 to 2.10 eV; 1E5 to 1E6 h; Arrhenius model; accelerated life tests; activation energy; annual failure rates; dual-stripe MR heads; electrical reliability; excess current; field service period; magnetoresistive heads; nominal operating conditions; thermal reliability; time to failure; Current density; Electromigration; Extrapolation; Failure analysis; Iron; Life estimation; Life testing; Magnetic field measurement; Magnetic heads; Magnetoresistance; Oxidation; Scattering; Temperature; Testing; Thermal resistance; Uncertainty;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/20.617796

Filename

617796