Quasi-static and dynamic analysis of spin valve tape heads with synthetic free and pinned layers versus heads with a conventional free layer and a synthetic pinned layer

Author

Veloso, Anabela ; Dee, Richard H. ; Freitas, Paulo P.

Author_Institution

INESC, Lisbon, Portugal

Volume

38

Issue

5

fYear

2002

fDate

9/1/2002 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1928

Lastpage

1930

Abstract

A comparative analysis of tape heads with two spin-valve designs is presented: spin valves with synthetic free and pinned layers (SF-SAF/AF) versus spin valves with a conventional free layer and a synthetic pinned layer (SAF/AF). The SF layer, corresponding to a smaller free layer´s effective magnetic thickness (t_eff,SF ∼ 28 Å) and lower magnetic moment (M_eff,SF ∼ 398 emu/cc), is more sensitive to the field flux from the medium and has a higher sensitivity (∼ 3.4 mV/μm) than the conventional NiFe/CoFe free layer, with D50 ∼ 130-138 kfci, in comparison with D50 ∼ 99 kfci for SAF/AF spin-valve heads. Thick media limitations become visible on the heads´ performance above ∼ 112 kfci and the heads are shown to be mostly time-instability free.

Keywords

magnetic heads; magnetic moments; magnetic tape storage; spin valves; Al₂O₃-TiC; AlSiCu-TiW; NiFe-CoFe; NiFe/CoFe free layer; dynamic analysis; field flux sensitivity; free layer; free layer effective magnetic thickness; magnetic moment; quasi-static analysis; spin valve tape heads; synthetic free pinned layers; synthetic pinned layer; thick media limitations; time-instability free heads; Fabrication; Magnetic analysis; Magnetic flux; Magnetic heads; Magnetic moments; Protection; Saturation magnetization; Spin valves; Stress; Surfaces;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TMAG.2002.802805

Filename

1042047