公开(公告)号：US20070139820A1

公开(公告)日：2007-06-21

申请号：US11615837

申请日：2006-12-22

申请人： Matthew Carey ,  Jeffrey Childress ,  Stefan Maat

发明人： Matthew Carey ,  Jeffrey Childress ,  Stefan Maat

IPC分类号： G11B5/147 ,  G11B5/33 ,  H04R31/00

CPC分类号： G11B5/3166 ,  G11B5/3163 ,  G11B5/3196 ,  G11B5/3932 ,  G11C11/14 ,  H01L43/12 ,  Y10T29/49021 ,  Y10T29/49044 ,  Y10T29/49046

摘要： A magnetic write head for magnetic data recording. The magnetic write head has a write pole with a magnetic anisotropy induced by an angled, directional ion milling of a seed layer. The magnetic anisotropy is such that a magnetic easy axis of magnetization is oriented substantially parallel with the air bearing surface (ABS) of the write head. This orientation of the easy axis of magnetization increases the write speed and data rate of the write head by increasing the speed with which the magnetization of the write pole can switch from one direction to another writing.

摘要翻译： 用于磁数据记录的磁写头。 磁写头具有由种子层的倾斜的定向离子铣削引起的具有磁各向异性的写极。 磁各向异性使得易磁化磁化轴取向为大致平行于写入头的空气轴承表面（ABS）。 易磁化轴的这种取向通过增加写磁极的磁化从一个方向转换到另一个写入的速度来增加写入头的写入速度和数据速率。

公开(公告)号：US20070138002A1

公开(公告)日：2007-06-21

申请号：US11615865

申请日：2006-12-22

申请人： Matthew Carey ,  Jeffrey Childress ,  Stefan Maat

发明人： Matthew Carey ,  Jeffrey Childress ,  Stefan Maat

IPC分类号： C23C14/00

CPC分类号： G11B5/3166 ,  G11B5/3163 ,  G11B5/3196 ,  G11B5/3932 ,  G11C11/14 ,  H01L43/12 ,  Y10T29/49021 ,  Y10T29/49044 ,  Y10T29/49046

摘要： A method for manufacturing a magnetic layer with a magnetic anisotropy. The method includes an endpoint detection process for determining an end point to carefully control the final thickness of the magnetic layer. The method includes depositing a magnetic layer and then depositing a sacrificial layer over the magnetic layer. A low power angled ion milling is then performed until the magnetic layer has been reached. The angled ion milling can be performed at an angle relative to normal and without rotation in order to form an anisotropic surface texture that induces a magnetic anisotropy in the magnetic layer. An indicator layer may be included between the magnetic layer and the sacrificial layer in order to further improve endpoint detection.

摘要翻译： 一种制造具有磁各向异性的磁性层的方法。 该方法包括用于确定终点的端点检测过程以仔细地控制磁性层的最终厚度。 该方法包括沉积磁性层，然后在磁性层上沉积牺牲层。 然后执行低功率角度离子铣削，直到达到磁性层。 角度离子铣削可以相对于法线成角度而不旋转地进行，以形成在磁性层中引起磁各向异性的各向异性表面纹理。 为了进一步改善端点检测，可以在磁性层和牺牲层之间包括指示层。

公开(公告)号：US20070133251A1

公开(公告)日：2007-06-14

申请号：US11542086

申请日：2006-10-02

申请人： Matthew Carey ,  Jeffrey Childress ,  Stefan Maat

发明人： Matthew Carey ,  Jeffrey Childress ,  Stefan Maat

IPC分类号： G11C11/00

CPC分类号： G11B5/3166 ,  G11B5/3163 ,  G11B5/3196 ,  G11B5/3932 ,  G11C11/14 ,  H01L43/12 ,  Y10T29/49021 ,  Y10T29/49044 ,  Y10T29/49046

摘要： A Magnetic Random Access Memory (MRAM) cell and array for storing data. The MRAM array includes a memory cell having a magnetic pinned layer, a magnetic free layer and a non-magnetic spacer or barrier layer sandwiched between the pinned and free layer. The pinned layer has magnetization that is pinned, and the free layer has a magnetization that is free to rotate but is stable in directions that are parallel or antiparallel with the magnetization of the pinned layer. The free layer has a magnetic anisotropy the maintains the stability of the free layer magnetization. The free layer anisotropy is induced by a surface roughness either in the surface of the free layer itself, or in the surface of the underling barrier/spacer layer. This anisotropic roughness is induced by an angled direct ion milling.

摘要翻译： 用于存储数据的磁随机存取存储器（MRAM）单元和阵列。 MRAM阵列包括具有磁性被钉扎层，磁性自由层和夹在被钉扎层和自由层之间的非磁性间隔物或阻挡层的存储单元。 钉扎层具有被钉扎的磁化，并且自由层具有自由旋转的磁化，但是在与被钉扎层的磁化平行或反平行的方向上是稳定的。 自由层具有磁各向异性，保持自由层磁化的稳定性。 自由层各向异性由自由层本身的表面或下层阻挡层/间隔层的表面中的表面粗糙度引起。 这种各向异性的粗糙度是由倾斜的直接离子铣削引起的。

公开(公告)号：US07199984B2

公开(公告)日：2007-04-03

申请号：US10802639

申请日：2004-03-16

申请人： Matthew J. Carey ,  Jeffrey R. Childress ,  Bruce A. Gurney ,  Stefan Maat

发明人： Matthew J. Carey ,  Jeffrey R. Childress ,  Bruce A. Gurney ,  Stefan Maat

IPC分类号： G11B5/39 ,  G11B5/33 ,  G11B5/127

CPC分类号： B82Y25/00 ,  B82Y10/00 ,  G11B5/3903 ,  H01F10/30 ,  H01F10/3268 ,  H01F10/3295

摘要： A magnetically-coupled structure has two ferromagnetic layers with their in-plane magnetization directions coupled orthogonally across an electrically-conducting spacer layer that induces the direct orthogonal magnetic coupling. The structure has application for in-stack biasing in a current-perpendicular-to-the-plane (CPP) magnetoresistive sensor. One of the ferromagnetic layers of the structure is a biasing ferromagnetic layer and the other ferromagnetic layer is the sensor free layer. An antiferromagnetic layer exchange-couples the biasing layer to fix its moment parallel to the moment of the sensor pinned layer. This allows a single annealing step to be used to set the magnetization direction of the biasing and pinned layers. The electrically-conducting spacer layer, the biasing layer and the antiferromagnetic layer that exchange-couples the biasing layer may all extend beyond the edges of the sensor stack.

摘要翻译： 磁耦合结构具有两个铁磁层，它们的面内磁化方向正交地耦合在导电直接磁耦合的导电间隔层上。 该结构具有在电流垂直于平面（CPP）磁阻传感器中的堆叠偏置的应用。 该结构的铁磁层之一是偏置铁磁层，另一个铁磁层是传感器自由层。 反铁磁层将偏置层交换耦合以固定其平行于传感器固定层的力矩的力矩。 这允许使用单个退火步骤来设定偏置和钉扎层的磁化方向。 交换耦合偏置层的导电间隔层，偏置层和反铁磁层可以全部延伸超出传感器堆叠的边缘。

公开(公告)号：US20060092580A1

公开(公告)日：2006-05-04

申请号：US10977300

申请日：2004-10-29

申请人： Matthew Carey ,  Jeffrey Childress ,  Stefan Maat

发明人： Matthew Carey ,  Jeffrey Childress ,  Stefan Maat

IPC分类号： G11B5/33 ,  G11B5/127

CPC分类号： G01R33/093 ,  B82Y25/00 ,  G11B5/3906

摘要： A current-perpendicular-to-the-plane spin-valve (CPP-SV) magnetoresistive sensor has an improved antiparallel (AP) pinned structure. The AP-pinned structure has two ferromagnetic layers separated by a nonmagnetic antiparallel coupling (APC) layer and with their magnetization directions oriented antiparallel. One of the ferromagnetic layers in the AP-pinned structure is the reference layer in contact with the CPP-SV sensor's nonmagnetic electrically conducting spacer layer. In the improved AP-pinned structure each of the ferromagnetic layers has a thickness greater than 30 Å, preferably greater than approximately 50 Å, and the APC layer is either Ru or Ir with a thickness less than 7 Å, preferably about 5 Å or less. The ultrathin APC layer, especially if formed of iridium (Ir), provides significant coupling strength to allow the thick ferromagnetic layers to retain their magnetization directions in a stable antiparallel orientation.

摘要翻译： 电流垂直于平面的自旋阀（CPP-SV）磁阻传感器具有改进的反平行（AP）钉扎结构。 AP钉扎结构具有由非磁性反平行耦合（APC）层分离并且其磁化方向反平行取向的两个铁磁层。 AP钉扎结构中的一个铁磁层是与CPP-SV传感器的非磁性导电间隔层接触的参考层。 在改进的AP钉扎结构中，每个铁磁层的厚度大于30埃，优选大于约400埃，APC层是厚度小于7埃，优选约5埃或更小的Ru或Ir 。 超薄APC层，特别是如果由铱（Ir）形成，则提供显着的耦合强度，以使厚的铁磁层保持其稳定的反向平行取向的磁化方向。

公开(公告)号：US06842306B2

公开(公告)日：2005-01-11

申请号：US10284988

申请日：2002-10-31

申请人： Marie-Claire Cyrille ,  Wen-Chien David Hsiao ,  Yongho Sungtaek Ju ,  Wen-Yaung Lee ,  Stefan Maat ,  Howard Gordon Zolla

发明人： Marie-Claire Cyrille ,  Wen-Chien David Hsiao ,  Yongho Sungtaek Ju ,  Wen-Yaung Lee ,  Stefan Maat ,  Howard Gordon Zolla

IPC分类号： G11B5/31 ,  G11B5/39 ,  G11B5/235

CPC分类号： G11B5/3906

摘要： A magnetic head has highly thermally conductive insulator materials containing cobalt-oxide so that heat can more effectively dissipate from the magnetic head. In one illustrative example, the magnetic head has first and second gap layers and a read sensor disposed between the first and the second gap layers. The first and the second gap layers are advantageously made of cobalt-oxide (CoOx) (e.g. CoO or Co2O3), which may exhibit a thermal conductivity of between 5-8 watts/meter-Kelvin or greater. In another illustrative example, a magnetic head is made of a substrate; first and second shield layers; an undercoat layer formed between the substrate and the first shield layer; first and second gap layers formed between the first and the second shield layers; and a read sensor formed between the first and the second gap layers. The undercoat layer is also made of CoOx. The improved dissipation of heat from the magnetic head improves the read sensor performance and reduces the likelihood of other problems, such as head-to-disk interface problems.

摘要翻译： 磁头具有含有氧化钴的高导热绝缘体材料，使得热量可以更有效地从磁头中消散。 在一个说明性示例中，磁头具有第一和第二间隙层以及设置在第一间隙层和第二间隙层之间的读取传感器。 第一和第二间隙层有利地由氧化钴（CoO x）（例如CoO或Co 2 O 3）制成，其可以表现出5-8瓦/米 - 开尔文或更高的热导率。 在另一示例性实例中，磁头由衬底制成; 第一和第二屏蔽层; 形成在所述基板和所述第一屏蔽层之间的底涂层; 形成在第一和第二屏蔽层之间的第一和第二间隙层; 以及形成在第一间隙层和第二间隙层之间的读取传感器。 底涂层也由CoOx制成。 来自磁头的热量的改善消耗提高了读取传感器的性能，并降低了其他问题的可能性，例如磁头到磁盘的接口问题。

公开(公告)号：US06836392B2

公开(公告)日：2004-12-28

申请号：US09841942

申请日：2001-04-24

申请人： Matthew Joseph Carey ,  Eric Edward Fullerton ,  Bruce Alvin Gurney ,  Thai Le ,  Stefan Maat ,  Philip Milton Rice

发明人： Matthew Joseph Carey ,  Eric Edward Fullerton ,  Bruce Alvin Gurney ,  Thai Le ,  Stefan Maat ,  Philip Milton Rice

IPC分类号： G11B539

CPC分类号： B82Y25/00 ,  B82Y10/00 ,  G01R33/093 ,  G11B5/012 ,  G11B5/3903 ,  G11B5/3967 ,  H01F10/3277

摘要： An exchange-coupled magnetic structure includes a ferromagnetic layer, a coercive ferrite layer, such as cobalt-ferrite, for biasing the magnetization of the ferromagnetic layer, and an oxide underlayer, such as cobalt-oxide, in proximity to the coercive ferrite layer. The oxide underlayer has a lattice structure of either rock salt or a spinel and exhibits no magnetic moment at room temperature. The underlayer affects the structure of the coercive ferrite layer and therefore its magnetic properties, providing increased coercivity and enhanced thermal stability. As a result, the coercive ferrite layer is thermally stable at much smaller thicknesses than without the underlayer. The exchange-coupled structure is used in spin valve and magnetic tunnel junction magnetoresistive sensors in read heads of magnetic disk drive systems. Because the coercive ferrite layer can be made as thin as 1 nm while remaining thermally stable, the sensor satisfies the narrow gap requirements of high recording density systems.

摘要翻译： 交换耦合磁性结构包括强磁性层，用于偏置铁磁性层的磁化的钴铁氧体的矫顽铁氧体层以及邻近矫顽铁氧体层的氧化钴底层，例如氧化钴。 氧化物底层具有岩盐或尖晶石的晶格结构，并且在室温下不显示磁矩。 底层影响矫顽铁氧体层的结构，因此影响其磁特性，提供增强的矫顽力和增强的热稳定性。 结果，矫顽铁氧体层的热稳定性比没有底层要小得多的厚度。 交换耦合结构用于磁盘驱动系统读磁头中的自旋阀和磁隧道结磁阻传感器。 由于矫顽铁氧体层可以制成1nm的薄而保持热稳定性，所以传感器满足高记录密度系统的窄间隙要求。

公开(公告)号：US08208228B2

公开(公告)日：2012-06-26

申请号：US12565721

申请日：2009-09-23

申请人： Stefan Maat ,  James Terrence Olson ,  Hal J. Rosen

发明人： Stefan Maat ,  James Terrence Olson ,  Hal J. Rosen

IPC分类号： G11B5/39 ,  G11B5/11 ,  G11B5/265

CPC分类号： G11B5/746 ,  B82Y10/00 ,  G11B5/02 ,  G11B5/3948 ,  G11B5/3977 ,  G11B5/4886 ,  G11B5/743 ,  G11B2005/0005

摘要： A magnetoresistive (MR) sensor or read head for a magnetic recording disk drive has multiple independent current-perpendicular-to-the-plane (CPP) MR sensing elements. The sensing elements are spaced-apart in the cross-track direction and separated by an insulating separation region so as to be capable of reading data from multiple data tracks on the disk. The sensing elements have independent CPP sense currents, each of which is directed to independent data detection electronics, respectively. Each sensing element comprises a stack of layers formed on a common electrically conducting base layer, which may be a bottom magnetic shield layer formed of electrically conducting magnetically permeable material. Each sensing element has a top electrical lead layer. A top magnetic shield layer is located above the sensing elements in contact with the top lead layers. The top shield layer is formed of soft magnetically permeable material, but is electrically insulating, so that the independent sense currents can be passed to the independent sensing elements.

摘要翻译： 用于磁记录磁盘驱动器的磁阻（MR）传感器或读头具有多个独立的电流垂直于平面（CPP）MR感测元件。 感测元件在交叉轨道方向上间隔开并且被绝缘分离区分开，以便能够从盘上的多个数据轨道读取数据。 感测元件具有独立的CPP感测电流，每个电流分别被引导到独立的数据检测电子器件。 每个感测元件包括形成在公共导电基底层上的一叠层，其可以是由导电的导磁材料形成的底部磁屏蔽层。 每个感测元件具有顶部电引线层。 顶部磁屏蔽层位于与顶部引线层接触的感测元件上方。 顶部屏蔽层由软磁导电材料形成，但是是电绝缘的，使得独立的感测电流可以传递到独立的感测元件。

公开(公告)号：US20120156522A1

公开(公告)日：2012-06-21

申请号：US12969466

申请日：2010-12-15

申请人： Stefan Maat ,  Alexander M. Zeltser

发明人： Stefan Maat ,  Alexander M. Zeltser

IPC分类号： G11B5/39

CPC分类号： G11B5/3909 ,  B82Y10/00 ,  B82Y25/00 ,  G11B2005/3996 ,  Y10T428/1121

摘要： A current-perpendicular-to-the-plane (CPP) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor has an improved seed layer structure for the ferromagnetic hard (high coercivity) bias layer that is used to longitudinally bias the sensor's free ferromagnetic layer. The seed layer structure is a trilayer consisting of a first seed layer of tantalum (Ta), a second seed layer of one or both titanium (Ti) and Ti-oxide on and in contact with the Ta layer, and a third seed layer of tungsten (W) on and in contact with the second seed layer.

摘要翻译： 电流垂直于平面（CPP）磁阻（MR）传感器具有用于铁磁硬（高矫顽力）偏置层的改进的种子层结构，其用于纵向偏置传感器的自由铁磁层。 种子层结构是由钽（Ta）的第一种子层，与Ta层接触并与Ta层接触的钛（Ti）和Ti氧化物中的一种或两种的第二晶种层组成的三层，以及第三种子层 钨（W）与第二种子层接触并接触。

公开(公告)号：US08015694B2

公开(公告)日：2011-09-13

申请号：US11959102

申请日：2007-12-18

申请人： Matthew J. Carey ,  Jeffrey R. Childress ,  Stefan Maat ,  Neil Smith

发明人： Matthew J. Carey ,  Jeffrey R. Childress ,  Stefan Maat ,  Neil Smith

IPC分类号： G11B5/127 ,  H04R31/00

CPC分类号： G11B5/3909 ,  B82Y10/00 ,  B82Y25/00 ,  G01R33/098 ,  G11B5/3932 ,  G11B2005/3996 ,  Y10T29/49043 ,  Y10T29/49044 ,  Y10T29/49046 ,  Y10T29/49048 ,  Y10T29/49052

摘要： A “scissoring-type” current-perpendicular-to-the-plane (CPP) magnetoresistive sensor with dual ferromagnetic sensing or free layers separated by a nonmagnetic spacer layer has improved stability as a result of etch-induced uniaxial magnetic anisotropy in each of the free layers. Each of the two ferromagnetic free layers has an etch-induced uniaxial magnetic anisotropy and an in-plane magnetic moment substantially parallel to its uniaxial anisotropy in the quiescent state, i.e., the absence of an applied magnetic field. The etch-induced uniaxial anisotropy of each of the free layers is achieved either by direct ion etching of each of the free layers, and/or by ion etching of the layer on which each of the free layers is deposited. A strong magnetic anisotropy is induced in the free layers by the etching, which favors generally orthogonal orientation of the two free layers in the quiescent state.

摘要翻译： 具有双铁磁感测或由非磁性间隔层隔开的自由层的“扫描型”电流垂直平面（CPP）磁阻传感器具有改善的稳定性，这是由于每个中的蚀刻诱导的单轴磁各向异性 自由层。 两个铁磁自由层中的每一个具有蚀刻诱导的单轴磁各向异性和在静止状态下基本上平行于其单轴各向异性的面内磁矩，即不存在施加的磁场。 每个自由层的蚀刻诱导的单轴各向异性通过对每个自由层的直接离子蚀刻和/或通过其上沉积有每个自由层的层的离子蚀刻来实现。 通过蚀刻在自由层中诱发强烈的磁各向异性，这有利于静止状态下的两个自由层的大致正交取向。