A materials system of ternary full Heusler alloys exhibiting substantial current-perpendicular-to-plane giant magnetoresistance (CPP-GMR) has been theoretically proposed and experimentally realized. Observed trends in magnetoresistance are broadly consistent with the modeling results. A CPP-GMR of 6.7% and ΔRA of 4 mΩ μm2 have been demonstrated in the bottom spin-valve configuration. The spin-stand testing of narrow-track recording heads confirmed compatibility of these materials with hard disk drive reader technology.

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Narrow-track current-perpendicular-to-the-plane giant magnetoresistive heads containing Heusler alloy layer have been fabricated utilizing an abutted junction hard bias design. The head performance has been tested quasistatically and dynamically under high density recording conditions using a perpendicular magnetic recording media.

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