Read-write performance of spin-filter-spin-valve heads

Abstract

The magneto-resistive properties of spin-filter-spinvalve (SV) films with a synthetic pinned structure were investigated. The spin-filter-SV films equipped with a high conductive back layer enhances 1 and 1 for ultra-thin free layer.Spin-filter-SV heads were fabricated and evaluated in order to verify advantages of the spin-filter structure. Spin-filter SV heads exhibit large read-back amplitude with stable asymmetry close to zero for ultra-thin free layer. The bias current dependence of the asymmetry also proved a validity of the spin-filter structure. Specular-spin-filter heads utilizing the surface specular reflection achieved 6.3 mV/ m of the normalized amplitude with 0.25 m read-track width.Index Terms-Spin filter, spin valve, synthetic pinned layer, specular, and magneto-resistive head.