Dual exchange biased NiFe-TbCo unshielded MR heads for high density recording

Abstract

Narrow-trackwidth unshielded MR (magnetoresistive) heads with both longitudinal and transverse bias supplied by a single TbCo exchange-bias layer were constructed. These preliminary dual-biased NiFe-TbCo MR heads exhibit Barkhausen-noise-free, low-distortion response characteristics over a wide range of recording densities (up to 80 kFCI). A 64- mu m track width, 7- mu m height dual-exchange-biased element exhibited a phase margin of 50% at a raw bit error rate of 10/sup -5/ in a recording channel reproducing