Thermal magnetic noise control in the ultra-high-density read head

Abstract

In order to reduce the resistance of tunnel magnetoresistive (TMR) read heads, a large stripe height sensor structure was proposed. The thermal magnetic noise, called as mag-noise, in this type of TMR heads was simulated by micromagnetic modeling using the Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert (LLG) gyro-magnetic equation. It is found that for the same hard bias strength, both the sensitivity and the mag-noise of TMR heads increase as the sensor height increases. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is reduced at large stripe height. The large increase in the demagnetization field resulting from the stripe height increase causes the weakening of the effective bias field, thus increasing the mag-noise significantly. Low mag-noise and high SNR can be obtained by increasing the hard bias strength and reducing the spacer between the hard bias and the free layer. An extended hard bias structure has been proposed to further increase SNR of TMR heads.