CPP giant magnetoresistive head with large-area metal film provided between shield and element

摘要

A CPP giant magnetoresistive (GMR) head includes lower and upper shield layers; and a GMR element disposed between the upper and lower shield layers and comprising a pinned magnetic layer, a free magnetic layer, and a nonmagnetic layer disposed between the pinned magnetic layer and the free magnetic layer. Nonmagnetic metal films are provided directly above the lower shield layer and below the upper shield layer making direct contact with and having larger areas than the pinned magnetic layer and the free magnetic layer, respectively. An antiferromagnetic layer is provided in the rear of the GMR element in the height direction, for pinning the magnetization direction of the pinned magnetic layer. Alternatively, the dimension of the pinned magnetic layer in the height direction is larger than the dimension in the track width direction so that the magnetization direction of the pinned magnetic layer is stabilized without using an antiferromagnetic layer.