CURRENT-PERPENDICULAR-TO-THE-PLANE (CPP) MAGNETORESISTIVE (MR) SENSOR WITH IMPROVED INSULATION STRUCTURE

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a current-perpendicular-to-the-plane (CPP) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor with improved insulation structure.

SOLUTION: A current-perpendicular-to-the-plane (CPP) magnetoresistive (MR) sensor, such as a CPP MR disk drive reading head, has an improved insulation structure that surrounds a stack of layers constituting a sensor. The sensor has a first silicon nitride layer having the thickness of about 1 to 5 nm on side edges of the sensor and on regions of a bottom shielding layer adjacent to the sensor below a ferromagnetic bias layer of the sensor. The sensor has a second silicon nitride layer having the thickness of about 2 to 5 nm on a rear edge of the sensor and on the region of the bottom shielding layer adjacent to the rear edge of the sensor and a metal oxide layer being substantially thicker on the second silicon nitride layer. The insulation structure prevents edge damage around the sensor, and thus allows for the fabrication of a CPP MR reading head having substantially small dimensions.

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