Method and system for providing edge-junction TMR utilizing a hard magnet as a pinned layer

摘要

A method and system for providing a magnetoresistive sensor for reading data from a recording media is disclosed. The method and system include providing at least one barrier layer and a free layer having at least one edge. The at least one edge of the free layer is adjacent to the at least one barrier layer. The free layer is ferromagnetic and has a low coercivity. The method and system also include providing at least one hard magnetic layer. The at least one hard magnetic layer has a coercivity greater than the free layer coercivity. The at least one barrier layer is disposed between the at least one hard magnetic layer and the free layer. The at least one barrier layer is sufficiently thin to allow tunneling of charge carriers between the at least one hard magnetic layer and the free layer.