Abstract: The invention offers a structure that includes a substrate with a top surface and a bottom surface, an etched dielectric layer having sidewalls and an upper surface, wherein the etched dielectric layer with a thickness of v, is positioned upon a first portion of the top surface of the substrate but not positioned upon a second portion of the top surface of the substrate having a width equal to x, an atomic layer deposited (ALD) film with a thickness of y, positioned upon the upper surface of the etched dielectric layer, the sidewalls of the etched dielectric layer, and the second portion of the top surface of the substrate, and a trench formed by the atomic layer with a width equal to x?2y.

Abstract: The invention provides a magnetic sensor having a first opposing pair and a second opposing pair of resistive elements configured in a Wheatstone bridge, wherein the resistive elements are a synthetic antiferromagnetic giant magnetoresistive sensor having a reference layer and a pinned layer of different thicknesses, wherein the first opposing pair has a net magnetic moment that is opposite to that of the second opposing pair, and wherein the first opposing pair has a thicker reference layer than pinned layer, and the second opposing pair has a thicker pinned layer than reference layer. Other embodiments of the invention have resistive elements that are opposingly bilayer and trilayer synthetic antiferromagnetic giant magnetoresistive sensors, or opposingly synthetic and standard antiferromagnetic giant magnetoresistive sensors.

Abstract: The invention offers a structure that includes a substrate with a top surface and a bottom surface, an etched dielectric layer having sidewalls and an upper surface, wherein the etched dielectric layer with a thickness of v, is positioned upon a first portion of the top surface of the substrate but not positioned upon a second portion of the top surface of the substrate having a width equal to x, an atomic layer deposited (ALD) film with a thickness of y, positioned upon the upper surface of the etched dielectric layer, the sidewalls of the etched dielectric layer, and the second portion of the top surface of the substrate, and a trench formed by the atomic layer with a width equal to x−2y.

Abstract: A magnetic tape drive has a magnetic head, a magnetic tape medium, and a servo controller. The magnetic head has N servo readers and a plurality of transducing heads for transducing with separate data tracks in each range. The magnetic tape medium is proximate the magnetic head, and has first and second servo tracks and 2N-1 ranges. Each range has a plurality of parallel data tracks. The servo controller, which is responsive to servo read signals produced by two of the servo readers, positions the magnetic head so that the plurality of transducing heads transduce with one of the 2N-1 ranges. Servo read signals produced by one of the N servo readers reading from the first servo track and a different one of the N servo readers reading from the second servo track define one range, while servo read signals produced by two servo readers reading from one of the first and the second servo tracks define 2(N-1) of the ranges.