Abstract: A magnetic tunnel junction sensor is provided having a laminated free layer comprising a first sublayer formed of Co—Fe in contact with a spacer layer and a second sublayer formed of Ni—Fe—Mo. The Ni—Fe—Mo material of the second sublayer has a magnetocrystalline anisotropy constant, k, that is much smaller than that of Ni—Fe. Due to the small value of k of the Ni—Fe—Mo material used to fabricate the second sublayer of the free layer, the thickness of the Co—Fe first sublayer may be increased to improve manufacturability while retaining a low net stiffness of the free layer for high sensitivity of the MTJ sensor in response to signal fields from data magnetically recorded on a disk. The thicker Co—Fe first sublayer results in a higher magnetoresistance coefficient of the improved MTJ sensor.

Abstract: A spin valve sensor with insulating and conductive seed layers is provided. The sensor comprising Al2O3/Ni—Cr—Fe/Ni—Fe/Co—Fe/Cu/Co—Fe/Ru/Co—Fe/Pt—Mn films is formed by depositing an insulating Al2O3 seed layer in a first chamber by reactively pulsed DC magnetron sputtering, depositing a conducting Ni—Cr—Fe seed layer and a ferromagnetic Ni—Fe free layer in a second chamber by ion beam sputtering, and then forming the remainder of the spin valve sensor in a third chamber by DC magnetron sputtering.

Abstract: A magnetoresistance sensor includes a substrate and a sensor structure deposited upon the substrate and having a first lateral side and a second lateral side. The sensor structure includes a layered transverse biasing structure, a free layer deposited upon the layered transverse biasing structure, and a cap layer deposited upon a central portion of the free layer but not upon a side portion of the free layer adjacent to each lateral side. Longitudinal hard biasing structures are disposed laterally adjacent to the lateral sides of the sensor structure. Each longitudinal hard biasing structure has a magnetic seed layer deposited upon the substrate, the respective lateral side of the sensor structure, and the respective side portion of the free layer. A magnetic hard bias layer is deposited upon the seed layer.

Abstract: A read head is provided having having ultrathin read gap layers with improved insulative properties between a magnetoresistive sensor and ferromagnetic shield layers. The read head comprises a magnetoresistive sensor with first and second shield cap layers made of high resistivity permeable magnetic material formed between the first and second ferromagnetic shields and the first and second insulative read gap layers, respectively. The shield cap layers made of Fe—Hf—Ox material, or alternatively, the Mn—Zn ferrite material provide highly resistive or insulating soft ferromagnetic layers which add to the electrically insulative read gap layers to provide increased electrical insulation of the spin valve sensor from the metallic ferromagnetic shields while not adding to the magnetic read gap of the read head.

Abstract: A method for managing storage reclamation on a tape management system is provided. The method allows the calculation of the optimum reclamation threshold value for a given system, thereby increasing the performance of the system drastically.

Abstract: A shaper for an ion beam gun has a thin, flat plate with a non-symmetrical profile including notches and tabs. The shaper is mounted to the surface of an ion beam grid having an array of holes. The shaper is oriented radially on the grid and covers some of the holes in the grid. The grid is mounted to an ion beam gun above a specimen that is rotated beneath the ion beam gun. The ion beam is filtered into smaller ion beamlets by the grid. The ion beamlets permeate the holes in the grid that are not covered by the shaper. The ion beamlets reach the specimen to etch it more uniformly than a grid that does not have a shaper. The shaper may be further optimized for a particular grid via a trial-and-error process to even further refine the uniformity of etching depth.

Abstract: A projection structure is deposited on a substrate having a top surface by applying a negative photoresist overlying the substrate, and positioning a mask overlying the substrate and lying in a mask plane generally parallel to the top surface. The mask is a negative mask that is opaque in a region defining a location where the projection structure is to be deposited. The method further includes exposing the negative photoresist through the mask, baking and developing the exposed negative photoresist, and depositing the projection structure through the exposed and etched negative photoresist.

Abstract: An antiparallel (AP)-pinned spin valve (SV) sensor is provided with an AFM layer of Pt—Mn having a thickness less than 100 Å and using the magnetic field of the sense current to assist the AFM layer in pinning the magnetization of the AP-pinned layer. The SV sensor has positive and negative read signal symmetry about a zero bias point of a transfer curve due to the influences of the a net sense current field, a ferromagnetic coupling field and a demagnetization field being counterbalanced by a net image field from asymmetric positioning of the SV sensor between first and second shield layers. The SV sensor includes an AP-pinned layer with first and second ferromagnetic pinned layers where the second pinned layer adjacent to a spacer layer is thicker than the first pinned layer.

Abstract: An antiparallel (AP)-pinned magnetoresistive tunnel junction (MTJ) sensor is provided with a single antiferromagnetic (AFM) layer sandwiched between an AP-pinned layer and a bias layer for pinning the magnetization directions of the AP-pinned layer and the bias layer. The bias layer may be a simple ferromagnetic bias layer or, alternatively, may be an AP-pinned bias layer including first and second ferromagnetic bias layers with an antiferromagnetic coupling layer sandwiched between. The bias layer provides a demagnetization field HdmB at the free layer having the same direction as the demagnetization field HdmP from the AP-pinned layer. The sum of HdmP and HdmB counterbalance a ferromagnetic coupling field HFC from the AP-pinned layer to obtain zero or near zero asymmetry of the bias point on the transfer curve of the MTJ sensor.

Abstract: An low profile inductive write head is provided to improve track definition and head efficiency and to reduce overcoat and pole tip protrusion and cracking caused by thermal expansion. A first insulation layer of an insulation stack enclosing the coil layer is formed of an non-magnetic inorganic insulator material such as aluminum oxide, silicon dioxide or titanium dioxide having a thickness of in the range of 0.2-0.3 microns. The thinner first insulation layer results in a significantly reduced slope of the insulation stack which decreases reflective notching during processing of the second pole tip to improve track definition. Improved thermal conduction properties of the inorganic insulator material improves heat sinking of the write coil reducing overcoat and pole tip protrusion and cracking at the pole tip/write gap layer interface.

Abstract: The present invention relates to computer storage systems which have a tip (24) directed close or in contact to the storage medium (10) by which bit-writing and bit-reading is enforced. It is proposed to use a magnetizable storage medium (10), expose it to an artificial, external magnetic field H coupled externally to the storage medium, and—during bit writing—to concurrently apply heat very locally in bit size dimension in order to let the external magnetic field become locally larger than the (temperature-dependent) coercive field at the location (32) where heat is applied.

Abstract: A dual/differential spin valve (SV) sensor is provided with a single antiferromagnetic (AFM) layer sandwiched bewteen a first spin valve (SV) structure with an antiparallel (AP)-pinned layer and a second SV structure with a simple pinned layer. Having an AP-pinned layer for the first SV structure and a simple pinned layer for the second SV structure leads to a 180° phase difference in the response of the two SV structures. By arranging the bit transition length to be equal to the spacing between the free layers of the two SV structures, the signals generated by the two SV sensors are additive for both longitudinal and perpendicular recording applications.

Abstract: An etch barrier to be used in a photolithograph process is disclosed. A silicon rich etch barrier is deposited on a substrate using a low energy deposition technique. A diamond like carbon layer is deposited on the silicon rich etch barrier. Photoresist is then placed on this etch barrier DLC combination. To form photolithographic features, successive steps of oxygen and flourine reactive ion etching is used.

Abstract: A method is disclosed for determining the presence of response abnormalities in magnetic sensors. The method includes placing the sensor in an applied magnetic field and collecting sensor resistance information as the magnitude and direction of the applied field is altered. The resistance values are then examined to determine the presence of response abnormalities.

Abstract: A magnetoresistance sensor structure is fabricated by providing a substrate structure, depositing a magnetic pinning structure on the substrate structure, and depositing an oxidized copper spacer layer overlying the magnetic pinning structure. The deposition of the oxidized copper spacer layer includes depositing a first copper sublayer, oxidizing the first copper sublayer, depositing a second copper sublayer, and oxidizing the second copper sublayer. More deposition and oxidation steps may be used as necessary. A sensing structure is deposited overlying the oxidized copper spacer layer.

Abstract: A device for contacting and/or modifying a surface having a cantilever connected to an almost plane carrier element staying apart from said surface, said cantilever having a tip at its loose end being in close contact to said surface. It is proposed that the cantilever stand out of the plane of said carrier element. Further, a method for producing the cantilever having a tip at its loose end. The device is suitable for thermomechanical writing and thermal readout of binary information, lithographic and imaging techniques, and for surface modification.

Abstract: A system and method are provided that reduce the amount of data held commonly in both high-ranking and low-ranking cache memories, thereby having each of those cache memories hold data more efficiently. More particularly, a computer system is provided with an HDC card 21 connected to an expansion bus 20 and an HDD unit 22 connected to the HDC card 21. The HDC card 21 is provided with a disk cache (high-ranking cache memory) and the HDD unit 22 is provided with a disk cache 54 (low-ranking cache memory). The HDC card 21 and the HDD unit 22 exchange select information for selecting a swap mode of each cache memory when the system is started up, thereby selecting different swap modes according to the exchanged select information respectively.

Abstract: A ferromagnetic pinned layer (1) kept at a fixed magnetic orientation by a pinning layer (4) is separated from a ferromagnetic free layer (3) by a Mott insulator coupling layer (2). A controllable voltage source (5) is connected between the pinned layer (1) and the free layer (3). A sublayer of the coupling layer (2) whose width (d) increases with the voltage is converted to an electrically conducting and magnetically coupling metallic state. The magnetic exchange field acting on the free layer (3) which is controlled by the applied voltage via the width (d) of the electrically conducting sublayer of the coupling layer (2) can be used to switch the free layer (3) between states of parallel and antiparallel orientations with respect to the magnetic orientation of the pinned layer (1). This is used in memory cells and in a write head.

Abstract: A magnetic head handling glove capable of preventing the buildup of static charges and electric charge leakage and capable of withstanding use in clean rooms is described. In the magnetic head handling glove 1 of the present invention, the outer surface alone or both the outer surface and inner surface of a conductive glove 2 are coated with dissipative material 3,4. This results in coating of the conductive glove with materials useable in clean rooms and may suppress possible contamination that can result when a conventional conductive glove, lacking in such coating of dissipative material, is used directly in a clean room. Besides this, the conductive glove 2 is configured to be grounded directly with wire 5. In this way, even an operator prone to the buildup of static charges can be sufficiently prevented from building up static electrical charges and electric charge leakage.

Abstract: A magnetic sensing unit for measuring displacements on a nanometer scale is provided. A moveable part and a fixed part of a microdevice magnetic sensing unit comprises a magnetic element having a magnetic field and a magnetic sensor, the magnetic element being located on the moveable part and the magnetic sensor on the fixed part, or alternatively, the magnetic sensor being located on the moveable part and the magnetic element on the fixed part. The magnetic sensor and/or the magnetic element comprise an integral part of the microdevice. The magnetic element and the magnetic sensor are arranged relative to each other such that when the moveable part is displaced the change of the magnetic field at the magnetic sensor is detectable by use of the magnetic sensor.