ISSN:
1089-7550
Source:
AIP Digital Archive
Topics:
Physics
Notes:
Sputtered Co94−xZr6Mox (4.4≤x≤17 at. %) films have been investigated as a soft-adjacent-layer (SAL) material for trilayered magnetoresistive (MR) sensors with a MR element layer, a current shunt layer, and a SAL for biasing layer. The saturation magnetization 4πMs linearly decreases from 14 to 3 kG with an increase in Mo content. The magnetic anisotropy field Hk decreases to a low value, equivalent to that for NiFe MR films, as the Mo content is increased. The magnetoresistance ratio Δρ/ρ is negative, but sufficiently small, namely one-hundredth of that for NiFe films, while the electrical resistivity ρ, about 140 μΩ cm, is 5.6 times greater than that for NiFe films. The films also have a small magnetostriction coefficient λs on the order of 10−7. A 500-A(ring)-thick CoZrMo film with 12 at. % Mo content is selected as the SAL, because a lesser thickness causes an extreme increase in Hk. Higher Mo content degrades the temperature characteristics of the magnetic properties, due to the lower Curie temperature. Trilayered MR-sensors, 100 μm in length and 10 μm in width, are fabricated with a 400-A(ring)-thick NiFe MR layer, a 400-A(ring)-thick Ti layer, and a SAL using this CoZrMo film. An excellent biasing level is achieved with a 15-mA sense current on the MR sensors. CoZrMo amorphous films have a superior capability as a SAL material, especially for the trilayered MR sensors.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.340537
