Study of longitudinal stabilization using in-stack biasing

The in-stack stabilization of unshielded and shielded magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) sensors have been studied experimentally by quasi-static and recording tests as well as theoretically by micromagnetic modeling. Results showed the viability of in-stack stabilization over a range of design and material conditions. Performance tradeoff studies and design optimization results led to the fabrication of MTJ read heads with good magnetic stability and high readback sensitivity. Index Terms--Longitudinal recording, magnetic materials for heads, read and write theory and modeling, test and characterization.