Foley & Lardner LLP
Method and system for fabricating high junction angle read sensors
A method provides a magnetic read apparatus. A sensor stack is deposited. The read sensor is defined from the stack such that the sensor has sides forming a junction angle of 75 degrees-105 degrees from a sensor bottom. Defining the sensor includes performing a first ion mill at a first angle and a first energy and performing a second ion mill at a second angle greater than the first angle and at a second energy less than the first energy. The first angle is 5 degrees-30 degrees from normal to the top surface. After the first ion mill, less than half of the stack's bottom layer depth remains unmilled. Magnetic bias structure(s) adjacent to the sides may be formed. The magnetic bias structure(s) include a side shielding material having at least one of the saturation magnetization greater than 800 emu/cm3 and an exchange length less than five nanometers.
WESTERN DIGITAL (FREMONT), LLC
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Guanxiong Anup Ghosh Ming Goncalo Daniele Savas
Li Roy Mao Albuquerque Mauri Gider