Planar, contact, yoke GMR head vs. conventional, flying, shielded GMR head: a comparative study

A comparative study was conducted between planar, contact, yoke GMR (Giant Magneto-resistive) heads and conventional, flying, shielded GMR heads by modeling. Magnetic flux efficiencies to the GMR element of the various planar yoke GMR heads were estimated using the reluctance network method and FEM(Finite Element Method). Results showed that it would be necessary to separate the reading magnetic circuit from the writing magnetic circuit in order to obtain higher efficiencies which could be up to 37%, 5 and 10 Gbits/in² recording simulation shows that the shielded GMR are expected to be superior to the yoke GMR even at 10 Gbits/in² but yoke GMR will start to show its advantages in the higher capability of writing and ease of processing at higher densities