Advanced spin-valve read-sensors for magnetic recording

Summary form only given. Giant magnetoresistive (GMR) read heads can certainly be cited as one of the major reasons for the phenomenal increase in hard-disk drive areal density, performance and value to the customer. Since the introduction of GMR heads into commercial products in 1997, the pace of the areal density race has increased to doubling on a yearly basis. The fast pace of GMR technology has been evident since its discovery. The GMR effect was first discovered in the laboratory in 1988 and in less than a decade had found its way into products. One reason for the speed of introduction of the head was that it shared many common process steps and equipment with the anisotropic magnetoresistive head technology that proceeded the GMR heads.