An investigation of ESD protection for magnetoresistive heads

Author

Cheung, Tim ; Rice, Alan

Author_Institution

Appl. Magnetics Corp., Goleta, CA, USA

fYear

1996

fDate

10-12 Sept. 1996

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

7

Abstract

Many precautions are taken to avoid damaging electrostatic discharge (ESD) through disk drive magnetic recording heads featuring readback via a magnetoresistive (MR) sensor. By optimizing protective spark-gaps (PSG) in the recording head, the extent of ESD damage can be reduced. Human Body Model (HBM), Machine Model (MM) and Charged Device Model (CDM) transients are applied to simulated soft-adjacent-layer (SAL)-biased MR heads with and without protective spark-gaps. Design principles for ESD-damage-suppressing spark-gaps in MR heads are developed and several implementations compared.

Keywords

electrostatic discharge; equivalent circuits; magnetic heads; magnetoresistive devices; modelling; protection; spark gaps; transients; ESD damage reduction; ESD protection; charged device model; disk drive heads; electrostatic discharge; human body model; machine model; magnetic recording heads; magnetoresistive heads; magnetoresistive sensor; protective spark-gaps; soft-adjacent-layer-biased MR heads; transients; Circuit modeling; Electrostatic discharges; Equivalent circuits; Magnetic heads; Magnetoresistive devices; Protection; Spark gaps;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Electrical Overstress/Electrostatic Discharge Symposium, 1996. Proceedings

Print_ISBN

1-878303-69-4

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/EOSESD.1996.865119

Filename

865119