A study of ESD sensitivity in AMR and GMR recording heads

Author

Lam, Chung F. ; Chang, Caleb ; Karimi, Rahmat

Author_Institution

Read-Rite Corp., Fremont, CA, USA

fYear

1998

fDate

6-8 Oct. 1998

Firstpage

360

Lastpage

367

Abstract

In this paper, the behaviour of giant magnetoresistive (GMR) recording devices "zapped" with increasing human body model (HBM) ESD currents was studied through quasi-static tests (QST), magnetic tests (MT) and bit-error rate (BER) tests. The threshold HBM voltage value sufficient to "magnetically" damage the GMR head was presented. The behaviour of anisotropic magnetoresistive (AMR) recording devices "zapped" with increasing HBM ESD currents was also studied. The relationship between the threshold HBM voltage, sufficient to raise the resistance of AMR head by 1%, versus the AMR areal density is presented.

Keywords

electronic equipment testing; electrostatic discharge; giant magnetoresistance; magnetic anisotropy; magnetic heads; magnetic recording; magnetoresistive devices; AMR areal density; AMR head; AMR head resistance; AMR recording heads; BER tests; ESD sensitivity; GMR head; GMR recording heads; HBM ESD currents; anisotropic magnetoresistive recording devices; bit-error rate tests; giant magnetoresistive recording devices; human body model ESD currents; magnetic damage; magnetic tests; quasi-static tests; threshold HBM voltage; threshold HBM voltage value; Anisotropic magnetoresistance; Biological system modeling; Bit error rate; Electrostatic discharge; Giant magnetoresistance; Humans; Magnetic heads; Magnetic recording; Testing; Threshold voltage;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Electrical Overstress/Electrostatic Discharge Symposium Proceedings, 1998

Conference_Location

Reno, NV, USA

Print_ISBN

1-878303-91-0

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/EOSESD.1998.737057

Filename

737057