Performance characteristics of a 4-terminal vertical magnetoresistive/inductive head

A 4-terminal vertical magnetoresistive (MR)/inductive head using the current bias technique has been developed. In the new head, a bias current conductor is connected to the rear lead of the MR element in series. With this design, this type of MR/inductive head can have a second harmonic distortion (SHD) of less than -25 dB with a 6 to 16 mA sense current. The linear recording density at D₅₀ is about 3.15 kfr/mm. The effective track width of the MR sensor is almost the same as its optical track width (2.5 μm), so high track density (TPI) is possible. The stability of an MR element with a 2 μm track width was also investigated