Recording performance and process tolerance of dual-stripe MR heads

In this work, we present an analysis of the recording performance and process tolerance of shielded dual-stripe MR heads. Using a micromagnetic model, we study isolated read-back pulses and the dependence of the peak asymmetry on both mismatch of the two MR stripes and off-track misalignment. Results show as long as the two MR stripes are away from their saturation regions, the differential mode of the output does not have severe peak asymmetry caused by mismatch of the two MR stripes. The off-track performance study shows that peak asymmetry is also very small with up to 0.5 /spl mu/m read-to-write misalignment. The linear resolution is found to be comparable to that of SAL-biased MR heads and insensitive to the spacer thickness between the two MR stripes.