Patterned exchange stabilized spin valve heads at very narrow track width

A micromagnetic study of synthetic antiferromagnet (SAF) biased spin valve heads with patterned exchange stabilization is presented. It is found that at deep sub-micron track widths, spin valve heads with the patterned exchange stabilization exhibit significantly higher read sensitivity than that stabilized with permanent magnet abutted junctions. It is also found that the canting of the exchange pinning field for the synthetic antiferromagnet layer of the vertical axis yields very different read sensitivity depending on the canting direction. Detailed analysis and explanation of the mechanism for the phenomenon are provided. It is concluded that the patterned exchange stabilization scheme can further extend the track density for the spin valve heads over the currently used stabilization scheme.