SUBMICRON TRACKWIDTH AND STRIPE HEIGHT MR SENSOR TEST STRUCTURES

Magnetic recording areal densities greater than 5 Gbit/in(2) will requ ire magnetoresistive (MR) sensors with critical dimensions below 1.0 m u m. The longitudinal bias scheme used for this sensor size must provi de stable device operation and must be compatible with fine dimension lithographic processing. A contiguous junction sensor structure with l ongitudinal material abutted to the sensor magnetic films and with lea d material self aligned to the longitudinal bias material can satisfy these requirements. This is demonstrated by the fabrication and testin g of submicron unshielded MR structures with stable transfer curves.