MAGNETIC AND ELECTRICAL-PROPERTIES OF NIFE-OXIDE MIXTURE FILMS

In order to improve the performance of Magnetoresistive heads, higher saturation flux density Bs and higher resistivity rho are preferable f or Soft Adjacent Layer (SAL). NiFe-oxide (oxide=SiO2, Al2O3, ZrO2 and Ta2O5) mixture films were investigated for SAL. Among these films, NiF e-ZrO2 system is preferable because of its high Bs rho value and low c oercivity. The stability of the NiFe-ZrO2 system at 250 degrees C was also investigated, which shows that Bs and rho change by annealing and the changes are larger as ZrO2 content is larger. As for an applicati on, MR devices which have 3.2 mu m width and 2.8 mu m height were fabr icated and transfer curves were measured. The maximum output voltage o f the device in which NiFe-12mol% ZrO2 was employed was 23% larger tha n the calculated value for the decice in which NiFe-Nb (Bs rho=60 Tesl a mu Omega cm) was assumed to be employed.