Highly reliable spin-valve heads were developed using antiferromagnetic CrM
nPt film. The exchange anisotropy energy J(K) for CrMnPt/Co as-deposited fi
lm was almost the same as that for CrMnPt/NiFe film. However, the J(K) doub
led after annealing at a relatively low temperature of 230 degrees C. The a
nnealing causes distortion in the crystal lattice of CrMnPt films, which is
likely to be the cause of the enhancement of the J(K), The MR ratio and th
e exchange coupling field of spin-valve films with a structure of Ta(5)/NiF
e(5)/Co(1) /Cu(2.5)/Co(3)/ CrMnPt(30) /Ta(5) (in nm) were 6.7% and 350 Oe,
respectively. The CrMnPt-type spin-valve sensors are more resistant to elec
trostatic discharge (ESD) than IrMn-type spin-valve sensors. This is becaus
e of the higher blocking temperature of CrMnPt, The exchange coupling field
H-UA in CrMnPt-type spin-valve sensors was thermally more stable than that
in IrMn-type spin-valve sensors. Shielded spin-valve heads of a hard bias
structure using CrMnPt antiferromagnetic film were fabricated. The readback
waveform of the fabricated heads was noise-free and well biased. The outpu
t as normalized by the trackwidth was 800 similar to 1000 mu V/mu m, Spin-v
alve heads with CrMnPt were found to have an overall performance making the
m quite suitable for use in hard disk drives with an areal density higher t
han several giga bits/in(2).