AN ANALYTICAL THERMAL-MODEL FOR MR HEADS

In this work, we present an analytical study of temperature rise due t o Joule heating in magnetoresistive heads. Using a transmission-line t ype model and proper boundary conditions, we derived an analytical for mula, including thermal resistance, finite track width and conducting lead effects. Results show the temperature rise due to Joule heat is n on-uniform along the MR track width direction: the temperature rise ha s its peak at the center and decreases rapidly off the track, The aver aged temperature rise, which is what one measures experimentally, is 2 0 % lower than the maximum temperature rise at 2 mu m track width, Alt hough the temperature distribution also depends on thermal conductivit ies of both MR and lead materials, it more strongly depends on the thi ckness and thermal conductivity of the gap dielectric material.