Patent ID: 7869166
Filing Date: 2011-01-11
Classification: B82Y,G11B

Abstract:
1. A thin film magnetic head comprising: a spin valve having a pinned layer whose magnetization direction is fixed relative to an external magnetic field, a first nonmagnetic intermediate layer which is disposed on said pinned layer, and a free layer whose magnetization direction is changed according to the external magnetic field, said free layer being disposed on said first nonmagnetic intermediate layer; and bias magnetic layers for applying a bias magnetic field to said free layer, said bias magnetic layers being provided on both sides of said spin valve with regard to a track width direction thereof, wherein said pinned layer comprises a hard magnetic layer, a second nonmagnetic intermediate layer which is disposed on said hard magnetic layer, and a ferromagnetic layer which is disposed on said second nonmagnetic intermediate layer, wherein said bias magnetic layer comprises a bias antiferromagnetic layer, and a bias ferromagnetic layer which is disposed on said bias antiferromagnetic layer, and wherein said pinned layer is formed in a manner such that a height direction dimension thereof is longer than a track width direction dimension thereof, and is longer than a height direction dimension of said free layer.