Patent ID: 6910382

Claim:
A ferromagnetic semiconductor-based read head sensor configured to detect magnetic domain orientations in a magnetic recording medium having a plurality of domains, each domain having a magnetization, the sensor comprising: a substrate defining a plane; a ferromagnetic semiconductor epilayer formed on said substrate, said epilayer having a cubic hard axis; and first and second read current contacts, each contact coupled proximal an end of the epilayer, said contacts being configured to provide an electrical current flow along the hard axis; and one or more read probes, in electrical contact with the epilayer, configured to detect transverse magnetic resistance in the epilayer; wherein application of an in-plane magnetic field, non-aligned with the cubic hard axis, produces a transition in the transverse magnetic resistance of the epilayer, and wherein the magnetization of each domain produces a magnetic field having a component non-aligned with the cubic hard axis when the read head is positioned proximal thereto.