Electrostatic modeling and ESD damage of magnetoresistive sensors

The response of a thin-film sensor to the excessive current and/or voltage during an electrostatic discharge (ESD) event is studied. An unshielded magnetoresistive (MR)-like recording head structure is analyzed and modeled from the viewpoint of electrostatic theory. An electrical model for the MR head structure is proposed and used in circuit simulations to study the current flow through the thin-film resistor during a Human Body Model ESD transient. A thermal model for the thin-film resistor burnout is compared with experiment and 2D modeling of the fields and voltages are presented. Finally, Maxwell's method is used to calculate the induced charge on the MR structure when a charged external conductor is present.