Performance characteristics of a 4-terminal vertical magnetoresistive/inductive head

A 4-terminal vertical magnetoresistive (MR)/inductive head using the current bias technique has been developed. In the new head, a bias current conductor is connected to the rear lead of the MR element in series. With this design, this type of MR/inductive head can have a second harmonic distortion (SHD) of less than -25 dB with a 6 to 16 mA sense current. The linear recording density at D/sub 50/ is about 3.15 kfr/mm. The effective track width of the MR sensor is almost the same as its optical track width (2.5 /spl mu/m), so high track density (TPI) is possible. The stability of an MR element with a 2 /spl mu/m track width was also investigated.>