Dependence of Barkhausen noise on film parameters in shielded MR heads

Barkhausen discontinuities in read waveforms from shielded magnetoresistive (MR) heads have been isolated and analyzed using histograms and statistical methods. The data obtained have been found to be dependent on the test conditions and previous magnetic histories in addition to the magnetic properties of the element. For the heads studied, the Barkhausen noise is found to be affected primarily by easy axis misorientation, input flux excitation amplitude, element aspect ratio, and magnetic history and less so by magnetostriction coefficient.>