CoZrMo amorphous films as a soft adjacent layer for biasing magnetoresistive elements with a current shunt layer

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Abstract
Sputtered Co94−xZr6Mox (4.4≤x≤17 at. %) films have been investigated as a soft‐adjacent‐layer (SAL) material for trilayered magnetoresistive (MR) sensors with a MR element layer, a current shunt layer, and a SAL for biasing layer. The saturation magnetization 4πMs linearly decreases from 14 to 3 kG with an increase in Mo content. The magnetic anisotropy field Hk decreases to a low value, equivalent to that for NiFe MR films, as the Mo content is increased. The magnetoresistance ratio Δρ/ρ is negative, but sufficiently small, namely one‐hundredth of that for NiFe films, while the electrical resistivity ρ, about 140 μΩ cm, is 5.6 times greater than that for NiFe films. The films also have a small magnetostriction coefficient λs on the order of 10−7. A 500‐Å‐thick CoZrMo film with 12 at. % Mo content is selected as the SAL, because a lesser thickness causes an extreme increase in Hk. Higher Mo content degrades the temperature characteristics of the magnetic properties, due to the lower Curie temperature. Trilayered MR‐sensors, 100 μm in length and 10 μm in width, are fabricated with a 400‐Å‐thick NiFe MR layer, a 400‐Å‐thick Ti layer, and a SAL using this CoZrMo film. An excellent biasing level is achieved with a 15‐mA sense current on the MR sensors. CoZrMo amorphous films have a superior capability as a SAL material, especially for the trilayered MR sensors.

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