Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
gap reads. Thus, the read head is less likely to pick up stray magnetic information from
adjacent tracks.
A typical IBM-designed MR head is shown in Figure 8.5 . This figure first shows the
complete MR head-and-slider assembly on the end of an actuator arm. This is the part
you would see if you opened up a drive. The slider is the block device on the end of the
triangular-shaped arm that carries the head. The actual head is the tiny piece shown mag-
nified at the end of the slider, and then the MR read sensor in the head is shown further
magnified.
Figure 8.5 Cross-section of an MR head.
The read element, which is the actual magneto-resistive sensor,consists of a nickel-ferrite
(NiFe) film separated by a spacer from a magnetically soft layer. The NiFe film layer
changes resistance in the presence of a magnetic field. Layers of shielding protect the MR
sensor read element from being corrupted by adjacent or stray magnetic fields. In many
 
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