Large magnetic moment compositions are formed by stabilizing ternary or other alloys with a epitaxial control layer. Compositions that are unstable in bulk specimen are thus stabilized and exhibit magnetic moments that are greater that a Slater-Pauling limit. In one example, Fe.sub.xCo.sub.yMn.sub.z layers are produced on an MgO(001) substrate with an MgO surface serving to control the structure of the Fe.sub.xCo.sub.yMn.sub.z layers. Magnetizations greater than 3 Bohr magnetons are produced.

Provided is a precursor of a current-perpendicular-to-plane giant magnetoresistive element having a laminated structure of ferromagnetic metal layer/nonmagnetic metal layer/ferromagnetic metal layer, the precursor having a nonmagnetic intermediate layer containing a non-magnetic metal and an oxide in a predetermined ratio such that the distribution thereof is nearly uniform at the atomic level. Also provided is a current-perpendicular-to-plane giant magnetoresistive element having a current-confinement structure (CCP) which has: a current confinement structure region made of a conductive alloy and obtained by heat-treating a laminated structure of a ferromagnetic metal layer and a nonmagnetic intermediate layer at a predetermined temperature; and a high-resistance metal alloy region containing an oxide and surrounding the current confinement structure region.

The present disclosure generally relate to spin-orbit torque (SOT) devices. The SOT devices each comprise a non-magnetic layer, a free layer disposed in contact with the non-magnetic layer, and a bismuth antimony (BiSb) layer disposed over the free layer. The non-magnetic layer has a thickness of about 0.5 nm to about 2 nm. The BiSb layer has a thickness of about 5 nm to about 10 nm. The BiSb layer and the free layer have collective thickness between about 5 nm to about 20 nm. By reducing the thickness of the non-magnetic layer and BiSb layer, a read gap of each SOT device is reduced while enabling large inverse spin Hall angles and high signal-to-noise ratios.

A magnetoresistance effect element includes a first ferromagnetic layer, a second ferromagnetic layer, and a non-magnetic layer positioned between the first ferromagnetic layer and the second ferromagnetic layer, and at least one of the first ferromagnetic layer and the second ferromagnetic layer is a Heusler alloy represented by the following General Formula (1):
Co.sub.2Fe.sub.αX.sub.β  (1)
(in Formula (1), X represents one or more elements selected from the group consisting of Mn, Cr, Si, Al, Ga and Ge, and α and β represent numbers that satisfy 2.3≤α+β, α<β, and 0.5<α<1.9).

A magnetoresistance effect element has a first ferromagnetic metal layer, a second ferromagnetic metal layer, and a tunnel barrier layer that is sandwiched between the first and second ferromagnetic metal layers, the tunnel barrier layer is expressed by a chemical formula of AB.sub.2O.sub.x, and has a spinel structure in which cations are arranged in a disordered manner, A represents a divalent cation that is either Mg or Zn, and B represents a trivalent cation that includes a plurality of elements selected from the group consisting of Al, Ga, and In.

Multi-period thin-film structures exhibiting giant magnetoresistance (GMR) are described. Techniques are also described by which narrow spacing and/or feature size may be achieved for such structures and other thin-film structures having an arbitrary number of periods.

The present disclosure provides: a magnetoresistive element having a large magnetoresistance change ratio (MR ratio); and a magnetic sensor, a reproducing head and a magnetic recording and reproducing device.

A method of producing a multilayer magnetoelectronic device and a related device. The method includes depositing a multilayer structure including at least two ferromagnetic layers disposed one on top of the other and each having a magnetic anisotropy with a corresponding magnetic moment. A magnetization curve is specified for the magnetoelectronic device. The number of ferromagnetic layers and, for each of the ferromagnetic layers, the magnetic moment and the magnetic hardness for obtaining the specified magnetization curve are determined. For each of the ferromagnetic layers a magnetic material, a thickness, an azimuthal angle and an angle of incidence are determined for obtaining the determined magnetic moment and magnetic hardness of the respective ferromagnetic layer. The multilayer structure is deposited using the determined material, thickness, azimuthal angle and angle of incidence for each of the ferromagnetic layers.

A hard magnet stabilization scheme is disclosed for a top shield and junction shields for double or triple dimension magnetic reader structures. In one design, the hard magnet (HM) adjoins a top or bottom surface of all or part of a shield domain such that the HM is recessed from the air bearing surface to satisfy reader-to-reader spacing requirements and stabilizes a closed loop magnetization in the top shield. The HM may have a height and width greater than that of the top shield. The top shield may have a ring shape with a HM formed above, below, or within the ring shape, and wherein the HM stabilizes a vortex magnetization. HM magnetization is set or reset from room temperature to 100° C. to maintain a desired magnetization direction in the top shield, junction shield, and free layer in the sensor.

The present disclosure generally related to read heads having dual free layer (DFL) sensors. The DFL sensor and has a surface at the media facing surface (MFS). Behind the DFL sensor away from the MFS, is a rear hard bias (RHB) structure. The RHB structure is disposed between the shields as well. In between the DFL sensor and the RHB structure is insulating material. The insulating material is a multilayer structure. A first layer of the multilayer structure is composed of the same material as the tunnel magnetoresistive barrier layer, such as MgO, and is disposed adjacent the DFL sensor, yet spaced from the RHB structure. A second layer of the multilayer structure is a different insulating layer that is disposed adjacent the RHB structure, yet spaced from the DFL sensor. The multilayer structure helps improve areal density without degrading head stability and performance reliability by maintaining RHB coercivity.