Electron gun induced ESD on GMR recording heads

摘要

Scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) are an essential element of the GMR head manufacturing and test process. With 400K magnification capabilities, they are able to microscopically examine head structures and materials, and identify contaminants, etc. An investigation was conducted to determine if the electron gun of SEMs induce ESD-related failures in GMR head sensors. Testing was conducted on both HDD-shippable and returned single spin-valve (～10 GB/in~2 areal-density) HGAs.