A perpendicular magnetic film comprising a spinel thin film which is provided on a substrate; which contains Fe as the main ingredient and further contains Co and Ni; which has a coercive force of less than 2.39 x 10⁵ Am⁻¹ (3000 Oe); the plane (400) thereof being predominantly oriented in parallel with the said substrate, the spacing of the plane (400) being not more than 0.2082 nm; the molar ratio of Co:Fe being from 0.005:1 to 0.32:1 and the molar ratio of Ni:Co being not less than 0.6:1.

A magnetic thin film structure comprising a first layer (12) of magnetic material having a low anisotropy H_k magnetically coupled to a second layer (14) magnetic material having a high anisotropy H_k and a low coercivity. The laminate provides a dual anisotropy behavior such that the laminate exhibits a high initial permeability at relatively small applied fields during the read operation and a high anisotropy at high applied fields during the write operation. The laminate of the present invention reduces inductive head domain instability produced by the write operation while maintaining high reproducing sensitivity during the read operation. Use of the higher H_k material also reduces the sensitivity of the head performance to variation in process-induced stresses.

Laminates of magnetic and magnetic quenching laminae are provided for use as magnetic thin film laminates for use in magnetic recording heads. The use of these films significantly reduces the number of domains and Barkhausen noise levels in such recording heads.

A magnetic thin film structure comprising a first layer (12) of magnetic material having a low anisotropy H_k magnetically coupled to a second layer (14) magnetic material having a high anisotropy H_k and a low coercivity. The laminate provides a dual anisotropy behavior such that the laminate exhibits a high initial permeability at relatively small applied fields during the read operation and a high anisotropy at high applied fields during the write operation. The laminate of the present invention reduces inductive head domain instability produced by the write operation while maintaining high reproducing sensitivity during the read operation. Use of the higher H_k material also reduces the sensitivity of the head performance to variation in process-induced stresses.

The present invention relates to a film of soft magnetic Fe based alloy containing nitrogen which is suited as a core material for e.g. a magnetic head.

The soft magnetic alloy film of the present invention is not a simple nitride alloy film but incorporates a compositional modulation in which at least the content of nitrogen is periodically modulated in the direction of film thickness after the deposition of the alloy film by a sputtering procedure. Also, the soft magnetic alloy film of the present invention contains a main content of Fe for providing higher saturation magnetization, one or more metals selected from Nb, Ta, Zr₁ Ti, and Hf, and fine grains of Fe based materials developed after annealing. Therefore, the soft magnetic alloy film of the present invention can exhibit better magnetic properties including higher saturation magnetization and improved soft magnetic characteristics after the annealing and also, ensuring minimum magnetostriction with a specific composition.

One aspect of the invention is a method of flux conduction comprising providing a structure with anisotropy not purely in the transverse in-plane direction such that flux spreading into the transverse in-plane direction can occur by rotation. Apparatus includes a thin film magnetic recording device having at least one pole with two magnetic layers and capable of conducting signal flux, a first of the magnetic layers having domains oriented in a first direction, a second of said magnetic layers having domains oriented in a second distinct direction, the layers coupled to each other such that signal flux can flow therebetween. Method of making and various embodiments disclosed.

One aspect of the invention is a method of flux conduction comprising providing a structure with anisotropy not purely in the transverse in-plane direction such that flux spreading into the transverse in-plane direction can occur by rotation. Another aspect includes a method for producing a thin film magnetic device capable of conducting signal flux along a first axis, having at least two active magnetic layers for at least one pole, a first of the active magnetic layers having domains which are oriented in a first direction at rest and a second of the active magnetic layers has domains which are oriented in a second direction at rest. The layers are coupled to each other such that signal flux can flow therebetween. In another aspect, a thin film magnetic device having at least one set of magnetic domains is capable of conducting signal flux along a first axis, having at least one set of magnetic domains, a first of the magnetic domains is capable of conducting flux in a first direction at an angle to the first axis, a second of said magnetic domains is capable of conducting flux in a second direction other than the first direction, the domains coupled to each other such that signal flux can flow along the first axis. In yet another aspect, each of the domains of the set is capable of conducting signal flux in a first and a second in-plane direction.

Apparatus includes a thin film magnetic recording device having at least one pole with two magnetic layers and capable of conducting signal flux, a first of the magnetic layers having domains oriented in a first direction, a second of said magnetic layers having domains oriented in a second distinct direction, the layers coupled to each other such that signal flux can flow therebetween. The layers may be at right angles to each other, one layer parallel to the axis of signal flux conduction, or may be canted at other angles in symmetry with the axis of signal flux conduction. Another apparatus includes a magnetic conduction path defined by a series of domains, some domains at least capable of rotation into a first low reluctance path, some domains at least capable of rotation into a second low reluctance path.

A nitrogen-containing magnetic alloy film composed of T-M-X amorphous alloy film and (T-M-X)N nitride film, and another film having a composition represented by (T-M-X)N and being compositionally modulated (In both cases T is at least one element selected from the group of Fe, Co, Ni and Mn, M is at least one element selected from the group of Ti, Zr, Hf, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W, Re and Ru, X is at least one element selected from the group of B, Si, Ge and Al, and N is nitrogen.) show excellent characteristics for magnetic head cores such as soft magnetic property and wear resistance.

A magnetic alloy thin film consisting essentially of a first Fe-Al-Si or Fe-Ni alloy thin film of high permeability and a second Fe-Si alloy thin film directly formed on the first thin film and having high saturation magnetic flux density. The ratio in thickness of the first and second films is preferably in the range of from 1:0.1 to 2.