JAMES HOWARD
Vehicle Board in Pittsburgh, PA

6777113, Aug 17, 2004

Apr 4, 2002

10/116577

Isabel G. Trindade - Setubal, PT
Sharat Batra - Wexford PA
Dieter K. Weller - Gibsonia PA
Yukiko Kubota - Pittsburgh PA
Kurt W. Wierman - Pittsburgh PA
James K. Howard - Pittsburgh PA
Ganping Ju - Wexford PA

Seagate Technology LLC - Scotts Valley CA

G11B 5667

428694TM, 428694 EC

A perpendicular magnetic recording medium includes a hard magnetic recording layer and a soft magnetic underlayer adjacent the hard magnetic recording layer. The soft magnetic underlayer includes first and second ferromagnetically coupled multilayer structures and a coupling layer positioned between the first and second multilayer structures for antiferromagnetically coupling the first and second multilayer structures. A magnetic disc drive storage system incorporating such a perpendicular magnetic recording medium and a method of making such a perpendicular magnetic recording medium are also included.

6660357, Dec 9, 2003

Feb 2, 2001

09/776061

Dmitri Litvinov - Pittsburgh PA
Sakhrat Khizroev - Pittsburgh PA
James Kent Howard - Pittsburgh PA
Roy Wallace Gustafson - Boxboro MA

Seagate Technology LLC - Scotts Valley CA

G11B 566

428 653, 428336, 428611, 428694 TM, 428694 TR, 428394 TS, 428900, 427128, 427129, 427130, 427131, 360113, 360135

Magnetic recording media having a biased soft magnetic underlayer are disclosed. The soft magnetic underlayer includes at least two soft magnetic layers separated by a thin non-magnetic layer. Magnetostatic coupling between the soft magnetic layers causes the magnetizations in the layer to be anti-parallel. The biased soft magnetic underlayer is brought into a substantially single-domain state, thereby reducing or eliminating unwanted noise in the soft underlayer. In a preferred embodiment, the recording media includes a perpendicular magnetic recording disk.

6835464, Dec 28, 2004

Sep 19, 2002

10/251278

Thomas F. Ambrose - Mars PA
Timothy John Klemmer - Pittsburgh PA
Rene Johannes Marinus van de Veerdonk - Pittsburgh PA
Gregory John Parker - Warrendale PA
James K. Howard - Pittsburgh PA

Seagate Technology LLC - Scotts Valley CA

H01F 100

428611, 428669, 428675, 428692

A perpendicular exchange biased device comprises a layer of buffer material on a surface of a substrate, a layer of ferromagnetic material on a surface of the buffer layer, wherein the magnetization of the ferromagnetic layer lies in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the layer of ferromagnetic material, and a layer of antiferromagnetic material on a surface of the layer of ferromagnetic material. A method of making a perpendicular exchange biased device comprising positioning a layer of buffer material on a surface of a substrate, positioning a layer of ferromagnetic material on a surface of the layer of buffer material, wherein the magnetization of the ferromagnetic layer lies in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the layer of ferromagnetic material, and positioning a layer of antiferromagnetic material on a surface of the layer of ferromagnetic material is also included.

6656613, Dec 2, 2003

Sep 27, 2001

09/965182

Dmitri Litvinov - Pittsburgh PA
Sakhrat Khizroev - Pittsburgh PA
James Kent Howard - Pittsburgh PA

Seagate Technology LLC - Scotts Valley CA

G11B 566

428694TM, 428611, 428632, 428635, 428668, 428670, 428672, 428900

Materials including alternating magnetic layers and spacer layers for use as hard magnetic recording layers of magnetic recording media are disclosed. The spacer layers and the magnetic layers are treated in an oxygen-containing atmosphere in order to form oxidized boundary layers between adjacent granular columns extending through the layers. The columnar microstructure extends through the entire thickness of the multilayer structure to thereby exchange decouple the magnetic layers as well as the spacer layers. The spacer and magnetic layers may include additives which are present in grain boundary regions throughout the layers. The presence of the additives in the grain boundary regions may facilitate diffusion and oxidization between the adjacent granular columns. In a particular embodiment, the magnetic layers comprise Co, the spacer layers comprise Pd, and the additives comprise Cr, Pt, B, Ta, Nb or combinations thereof.

7035061, Apr 25, 2006

Jun 18, 2003

10/464343

Eric W. Singleton - Maple Plain MN, US
David J. Larson - Northfield MN, US
Christopher L. Platt - Pittsburgh PA, US
Kurt W. Wierman - Pittsburgh PA, US
James K. Howard - Pittsburgh PA, US

Seagate Technology LLC - Scotts Valley CA

G11B 5/39

36032412, 36032731

A transducing head includes a first bias element, a second bias element, and a magnetoresistive sensor positioned between the first bias element and the second bias element. The first bias element and the second bias element are each formed of a permanent magnet material having a remanent magnetic moment in a range of about 200 to about 800 emu/cm. In a preferred embodiment, the permanent magnet material is an alloy comprising iron, platinum, and at least one material selected from copper, silver, magnesium, lead, zinc, bismuth, and antimony.

2003022, Dec 11, 2003

Nov 27, 2002

10/305518

Mei-Ling Wu - Cranberry Township PA, US
James Howard - Pittsburgh PA, US
Paul Jones - Pittsburgh PA, US

B32B003/00

428/6940TP, 428/69400R

An overcoating for electronic devices, such as magnetic recording devices, includes an intermediate layer formed adjacent to or on the device and a protective layer formed adjacent to or on the intermediate layer. The intermediate layer and protective layer may have a combined thickness in the range of about 6 angstroms to about 35 angstroms. The intermediate layer may be formed of a material such as silicon, aluminum or boron containing borides, carbides, nitrides, oxides or oxynitrides. The protective layer may be formed of a metal oxide material.