A study of shunt ESD protection for GMR recording heads

The electrostatic discharge (ESD) behavior of shunted GMR heads on a head gimbal assembly (HGA) design is reported. It was found that the shunt offers ESD protection only when the charge from the ESD event is applied very close to the shunt. An explanation is given in terms of the impedance of the wires between the GMR head and shunt at the high frequencies associated with metal contact ESD.