Micromagnetic modelling of spin valve and GMR read heads

Spin valve and GMR read heads for ultra-high density storage applications are subject to strong self and inter-layer demagnetizing fields which dominate their behavior. A simple vector model for the description of the magnetic characteristics of macroscopic samples of spin valve material has been generalized and extended to describe finite width stripes by the incorporation of demagnetizing fields and intra-layer exchange coupling.