Signal-to-noise ratios in high-signal-transfer-rate read heads composed of spin-torque oscillators

An application of spin-torque oscillators (STOs) to high-signal-transfer-rate read heads beyond 3 Gbits/s is considered and the signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of the output signals under the thermal magnetization fluctuations are calculated by using the results of recent nonlinear theories. The STO head senses the media field as a modulation in the oscillation frequency, enabling high signal transfer rates beyond the limit of ferromagnetic relaxation. The output (digital) signal is obtained by frequency modulation (FM) detection, which is commonly used in communication technologies. As the problem of rapid phase diffusion in nonlinear STOs caused by the thermal fluctuations is overcome by employing a delay detection method, the sufficiently large SNRs are obtained even in nonlinear STOs less than 30x30 nm(2) in size.