DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to FIG.
1, a split magneto-resistive head 10, having a non-magnetic support 12, has first and second thin-film magneto-resistive elements R.
sub.
1, R.
sub.
2 electrically connected in series, the interconnection between the elements R.
sub.
1, R.
sub.
2 having a lead 14 connected to it.
Leads 16, 18, respectively, connect to the magneto-resistive elements R.
sub.
1, R.
sub.
2.
(The term "R", with an appropriate subscript, designates the resistance of the corresponding magneto-resistive element.
) The magneto-resistive head 10 is adapted to ride along a magnetic recording track 20 containing data signals and, in response to the fields associated with such signals, supplies playback signals to tracking control and playback electronics 22.
The tracking control and playback electronics 22, in addition to processing the playback signals for the recovery of recorded data, provide unambiguous positional tracking of the head 10 to the track 20 in a manner to be described below.
The magneto-resistive elements R.
sub.
1, R.
sub.
2, while in operation, have magnetizations which are canted with respect to serial current flow through the elements R.
sub.
1, R.
sub.
2.
Quiescent canting of the R.
sub.
1, R.
sub.
2 magnetizations may be provided by ancillary biasing means or by virtue of a film-forming deposition procedure, both of which are known to the art.
When their magnetizations are similarly canted, the resistances of the magneto-resistive elements R.
sub.
1, R.
sub.
2 are equal.
Before addressing the workings of the invention, the source of the aforementioned tracking control ambiguity will be addressed.
Consider the schematic showing of the magneto-resistive elements R.
sub.
1, R.
sub.
2 as in FIG.
2a: A recorded signal in the track 20 generates a signal field with a polarity as reflected by the vector 24, the respective (quiescent) magnetizations 26, 28 of the equi-resistant magneto-resistive elements R.
sub.
1, R.
sub.
2 being canted, as depicted.
In response to the field associated with the vector 24, the magnetizations 26, 28 increase their angles of cant (26', 28'), thereby causing the resistances of the elements R
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