MR Heads (Magneto-resistive Heads) – Originally developed to increase drive performance and increase areal density. They use separate read and write elements, unlike the traditional inductive thin-film read-write heads. MR heads write data by using an inductive element and read information by a separate magneto-resistive element. The read element can detect recorded data on the magnetic dis surface as it contains a magnetically sensitive material. MR Head construction results in stronger signals which permit it to read higher areal density data, unlike the inductive thin-film read-write heads. Since read data is the only function the magneto-resistive element can perform, data is written onto the disk by a conventional thin-film.