Patent ID: 6785101
Filing Date: 2004-08-31
Classification: B82Y,G11B

Abstract:
A magnetic read head which has an air bearing surface (ABS), comprising:a spin valve sensor that has a top surface, a bottom surface and first and second side surfaces which intersect the ABS; the spin valve sensor including: a ferromagnetic pinned layer structure that has a magnetic moment; a pinning layer exchange coupled to the pinned layer structure for pinning the magnetic moment of the pinned layer structure; a ferromagnetic free layer structure that has a magnetic moment that is free to rotate in response to a field signal; a nonmagnetic electrically conductive spacer layer located between the free layer structure and the pinned layer structure; a cap layer forming said top surface of the sensor; and each of the pinned layer structure, the pinning layer structure, the free layer structure and the spacer layer having first and second side surfaces which form said first and second side surfaces respectively of the sensor; first and second hard bias layers that interface said first and second side surfaces of the sensor; a top portion of the first side surface having a first notch and a top portion of the second side surface having a second notch; the first and second notches being sized to enable a reduction of a magnetoresistive coefficient of first and second side portions of the sensor beyond a track width of the sensor; said first and second notches being at least partially formed by first and second side surfaces of the cap layer being recessed from first and second side surfaces of a remainder of the spin valve sensor so as to expose first and second top surfaces of one of the free, spacer and pinned layers; and nonmagnetic electrically conductive first and second lead layers overlaying the first and second hard bias layers respectively, disposed in the first and second notches respectively, interfacing the first and second top surfaces respectively of one of said free, spacer and pinned layers and being spaced apart by a distance that defines a track width of the read head.