Patent ID: 7270758

Claim:
A method for fabricating a read head for a hard disk drive having a read head sensor of CIP configuration and a hard bias/lead layer, said method comprising: A) depositing a strip of sensor material in a sensor material region; B) depositing strips of fast-milling dielectric material chosen from a group consisting of Ta 2 O 5 , SiO 2 , Si 3 N 4 , AlN, variable compositions of Al—Si—O—N, HfO 2 , ZrO 2 , and Hf(1-x)SixO 2 in first and second fast-milling dielectric material regions adjacent to said sensor material region; C) depositing a protective layer on said sensor material region and said first and second fast-milling material regions; D) depositing a layer of masking material on said strip of sensor material and said strips of fast-milling dielectric material to provide masked areas and exposed areas of said sensor material region and said first and second fast-milling dielectric material regions; E) providing a shaping source which shapes said exposed areas; F) depositing said hard bias/lead material on said region of sensor material and said first and second regions of fast-milling dielectric material to form first and second leads and a cap on each of these regions; G) removing said cap of hard bias/lead material and said masking material from each of these regions.