Patent ID: 8638530

Claim:
A current-perpendicular-to-the-plane (CPP) magnetoresistive sensor structure comprising: a substrate; a bottom magnetic shield on the substrate; a magnetoresistive sensor on the bottom magnetic shield; and a top magnetic shield on the sensor, the top magnetic shield comprising an antiparallel structure (APS) on the sensor, the APS having first and second ferromagnetic films and an antiparallel coupling (APC) film between said first and second ferromagnetic films that couples said first and second ferromagnetic films together antiferromagnetically, whereby said first and second ferromagnetic films have substantially antiparallel magnetization directions; a nonmagnetic decoupling layer on said second ferromagnetic film of the APS, wherein there is no antiferromagnetic layer in the APS for pinning the magnetization direction of said second antiferromagnetic film; and an electroplated shield layer on the decoupling layer.