Patent ID: 8760821

Claim:
A magnetic head having a current perpendicular to plan (CPP) sensor, comprising: a magnetoresistance effect film having an air bearing surface; an insulating film positioned on a back edge of the magnetoresistance effect film relative to the air-bearing surface, the insulating film having an anterior surface facing towards the air-bearing surface, the insulating film being characterized as having an upper surface in a first portion of the insulating film located closest to the air-bearing surface, the upper surface of the first portion of the insulating film lying substantially along a plane, the insulating film having no overlap of the insulating film above and/or onto the magnetoresistance effect film and no bulging in a region immediately adjacent a boundary between the insulating film and the magnetoresistance effect film, wherein an upper surface of the magnetoresistance effect film lies in a same plane as the upper surface of the first portion of the insulating film, wherein an upper surface of the insulating film in a second portion of the insulating film positioned behind the first portion thereof relative to the air-bearing surface is recessed from the plane extending along the upper surface of the first portion of the insulating film.