Patent ID: 8243399

Claim:
A magnetic shield, for use in a magnetic read-write head having an air bearing surface (ABS), comprising: said shield having a shape that is a hexagon and that ensures that all closure domains in said shield are able to align themselves at a reduced angle relative to an initialization direction while still being roughly antiparallel to one another whereby there is only one domain at each non-parallel edge; said shield having one, and only one, domain along whichever edge of said shield is coplanar with the ABS; all domain orientations within said shield being consistently repeatable each time said shield is exposed to an initialization field; and said shape having a first edge that is coplanar with the ABS, a second edge parallel to said first edge, said first and second edges being separated by a first distance that is the hexagon's height, a pair of opposing third edges connected to opposing ends of said first edge, and a pair of opposing fourth edges that connect said opposing ends of said second edge to said third edges, the hexagon's width being a maximum distance between a third edge and a fourth edge.