Patent ID: 7444741

Claim:
A process to manufacture a CPP GMR read head having both narrow track width and effective longitudinal stabilization, comprising: providing a substrate and depositing thereon, in succession, a lower magnetic shield, a bottom conductive lead layer, a pinning layer, a pinned layer, a non-magnetic spacer layer, and a free layer, thereby forming a GMR stack; patterning said GMR stack into a central stripe, having a first width, flanked by opposing trenches that extend down as far as said bottom conductive lead layer; selectively over-filling said trenches with magnetically hard material whose top surface extends above said free layer, thereby forming a pair of bias magnets that abut said free layer and, between said bias magnets, a first cavity, having a depth; widening a portion of said first cavity, through removal of hard magnetic material down as far as said free layer, thereby forming a second cavity; forming, on said free layer within the first cavity, a CPP top conductor, having a thickness greater than the depth of the first cavity, that is symmetrically disposed within said first cavity and that has a second width that is at least 0.02 microns less than said first width; over-filling said first and second cavities with a layer of insulation to a thickness that exceeds that of the CPP top conductor and then planarizing until said CPP top conductor is exposed; and depositing and patterning an upper shield layer that contacts and conforms to said CPP top conductor in the first cavity and widens to a third width in the second cavity.