Patent ID: 6907655

Claim:
A method of making a magnetic read head which has an air bearing surface (ABS), comprising the steps of: making a spin valve sensor including the steps of: forming a ferromagnetic pinned layer that has a magnetic moment; forming a pinning layer exchange coupled to the pinned layer for pinning the magnetic moment of the pinned layer; forming a free layer; forming a nonmagnetic conductive spacer layer between the free layer and the pinned layer; forming a capping layer with the free layer being located between the spacer layer and the capping layer; forming the free layer with an oxidized film portion and an unoxidized film portion with the oxidized film portion being located between the unoxidized film portion and the capping layer; forming a copper layer between the oxidized film portion of the free layer and the capping layer; forming nonmagnetic nonconductive first and second read gap layers; forming the spin valve sensor between the first and second read gap layers; forming ferromagnetic first and second shield layers; and forming the first and second read gap layers between the first and second shield layers, wherein the unoxidixed film portion of the free layer is formed as a nickel iron film and the oxidized film portion of the free layer is formed as a nickel iron oxide film.