Patent ID: 8227023

Claim:
A method for providing a magnetic transducer comprising: providing a magnetic element including a free layer, a pinned layer, a nonmagnetic spacer layer between the free layer and the pinned layer, and a pinning layer adjacent to the pinned layer, the free layer being configured to be biased in a first direction, the pinned layer having a pinned layer magnetization biased by the pinning layer in a second direction, the pinning layer oriented along the second direction; providing a hard bias structure adjacent to the magnetic element and having a hard bias magnetization; initializing the hard bias magnetization such that a first component of the hard bias magnetization is along the first direction, a second component of the hard bias magnetization being along the second direction, the second component being nonzero; performing at least one thermal treatment after the step of initializing the hard bias magnetization, the at least one thermal treatment being at least one temperature above room temperature; and resetting the hard bias magnetization substantially along the first direction after the at least one thermal process is performed.