Patent ID: 8203809

Claim:
A hard bias structure for providing a longitudinal bias field to a free layer in a magneto-resistive (MR) sensor having a top surface and two opposite sides with first and second sloped sidewalls and formed on a substrate, said hard bias structure comprises a hard bias layer that has an easy axis growth perpendicular to an underlying seed layer formed above said substrate and along the sloped sidewalls wherein said hard bias layer has a top surface and comprises: (a) a hard bias region on a section of the seed layer along the first sloped sidewall that has a magnetization essentially perpendicular to and directed towards the first sloped sidewall; (b) a hard bias region on a section of the seed layer along the second sloped sidewall that has a magnetization essentially perpendicular to and directed away from the second sloped sidewall; and (c) a hard bias region on sections of the seed layer formed above said substrate that has grains with a random magnetization in a direction perpendicular to said substrate.