Patent ID: 6856493

Claim:
A magnetic head assembly that has a head surface for facing a magnetic medium comprising: a read head that includes a magnetoresistive sensor; the magnetoresistive sensor including: an antiparallel (AP) pinned layer structure; a ferromagnetic free layer having a magnetic moment that is free to rotate in response to a field signal; and a nonmagnetic electrically conductive spacer layer located between the free layer and the AP pinned layer structure; the antiparallel (AP) pinned layer structure including: ferromagnetic first and second antiparallel (AP) pinned layers; an antiparallel coupling (APC) layer located between and interfacing the first and second AP pinned layers; the first AP pinned layer interfacing the antiparallel coupling layer and the second AP pinned layer interfacing the spacer layer; the second AP pinned layer being Co 90 Fe 10 and the first AP pinned layer having an iron (Fe) content greater than the iron (Fe) content in the second AP pinned layer up to 40% so that the first and second AP pinned layers self pin one another without assistance of an antiferromagnetic (AFM) pinning layer; and an in-stack longitudinal biasing layer structure located within a track width of the sensor and magnetostatically coupled to the free layer for longitudinal biasing the magnetic moment of the free layer parallel to the head surface and parallel to major planes of the layers of the sensor.