Patent ID: 7054117

Claim:
A method of making a read head that has an air bearing surface (ABS) comprising the steps of: forming a ferromagnetic first shield layer; forming an antiferromagnetic pinning layer on the first shield layer; forming a ferromagnetic pinned layer on and exchange coupled to the pinning layer so that the pinning layer pins a magnetic moment of the pinned layer; forming a nonmagnetic spacer layer on the pinned layer; forming a first portion of a free layer on the spacer layer; forming a nonmagnetic cap layer on the first portion of the free layer; forming a mask on the cap layer with a width that defines a track width of the read head; milling away exposed portions of the cap layer, a portion of the free layer, spacer layer and pinned layer and backfilling with an electrically nonconductive antiferromagnetic material to form first and second antiferromagnetic (AFM) layers interfacing first and second side surfaces of remaining portions of the cap layer, a portion of the free layer, spacer layer and pinned layer; removing the mask; removing a remaining portion of the cap layer down to a remaining first portion of the free layer; forming a second portion of a free layer on the remaining first portion of the free layer and on each of the first and second AFM layers; and forming a ferromagnetic second shield layer on the second portion of the free layer.