Patent ID: 8630069

Claim:
A magnetic head, comprising: a magnetoresistance effect sensor comprising a free layer; a hard bias magnetic film positioned on both sides of the free layer in a track width direction, wherein the hard bias magnetic film is adapted for performing magnetic domain control of the free layer by biasing a magnetization direction of the free layer towards a predefined direction; an upper shield positioned above the hard bias magnetic film and the magnetoresistance effect sensor; and an AFM layer positioned above the upper shield, wherein the upper shield comprises: a first upper shield layer; a second upper shield layer positioned above the first upper shield layer; and an antiferromagnetic (AFM) coupling layer positioned between the first upper shield layer and the second upper shield layer, the AFM coupling layer being adapted for antiferromagnetically coupling the first upper shield layer and the second upper shield layer, wherein a magnetization of the first upper shield layer is antiparallel with a magnetization of the hard magnetic bias layer.