Patent ID: 7149062

Claim:
A magnetic head including a spin valve sensor comprising: a magnetic shield layer (S1) being fabricated above a substrate base; a first electrical insulation layer (G1) being fabricated above said S1 layer; a spin valve sensor structure being disposed above said G1 layer; wherein said spin valve sensor structure includes a seed layer being fabricated above said G1 layer, a PtMn layer being disposed above said seed layer and at least one pinned magnetic layer and at least one free magnetic layer being disposed above said PtMn layer; and wherein said seed layer includes an Al 2 O 3 sublayer, an NiMnO sublayer, and an Si sublayer, and wherein said PtMn layer is disposed upon said Si sublayer wherein said Si sublayer has an upper surface having a crystallographic surface rougher than the crystallographic surface of a deposited Si sublayer.