Patent ID: 7146711

Claim:
A method for forming a planar GMR read-head having a narrow read gap and track-width and being well insulated from its lower shield comprising: providing a bottom magnetic shield as a substrate; forming over said shield a first bi-layer lift-off stencil; using said stencil as an etch mask to form concave regions in said shield symmetrically disposed to either side of said stencil; using said stencil as deposition mask, filling said concave regions with a first dielectric layer; removing said first bi-layer lift-off stencil; planarizing the surface of the shield and the surface of the dielectric filling the concave regions, forming thereby a single planar surface; forming over said single planar surface a second dielectric layer; forming over said second dielectric layer a GMR sensor layer; forming over said GMR sensor layer a layer of PMGI of uniform thickness; forming a layer of photoresistive material over said PMGI layer; patterning said photoresistive layer and said PMGI layer to form a second bi-layer lift-off stencil for use in the forming of conducting lead and biasing layers, the pedestal of said stencil being formed of the PMGI layer and the upper portion of said stencil being formed of the photoresistive material which symmetrically overhangs said pedestal and is of uniform height above the GMR layer.