READ HEAD WITH HIGH AND LOW RESISTANCE LEAD LAYERS WHEREIN THE HIGH RESISTANCE LEAD LAYERS ARE CONNECTED TO A READ SENSOR AND EXTEND PERPENDICULAR FROM AN AIR BEARING SURFACE (ABS) OF THE READ HEAD BEYOND A BACK RECESSED EDGE OF THE SENSOR WHERE THE HIGH RESISTANCE LEAD LAYERS ARE CONNECTED TO THE LOW RESISTANCE LAYERS

摘要

The present invention extends the high resistance lead layers of a read head straight back into the head from each of the first and second edges of the read sensor. This lessens the length of each of the high resistance lead layers so that they do not have to be made thicker to satisfy resistance requirements. Accordingly, a lateral width of each high resistance lead portion along the ABS and a thickness thereof are chosen so as to minimize the thickness while yet satisfying the resistance requirements. Further, a method of making the first and second lead layers is provided that minimizes the thickness of the high resistance lead layers. Instead of constructing the high resistance lead layers first, the present method constructs the high resistance lead layers after defining a stripe height of the read sensor so that the lateral expanse of the high resistance lead layers is not altered by ion milling, which ion milling increases the resistance of the high resistance lead layers.