Planar design for sensors in a dual free layer read head

A read head, comprising:

• a first lower shield;
• a first sensor disposed at a media facing surface (MFS) on the first lower shield;
• a first rear hard bias (RHB) structure disposed adjacent to the first sensor, the first RHB structure being recessed from the MFS and recessed into the first lower shield;
• a first upper shield over the first sensor and the first RHB structure, the first upper shield extending substantially linearly from the MFS into the read head;
• a read separation gap disposed over the first upper shield, the read separation gap extending substantially linearly from the MFS into the read head;
• a second lower shield disposed over the read separation gap;
• a second sensor disposed at the MFS on the second lower shield;
• a second RHB structure disposed adjacent to the second sensor, the second RHB structure being recessed from the MFS;
• and
• a second upper shield over the second sensor and the second RHB structure.

A read head, comprising:

• a first lower shield;
• a first upper shield over the first lower shield;
• a first dual free layer (DFL) sensor disposed at a media facing surface (MFS) between the first lower shield and the first upper shield, the first sensor comprising a first surface disposed adjacent to the first upper shield;
• a first rear hard bias (RHB) structure disposed adjacent to the first sensor between the first lower shield and the first upper shield, the first RHB structure being recessed from the MFS and recessed into the first lower shield, wherein a first surface of the first RHB structure is substantially aligned with the first surface of the first sensor;
• a read separation gap disposed over the first upper shield, the read separation gap extending substantially linearly from the MFS into the read head;
• a second lower shield disposed over the read separation gap;
• a second DFL sensor disposed at the MFS on the second lower shield;
• and
• a second RHB structure disposed adjacent to the second sensor, the second RHB structure being recessed from the MFS, wherein a down-track spacing between the first sensor and the second sensor is between about 75 nm to about 85 nm.

A read head, comprising:

• a first lower shield;
• a first sensor disposed at a media facing surface (MFS) on the first lower shield;
• a first rear hard bias (RHB) structure disposed adjacent to the first sensor, the first RHB structure being recessed from the MFS;
• a first upper shield over the first sensor and the first RHB structure, the first upper shield extending substantially linearly from the MFS into the read head;
• a read separation gap disposed over the first upper shield, the read separation gap extending substantially linearly from the MFS into the read head;
• a second lower shield disposed over the read separation gap;
• a second sensor disposed at the MFS on the second lower shield;
• a second RHB structure disposed adjacent to the second sensor, the second RHB structure being recessed from the MFS;
• and
• a second upper shield over the second sensor and the second RHB structure, wherein the second lower shield comprises a first portion disposed at the MFS having a first thickness and a second portion disposed between the second RHB structure and the read separation gap having a second thickness less than the first thickness.

A read head, comprising:

• a first lower shield;
• a first upper shield over the first lower shield;
• a first dual free layer (DFL) sensor disposed at a media facing surface (MFS) between the first lower shield and the first upper shield, the first sensor comprising a first surface disposed adjacent to the first upper shield;
• a first rear hard bias (RHB) structure disposed adjacent to the first sensor between the first lower shield and the first upper shield, the first RHB structure being recessed from the MFS, wherein a first surface of the first RHB structure is substantially aligned with the first surface of the first sensor;
• a read separation gap disposed over the first upper shield, the read separation gap extending substantially linearly from the MFS into the read head;
• a second lower shield disposed over the read separation gap;
• a second DFL sensor disposed at the MFS on the second lower shield;
• and
• a second RHB structure disposed adjacent to the second sensor, the second RHB structure being recessed from the MFS, wherein a down-track spacing between the first sensor and the second sensor is between about 75 nm to about 85 nm,
• wherein:
• the first RHB structure is recessed into the first lower shield a distance of about 15 nm to about 20 nm,
• the first sensor is over-milled a greater amount of time than the second sensor, and
• the first RHB structure is disposed lower with respect to the first sensor than the second RHB structure is disposed with respect to the second sensor.