Middle shields two-dimensional magnetic recording read heads

A read head, comprising:

• a first lower shield;
• a first dual free layer (DFL) sensor disposed over the first lower shield;
• a second DFL sensor disposed over the first DFL sensor, wherein a down-track spacing between the first sensor and the second sensor is about 75 nm to about 85 nm;
• a first upper shield disposed over the second DFL sensor;
• and
• a substantially planar middle shield disposed between the first DFL sensor and the second DFL sensor, the substantially planar middle shield comprising:
• a second upper shield disposed over the first DFL sensor;
• a read separation gap disposed on the second upper shield, wherein the second upper shield and the read separation gap are substantially planar, extending into the read head substantially perpendicular to a media facing surface (MFS);
• a seed layer disposed on the read separation gap, the seed layer comprising a bilayer of Ru/NiFe, Ru/NiCr, SiO2/NiFe, or SiO2/NiCr, or a single layer of NiCr;
• and
• a second lower shield disposed between and in contact with the seed layer and the second DFL sensor, the second lower shield being a multilayer shield comprising:
• a first shield layer disposed on the seed layer,
• a CoFe/Ru/CoFe anti-ferromagnetic coupling (AFC) layer or a Ru layer disposed on the first shield layer, and
• a second shield layer disposed on the AFC layer or the Ru layer, wherein the second lower shield has a first thickness at the MFS and a second thickness recessed from the MFS, the first thickness being greater than the second thickness.