Wafer grounding design for single pad lapping

A device, comprising:

• a row comprising a plurality of kerf regions and a plurality of device regions;
• a magnetoresistive (MR) element disposed on the device regions and configured to detect magnetic orientation changes, create magnetic orientation changes or combinations thereof in a magnetic media;
• electronic lapping guides (ELGs) electrically coupled to the wafer, the ELGs comprising:
• a first internal lead connected to a bonding pad;
• and
• a second internal lead connected to either a grounding pad or a grounding via for providing an electrical connection to the lapping controller;
• one or more bonding pads electrically coupled to each of the ELGs;
• and
• one or more peripheral grounding vias positioned outside of the device region.

A system for lapping a wafer, the wafer comprising:

• a plurality of slider-kerf groups, each slider-kerf group comprising:
• a slider-kerf boundary dividing a slider portion from a kerf portion;
• a magnetoresistive (MR) element configured to sense data stored in a magnetic media, write data to the magnetic media or combinations thereof;
• an electronic lapping guide (ELG) configured to indicate, using a resistance of the ELG, a stripe height of the sensor, wherein the ELG is either electrically coupled to either the wafer through a grounding via or to the grounding pad;
• a peripheral grounding via in contact with a high conductivity material, wherein at least one grounding via is formed for every slider-kerf group;
• and
• a bonding pad electrically coupled to the ELG, providing a current path permitting current to flow to the ELG;
• the system comprising:
• a lapping system comprising a lapping controller and configured to simultaneously lap an air bearing surface on the plurality of sliders, wherein the wafer is configured to be mounted on the lapping system;
• and
• the lapping controller electrically coupled to the bonding pads, the grounding pads and the peripheral grounding vias, the lapping controller configured to measure the resistance of the ELG using the current path and provide instructions to the lapping system based on the measured resistance.