Method and system for fabricating magnetic transducers with improved pinning

A method for providing a magnetic transducer comprising:

• providing a magnetic element including a free layer, a pinned layer, a nonmagnetic spacer layer between the free layer and the pinned layer, and a pinning layer adjacent to the pinned layer, the free layer being configured to be biased in a first direction, the pinned layer having a pinned layer magnetization biased by the pinning layer in a second direction, the pinning layer oriented along the second direction;
• providing a hard bias structure adjacent to the magnetic element and having a hard bias magnetization;
• initializing the hard bias magnetization such that a first component of the hard bias magnetization is along the first direction, a second component of the hard bias magnetization being along the second direction, the second component being nonzero;
• performing at least one thermal treatment after the step of initializing the hard bias magnetization, the at least one thermal treatment being at least one temperature above room temperature;
• and
• resetting the hard bias magnetization substantially along the first direction after the at least one thermal process is performed.