Patterned magnetoresistive (MR) device with adjacent flux absorbing stripes

A magnetic sensor, comprising:

• a magnetoresistive (MR) device comprising a plurality of layers and patterned in the form of a MR stripe having a first bottom surface, a top layer that is a magnetically free layer having a first top surface, a first thickness, an aspect ratio of at least 5, and a pair of opposing first edges that are equidistant from a center plane that bisects the MR stripe in a lengthwise direction that is perpendicular to a width of the free layer along a second direction;
• and
• a pair of flux absorbing stripes made of a magnetic material that comprises one or more of B, N, Cr, Hf, Nb, and Zr, and each having a second edge facing the center plane and a side of the MR stripe and aligned parallel to the opposing first edges, a second top surface, a second bottom surface, and a second thickness, and wherein a product of flux absorbing stripe magnetization times the second thickness is greater than a product of free layer magnetization times the first thickness, and each of the second edges is separated from one of the opposing first edges of the free layer by a first distance along the second direction.