A GMR sensor is disclosed for sensing magnetically recorded information on a data storage medium. The sensor includes a ferromagnetic free layer and a ferromagnetic pinned layer sandwiching an electrically conductive spacer layer. An engineered overlayer is formed on the free layer to decrease free layer magnetic thickness without reducing physical thickness.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/298,340, filed on Nov. 18, 2002 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,007,373, and entitled "Enhanced Spin-Valve Sensor With Engineered Overlayer."
