A method is provided for preserving the transverse biasing of a GMR (or MR) read
head during back-end processing. In a first preferred embodiment, the method comprises
magnetizing the longitudinal biasing layers of the read head in a transverse direction,
so that the resulting field at the position of the transverse biasing layer places
it in a minimum of potential energy which stabilizes its direction. The field of
the longitudinal biasing layer is then reset to the longitudinal direction in a
manner which maintains the transverse biasing direction. In a second embodiment,
a novel fixture for mounting the read head during processing includes a magnetic
portion which stabilizes the transverse bias of the read head. The two methods
may be used singly or in combination.
