The sensor of the present invention is a tunneling magnetoresistive read
sensor that includes first and second electrodes, and a stack positioned
between the electrodes. The stack includes at least one sense layer and a
tunnel barrier. A shunt member is operatively coupled to the electrodes
in parallel with the stack. The shunt member diverts current flowing from
the first electrode to the second electrode when the sensor is
operational so that current simultaneously flows through the stack and
the shunt member to reduce the effective resistance of the sensor.