Electrostatic discharge insensilive recording head with a high-resistance gap layer

摘要

The invention provides a magnetoresistive read head comprising a bottom shield and a top shield. The bottom shield and the top shield are spaced apart to form a read gap. A magnetoresistive sensor and a resistive layer are disposed within the read gap whereby any electric charge developed across the read gap layer is dissipated to thereby prevent any electrostatic discharge damage to the magnetoresistive read head. The resistive layer is preferably made from a cermet family of films.