A method for forming a laminated shield to improve the stability and
performance of an MR read head and the MR read head formed using that
shield. The shield consists of two layers of ferromagnetic material
separated by a layer of ruthenium, allowing the ferromagnetic layers to
form an antiferromagnetic configuration by means of a quantum mechanical
exchange interaction. The antiferromagnetic configuration has a stable
domain structure and a magnetization that forms closed loops around the
shield edges thereby reducing noise in the readback signal and reducing
disturbances to the magnetic state of the sensor element.