Embodiments disclosed herein generally relate to a magnetic head having a sensor stack and a bias material that is aligned in a direction perpendicular to a media facing surface. The sensor stack and a first portion of the bias material are laterally bookended by synthetic antiferromagnetic (SAF) structures, and a second portion of the bias material is laterally bookended by a dielectric material. In this configuration, the SAF structures are decoupled from the bias material, which minimizes the disturbance to the bias material.