Abstract: One or two shield structures is provided for a read head wherein each shield structure has a heat sink layer for dissipating heat from the read sensor and a ferromagnetic layer for shielding signal fields from a rotating magnetic disk other than the signal field being detected by the read head. In a preferred embodiment the heat sink layer employs a gold (Au) film between first and second tantalum (Ta) films and the ferromagnetic layer employs an iron nitride (FeN) film and a nickel iron cobalt (NiFeCo) film. The ferromagnetic layer is located between the heat sink layer and the read sensor. Iron nitride (FeN) has a high magnetization so that it can be relatively thin and yet provide necessary shielding of the read sensor and the nickel iron cobalt (NiFeCo) film as a high uniaxial anisotropy (HK) which ensures that the magnetic moment of the ferromagnetic layer returns to its original position parallel to the air bearing surface of the read head after being rotated by an external magnetic field.