In one illustrative example, a three terminal magnetic sensor (TTM) suitable for use in a magnetic head has a base region, a collector region, and an emitter region. A first barrier layer is located between the emitter region and the base region, and a second barrier layer is located between the collector region and the base region. A sensing plane is defined along sides of the base region, the collector region, and the emitter region. The base region has a free layer structure, a pinned layer structure adjacent the first barrier layer, and a non-magnetic spacer layer located between the free layer structure and the pinned layer structure. The collector region comprises an in-stack longitudinal biasing layer (LBL) structure which magnetically biases the free layer structure, where the second barrier layer serves as a non-magnetic spacer layer for the in-stacking biasing layer structure. In one variation, the layers are inverted such that the emitter region has the in-stack LBL structure. The TTM may comprise a spin valve transistor (SVT), a magnetic tunnel transistor (MTT), or a double junction structure.