Patent ID: 6577475
Filing Date: 2003-06-10
Classification: G11B,Y10T

Abstract:
A thin-film magnetic head, comprising:a medium facing surface that faces toward a recording medium; a first magnetic layer and a second magnetic layer magnetically coupled to each other and including magnetic pole portions opposed to each other and placed in regions of the magnetic layers on a side of the medium facing surface, each of the magnetic layers including at least one layer; a gap layer provided between the pole portions of the first and second magnetic layers; and a thin-film coil at least a part of which is placed between the first and second magnetic layers, the at least part of the coil being insulated from the first and second magnetic layers, wherein one of the magnetic layers includes: a first layer located in a region facing toward the at least part of the thin-film coil, the first layer having a width that decreases as a distance from the medium facing surface decreases; and a second layer connected to a surface of the first layer facing toward the thin-film coil, the second layer including one of the pole portions and defining a throat height; the at least part of the thin-film coil is located on a side of the second layer; and the other of the magnetic layers includes a portion that defines a track width, the thin-film magnetic head further comprising an insulating layer that covers the at least part of the thin-film coil located on the side of the second layer, and has a surface facing toward the gap layer, the surface being flattened together with a surface of the second layer facing toward the gap layer.