Patent ID: 6414824
Filing Date: 2002-07-02
Classification: G11B

Abstract:
A thin film magnetic head including:two magnetic layers magnetically coupled to each other and having respectively two magnetic poles which face each other with a gap layer in between in part close to a recording-medium-facing surface facing a recording medium, a thin film coil provided between the two magnetic layers, and an insulating layer for insulating the thin film coil from the two magnetic layers, wherein one of the two magnetic layers includes: a first magnetic portion which extends so as to be apart from the recording-medium-facing surface; and a second magnetic portion which partially overlaps with the first magnetic portion and is magnetically coupled to the first magnetic portion in an overlap region where the first and second magnetic portions overlap with each other, the other magnetic layer in the two magnetic layers extends so as to be apart from the recording-medium-facing surface, and a magnetic shield layer for suppressing propagation of a magnetic flux between the first magnetic portion and the other magnetic layer is formed in at least the overlap region so as to be adjacent to the gap layer.