Patent ID: 6430009
Filing Date: 2002-08-06
Classification: G11B

Abstract:
A compound thin film magnetic head, comprising:a substrate; an inductive head on the substrate for writing, the inductive head including a gap layer disposed between an upper magnetic film, which functions as an upper pole, and a lower magnetic film; a magnetoresistive head for reading, the magnetoresistive head including a magnetoresistive element disposed between an upper shield and a lower shield; the lower magnetic film including a shield layer, which functions primarily as the upper shield of the magnetoresistive head, a transition part, and a lower pole part disposed adjacent the gap layer and having a width matched to the upper pole, the lower pole part functioning as a lower pole of the inductive head, the transition part gradually decreasing in width from the shield layer to the lower pole part; and a first nonmagnetic separation layer disposed between the shield layer and the transition part.