Patent ID: 7219414
Filing Date: 2007-05-22
Classification: G11B,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A method of manufacturing a magnetic head for perpendicular magnetic recording, the magnetic head comprising: a medium facing surface that faces toward a recording medium; a coil for generating a magnetic field corresponding to data to be written on the recording medium; a main pole layer having an end located in the medium facing surface, allowing a magnetic flux corresponding to the magnetic field generated by the coil to pass therethrough, and generating a write magnetic field for writing the data on the recording medium through the use of a perpendicular magnetic recording system; an auxiliary pole layer having an end located in the medium facing surface, and having a portion located away from the medium facing surface and coupled to the main pole layer; and a gap layer made of a nonmagnetic material and provided between the main pole layer and the auxiliary pole layer, wherein: in the medium facing surface, the end of the main pole layer is disposed forward of the end of the auxiliary pole layer along a direction of travel of the recording medium with a specific distance therebetween; at least a portion of the coil is disposed between the main pole layer and the auxiliary pole layer and insulated from the main pole layer and the auxiliary pole layer; the main pole layer includes: a first portion having a specific thickness, one of ends of the first portion closer to the medium facing surface being located at a distance from the medium facing surface; and a second portion having a thickness smaller than the thickness of the first portion and disposed between the first portion and the medium facing surface; and the main pole layer has a surface located farther from the gap layer, at least a portion of the surface near the medium facing surface being substantially flat, the method comprising the steps of: forming the auxiliary pole layer; forming the gap layer and the coil on the auxiliary pole layer; and forming the main pole layer on the gap layer, wherein the step of forming the main pole layer includes the steps of forming a plating layer by plating in a region that includes a region in which the first portion is to be disposed, such that one of ends of the plating layer closer to the medium facing surface is located at a position that coincides with the position of the one of the ends of the first portion closer to the medium facing surface; forming a first nonmagnetic layer to cover the plating layer; patterning the first nonmagnetic layer into such a shape that the first nonmagnetic layer is adjacent to the plating layer by polishing the first nonmagnetic layer and the plating layer until the plating layer is exposed; forming a space by removing the plating layer by etching, the space being adjacent to the first nonmagnetic layer and having a shape corresponding to the shape of the plating layer; forming a magnetic layer in the space and on a top surface of the first nonmagnetic layer, the magnetic layer having a plane geometry corresponding to that of the main pole layer; forming a second nonmagnetic layer to cover the magnetic layer; and polishing the second nonmagnetic layer and the magnetic layer until the magnetic layer is exposed, so that the magnetic layer becomes the main pole layer.