Patent ID: 6822830
Filing Date: 2004-11-23
Classification: B82Y,G11B

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 that are 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 magnetic 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 and insulated from the first and second magnetic layers, wherein:at least one of the first and second magnetic layers includes, at least in the magnetic pole portion, a first layer having surfaces one of which is in contact with the gap layer, a second layer having surfaces one of which is in contact with the other surface of the first layer, and a third layer having surfaces one of which is in contact with the other surface of the second layer; the second layer has a saturation flux density higher than a saturation flux density of the third layer, and the first layer has a saturation flux density higher than the saturation flux density of the second layer; and the third layer has a thickness greater than a thickness of the second layer.