Patent ID: 7712207

Claim:
A method for manufacturing a magnetic write head, comprising: providing a substrate; depositing a magnetic write pole material over the substrate; forming a mask structure over the write pole material, the mask structure including a hard mask structure, the hard mask structure including a first sub-layer of material that is resistant to ion milling and a second sub-layer formed over the first sub-layer and comprising alumina or diamond like carbon (DLC) and a detectable material, wherein the detectable material comprises an element selected from the group consisting of: Ta, Ti V, Cr, Cu, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ru, Rh, Hr, W, Re, Os, Ir, Pt and Au; performing a first ion milling to remove portions of the magnetic write pole material that are not protected by the mask structure; depositing a non-magnetic side gap material over the substrate, remaining write pole material and remaining mask structure; performing a second ion milling and terminating the second ion milling when the second sub-layer has been removed; and depositing a magnetic material to form a trailing shield.