Patent ID: 8607439

Claim:
A method for providing an energy assisted magnetic recording (EAMR) head including a slider and an EAMR transducer coupled with the slider, the method comprising: providing a place-holder material on a portion of the slider; providing a top layer on the slider, the top layer having a mirror well therein, the place-holder material substantially occupying the mirror well; planarizing the EAMR head such that a top surface of the top layer is substantially flat, a surface of the place-holder material being exposed; removing the place-holder material from the mirror well; affixing a laser having a light-emitting surface to the top surface; and providing a mirror optically coupled with the laser, the mirror having a bottom surface and a reflective surface facing the light-emitting surface of the laser, a portion of the bottom surface being affixed to the top surface of the top layer, a portion of the mirror including a portion of the reflective surface residing in the mirror well.