Patent ID: 8808524

Claim:
A method of forming a magnetic recording head, comprising: forming a first metal feature of the magnetic recording head on a substrate by sputter depositing a sputter material onto the substrate and applying photolithography to the sputter deposited material to define the first metal feature with overall length and width dimensions; and then connecting the formed first metal feature to a power source; submerging the substrate with the formed first metal feature thereon in a solution comprising metal ions of a deposition material; electrodepositing the ions of the deposition material directly on the formed first metal feature to form a second metal feature that contactingly engages the first metal feature while using the first metal feature as an electrical grounding path for the power source, wherein no seed layer is present between the first and second metal features; depositing a mask before the electrodepositing step; and removing the mask after the electrodepositing step, wherein the first metal feature is characterized as a main pole and the second metal feature is characterized as a non-magnetic spacing layer contactingly engaging a side surface of the main pole.