Patent ID: 7145752

Claim:
A magnetic head apparatus comprising: a magnetic head slider having a disk-facing surface and a read and/or write magnetic element disposed close to a trailing-side end surface thereof; and a supporting member elastically supporting the magnetic head slider above a magnetic disk from a side opposite the disk-facing surface, wherein the magnetic head slider is elastically supported by the supporting member so as to be pivotal in the pitch direction with a pivotal fulcrum disposed on the supporting member, wherein the disk-facing surface has a front half region (S) extending from a leading-side end surface of the magnetic head slider to a phantom line on the disk-facing surface of the magnetic head slider extending in a direction parallel to the trailing-side end surface so as to pass through a phantom point opposite to the pivotal fulcrum of the magnetic head slider, the front half region having a step surface (S 1 ), a positive-pressure generating surface (S 2 ), and an indented surface formed therein from the leading-side end surface toward the trailing-side end surface in that order, wherein the step surface (S 1 ) and the positive-pressure generating surface (S 2 ) protrude more toward the magnetic disk than the indented surface, and the positive-pressure generating surface (S 2 ) protrudes more toward the magnetic disk than the step surface (S 1 ), and wherein the step surface (S 1 ) extends in the front half region from the leading-side end surface to a leading-side edge of the positive-pressure generating surface (S 2 ), and wherein a surface area ratio S 1 /S is about 0.180 to about 0.232 and a surface area ratio S 1 /S 2 is about 0.30 to about 0.47.