Patent ID: 8250737

Claim:
A method for manufacturing a thermally-assisted magnetic recording head in which a light source unit including a light source provided in a unit substrate and a slider including an optical system provided in a slider substrate are joined to each other, the manufacturing method comprising the steps of: adhering by suction a unit back surface of the unit substrate with a back holding jig including a suction means, the unit back surface being opposite to a source-installation surface of the unit substrate; moving the back holding jig to cause the light source unit to be close to the slider, and then aligning a light-emission center of the light source with a light-receiving end surface of the optical system located in a slider back surface of the slider opposite to an opposed-to-medium surface in directions in a plane of the slider back surface; moving the back holding jig toward the slider to bring the light source unit into contact with the slider back surface of the slider, with a suction surface of the back holding jig tilted from the normal to the slider back surface; applying a load to a load application surface of the unit substrate by a loading means to bring a joining surface of the light source unit into conformity with the slider back surface of the slider, the load application surface being opposite to the joining surface that is to be joined to the slider; and bonding the light source unit and the slider.