Patent ID: 8462593

Claim:
A magnetic head, comprising: a dielectric waveguide that is configured to propagate laser light as propagation light; a metal waveguide facing the dielectric waveguide, wherein the metal waveguide is configured to couple to the propagation light propagating through the dielectric waveguide in a surface plasmon mode, to generate first surface plasmon with larger wavenumber than that of the propagation light, and to propagate the first surface plasmon; a near-field light generating element facing the metal waveguide and extending to an air bearing surface, wherein the near-field light generating element couples to the first surface plasmon propagating through the metal waveguide in a surface plasmon mode, generates second surface plasmon with wavenumber larger than that of the first surface plasmon, propagates the second surface plasmon to an end part on the air bearing surface side, and generates near-field light at the end part on the air bearing surface side; and a recording pole that is provided in the vicinity of the near-field light generating element and that has an end part positioned on the air bearing surface.