Patent ID: 7821745

Claim:
A thin-film magnetic head comprising: a perpendicular magnetic recording head formed on a reproducing head so as to overlap therewith, wherein the reproducing head comprises an upper shield layer, a lower shield layer, the upper shield layer and the lower shield layer opposed to each other in a thickness direction thereof, and a reproducing element formed between the upper shield layer and the lower shield layer, wherein the magnetic recording head has a first magnetic layer including a major magnetic pole exposed at a facing surface facing a recording medium by a track width TW, a return-yoke layer opposite to the first magnetic layer with a gap layer interposed therebetween at the facing surface, and a coil layer provided between the first magnetic layer and the return-yoke layer and generating a recording magnetic field, wherein a distance gap in the thickness direction between the return-yoke layer and the upper shield layer is longer than that a distance in the thickness direction between the upper shield layer and the lower shield layer, wherein a back end surface of the return-yoke layer has inclined surfaces in which a width between the inclined surfaces in a track direction becomes gradually larger toward the facing surface, wherein the upper shield layer and the lower shield layer each have a back end surface, wherein the back end surfaces of the return-yoke layer, the upper shield layer, and the lower shield layer are similar in shape, wherein a distance in a height direction from the facing surface to the back end surface of the return-yoke layer is smaller by a predetermined length than the longer of a distance in the height direction from the facing surface to the back end surface of the upper shield layer and a distance in the height direction from the facing surface to the back end surface of the lower shield layer.