Patent ID: 7961432

Claim:
A head comprising: a slider comprising a surface configured to face a surface of a rotatable recording medium and to fly by an airflow between the surface of the recording medium and the surface as the recording medium rotates; and a head portion on the slider, configured to record information on the recording medium and to reproduce information from the recording medium, the surface of the slider comprising a first direction along the airflow and a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, the slider comprising: a negative-pressure cavity defined by a recess in the surface and configured to produce a negative pressure, a leading step portion on the surface and on an inflow side of the negative-pressure cavity with respect to the airflow, a pair of side portions on the surface, extending from the leading step portion toward an outflow end of the slider, and facing each other with a space between the pair in the second direction, a head mounting pad on the surface on an outflow side of the negative-pressure cavity with respect to the airflow with the head portion, a positive-pressure generating pad on the surface at a predetermined distance from the head mounting pad, on the inflow side with respect to the airflow, and configured to produce a positive pressure, and a pair of center skirts on the outflow side of the positive-pressure generating pad and being shallower than the negative-pressure cavity.