Patent ID: 7764466

Claim:
A thin-film magnetic head, comprising: a substrate having an element-formed surface and an opposed-to-medium surface; at least one magnetic head element provided on/above said element-formed surface, for writing and/or reading data signals; an overcoat layer formed on said element-formed surface so as to cover said at least one magnetic head element; an etching pattern formed on a part of an upper surface of said overcoat layer, the whole or a part of said etching pattern being filled up by adhesive; a closure provided on said etching pattern of said overcoat layer; an opening portion formed close to an edge of an adhesive surface of said closure, said edge being on the opposite side to said opposed-to-medium surface, said opening portion being a portion of said etching pattern, and the etching pattern portion being exposed from said closure; and a groove configured to prevent adhesive from outflowing, and formed on the upper surface of said overcoat layer and in the back of said opening portion when viewed from said opposed-to-medium surface side, at least one pad of a signal electrode for said at least one magnetic head element being provided on the upper surface of said overcoat layer and in the back of said groove when viewed from said opening portion side, a thickness of an adhesive layer between a non-etched upper surface of said etching pattern and the adhesive surface of said closure being 0.1 micrometer or less to prevent a formation of a recess in an end portion on the opposed-to-medium-surface side of said adhesive layer, said recess causing a negative effect of a sliding operation between the head and the medium.