Patent ID: 7241515

Claim:
An electrode layer for thin-film magnetic heads, comprising: a Ta base sub-layer; an Au sub-layer functioning as a main conductive sub-layer disposed on the Ta base sub-layer; and a protective sub-layer, disposed on the Au sub-layer; wherein an Au electrode seed sub-layer comprising NiFeCr is placed between the Ta base sub-layer and the Au sub-layer, the Au electrode seed sub-layer having a thickness of 40 to 100 Å, wherein a first Cr sub-layer is placed between the Au sub-layer and the protective sub-layer and a second Cr sub-layer is placed between the Au electrode seed sub-layer and the Au sub-layer, and wherein the Ta base sub-layer, the Au electrode seed sub-layer, Au sub-layer, the first Cr sub-layer, and the protective sub-layer are laminated sequentially in the direction of a normal with respect to a layer surface.