Patent ID: 6935014

Claim:
A method for fabricating a thin film magnetic head which comprises a writing magnetic pole portion including a first magnetic film, a gap film and a second magnetic film, comprising the steps of: forming said first magnetic film on a given underfilm, forming said gap film on said first magnetic film, forming an electrode film on said gap film, forming a first photoresist layer on said electrode film, forming an intermediate layer on said first photoresist layer, forming a second photoresist layer in a thickness of 1 μm or below on said intermediate layer, exposing and developing said second photoresist layer via a given mask so as to expose said intermediate layer, to fabricate a photoresist pattern, partially etching said intermediate layer via said photoresist pattern as a mask by a reactive ion etching method using a chlorine-based gas so as to expose said first photoresist layer, to fabricate an etching mask, partially etching said first photoresist layer via said etching mask so as to expose said electrode film, to fabricate a photoresist frame in self-alignment, forming said second magnetic film in said photoresist frame by an electroplating method using said electrode film, removing said etching mask and said photoresist frame, and partially etching said electrode film, said gap film and said first magnetic film via said second magnetic film as a mask, to fabricate said writing magnetic pole portion in self-alignment.