Patent ID: 6882507

Claim:
An integrated thin film head, comprising; a lower shield layer formed on a substrate; a lower readgap layer formed on said lower shield layer; an MR sensor layer formed on said lower readgap layer; a lead layer joined with maid MR sensor layer; an upper lead layer formed partially in contact with said lead layer; an upper readgap layer formed to cover said MR sensor layer, lead layer and upper lead layer; and an upper shield layer formed on said upper readgap layer, wherein a thickness of a part of the lead layer in contact with the upper lead layer is less than a thickness (a) of a part of the lead layer not in contact with the upper lead layer, and thickness (c)< (thickness(a)+ thickness (b)), where thickness (c) is the total thickness of the lead layer and the upper lead layer where the position of the upper lead layer in contact with the lead layer, and thickness (b) is the thickness of a portion of the upper lead layer not in contact with the lead layer.