Patent ID: 8793866

Claim:
A method for providing a perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) transducer including an intermediate layer, the method comprising: forming a trench in the intermediate layer using at least one reactive ion etch, the trench having a bottom and a top wider than the bottom, the step of providing the trench further including providing at least one layer on the intermediate layer; and forming an aperture in the at least one layer using a first reactive ion etch of the at least one reactive ion etch, the aperture having an aperture top and an aperture bottom substantially the same as the aperture top such that the aperture has substantially vertical sidewalls; providing a seed layer using atomic layer deposition, at least a portion of the seed layer residing in the trench and in the aperture formed in the at least one layer; and providing a PMR pole on the seed layer, at least a portion of the PMR pole residing in the trench, the PMR pole having at least one sidewall having a vertical portion corresponding to the aperture and an angled portion corresponding to the trench.