Patent ID: 8139447

Claim:
A heat-assisted magnetic recording head comprising: a medium facing surface that faces a recording medium; a magnetic pole having an end face located in the medium facing surface, the magnetic pole being configured to produce a recording magnetic field for recording data on the recording medium; a waveguide that allows light to propagate therethrough; a near-field light generating element having a near-field light generating part located in the medium facing surface, the near-field light generating element being configured so that a surface plasmon is excited on the near-field light generating element based on the light propagating through the waveguide, the surface plasmon propagates to the near-field light generating part, and the near-field light generating part generates near-field light based on the surface plasmon; a substrate on which the magnetic pole, the near-field light generating element and the waveguide are stacked; and a mirror that is configured to reflect light emitted from a light source disposed above the waveguide, so as to let the light travel through the waveguide toward the medium facing surface; wherein the substrate has a top surface facing toward the magnetic pole, the near-field light generating element and the waveguide; the near-field light generating element and the waveguide are disposed closer to the light source than is the magnetic pole; the near-field light generating element has an outer surface, the outer surface including: a first end face located in the medium facing surface; a second end face farther from the medium facing surface; and a coupling portion that couples the first end face and the second end face to each other, the first end face including the near-field light generating part; a length of the near-field light generating element in a direction perpendicular to the medium facing surface is greater than a length of the first end face in a direction perpendicular to the top surface of the substrate; and the waveguide has an outer surface including an opposed portion that is opposed to a part of the coupling portion.