Patent ID: 8394280

Claim:
A method of patterning a hard mask, the method comprising: forming a first resist pattern over a field; depositing a protective layer over the first resist pattern and at least a first portion of the field; forming a second resist pattern over at least a portion of the protective layer, the protective layer protecting the first resist pattern from a patterning process used to form the second resist pattern; depositing a hard mask material over the first and second resist patterns and at least a second portion of the field not covered by the first and second resist patterns; and forming a patterned hard mask by removing a portion of the hard mask material deposited over the first and second resist patterns, wherein the field comprises an aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ) layer to be etched via the patterned hard mask, and the Al 2 O 3 layer is part of a writer structure associated with a perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) write head.