Patent ID: 7248436

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head including: two magnetic layers magnetically coupled to each other and having two magnetic poles which face each other with a gap layer in between and face a recording medium, a thin film coil provided between the two magnetic layers, and an insulating layer for insulating the thin film coil from the two magnetic layers, including the steps of: forming a magnetic transducer film; forming a first magnetic film between the magnetic transducer film and the two magnetic layers so as to extend to a first position in a direction away from a recording-medium-facing surface facing the recording medium; forming the thin film coil in a region farther from the recording-medium-facing surface than a second position by using as a reference position the second position farther from the recording-medium-facing surface than the first position; etching a bottom one of the two magnetic poles with an other of the two magnetic poles as a mask so that at least a portion of the bottom one of the two magnetic poles and the other of the two magnetic poles have a substantially same width; and forming a second magnetic film opposite to the first magnetic film with the magnetic transducer film in between so as to extend from the recording-medium-facing surface to a third position farther from the recording-medium-facing surface than the second position, wherein the second magnetic film has a planar shape and provides a surface that is substantially flat over the overall surface of the second magnetic film.