Patent ID: 8400731

Claim:
A magnetic recording head, comprising: a write pole comprising a throat region with a leading edge, a trailing edge opposite the leading edge, and first and second side edges opposite one another; a first side wall gap layer disposed alongside the first side edge of the throat region; a second side wall gap layer disposed alongside the second side edge of the throat region; a first side shield disposed alongside the first side wall gap layer and extending at least from the leading edge to the trailing edge; and a second side shield disposed alongside the second side wall gap layer and extending at least from the leading edge to the trailing edge; wherein each of the first and second side wall gap layers has a first width at the leading edge of the throat region smaller than a second width at the trailing edge of the throat region, and wherein a width of the first and second side wall gap layers monotonically increases from the leading edge of the throat region to the trailing edge of the throat region.