Patent ID: 8252190

Claim:
A method for manufacturing a magnetic write head, comprising: providing a substrate; depositing a magnetic write pole material over the substrate; depositing a magnetic step material over the magnetic write pole material; depositing a first layer of material that is resistant to reactive ion etching over the magnetic step material; depositing a first hard mask material over the first layer of material that is resistant to reactive ion etching; forming a first mask structure over the first hard mask material, the mask structure having a front edge located so as to define a write pole step location; performing a reactive ion etching to transfer the image of the first mask structure onto the first hard mask material, stopping the reaction ion etching at the first RIE stop layer; performing a first ion milling to remove portions of the magnetic step material that are not protected by the first mask structure; forming a second mask configured to define a write pole flare point; and performing a second ion milling to remove portions of the magnetic write pole material that are not protected by the second mask thereby forming a write pole with the flare point.