Patent ID: 7167340

Claim:
A thin-film magnetic head comprising: a lower core layer; a recording core formed on the lower core layer and exposed at a face surface that faces a recording medium, the recording core comprising a structure selected from the group consisting of (1) a lower pole layer, a gap layer, and an upper pole layer sequentially arranged in that order and (2) a gap layer and an upper pole layer sequentially arranged in that order; an upper core layer magnetically coupled to the upper pole layer; and a coil for inducing a recording magnetic field to the lower core layer, the recording core, and the upper core layer, wherein a tip surface of the upper core layer contacts the upper pole layer and is located at a setback distance from the face surface in a height direction, wherein the height direction is a direction generally perpendicular to the face surface, and the tip surface comprises a curved surface, such that the setback distance gradually increases in a track width direction from a point where the tip surface contacts the upper pole layer, wherein the track width direction is a direction generally parallel to the face surface, and wherein the tip surface of the upper core layer gradually recedes in the height direction and recedes toward side surfaces of the tip surface, wherein the side surfaces are displaced apart from one another in the track width direction.