Patent ID: 7372667

Claim:
A thin-film magnetic head comprising an inductive element including at least: a lower magnetic pole; a write gap layer; and an upper magnetic pole opposed to said lower magnetic pole through said write gap layer, a width W P2 in a track-width direction at a facing-to-magnetic-medium top end of said upper magnetic pole being larger than a width W P1 in said track-width direction at a facing-to-magnetic-medium top end of said lower magnetic pole, a distance FPD P2 between said top end of said upper magnetic pole and a flare point of said upper magnetic pole being smaller than a distance FPD P1 between said top end of said lower magnetic pole and a flare point of said lower magnetic pole, and an area in a stacked surface of said upper magnetic pole being larger than an area in a stacked surface of said lower magnetic pole.