Patent ID: 8611049

Claim:
A magnetic tape head, comprising: a substrate having a media facing side; and a thin film stack formed on the substrate, the thin film stack including magnetic films and insulating films; and a closure coupled to the thin film stack, the closure having a closure media facing side that is coplanar with the media facing side of the substrate, the thin film stack being sandwiched between the substrate and the closure, wherein the thin film stack is recessed from a plane extending along the media facing side of the substrate, wherein media-facing surfaces of the magnetic films that form part of a media-facing side of the thin film stack are recessed from the plane more than media-facing surfaces of all of the insulating films in the thin film stack that form part of the media-facing side of the thin film stack, wherein the media facing surface of each of the magnetic films is substantially flat, wherein the media facing surface of each of the insulating films is substantially flat.