Patent ID: 8366948

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a near-field light generating element, the near-field light generating element having a near-field light generating part, a surface plasmon being excited based on light, the surface plasmon being propagated to the near-field light generating part, the near-field light generating part generating near-field light based on the surface plasmon, the near-field light generating element having an outer surface, the outer surface including: a bottom surface; first and second inclined surfaces that are each connected to the bottom surface, the first and second inclined surfaces decreasing in distance from each other with increasing distance from the bottom surface; an edge part that connects the first and second inclined surfaces to each other; and a front end face that connects the bottom surface and the first and second inclined surfaces to each other, the front end face having: a first side that lies at an end of the first inclined surface; a second side that lies at an end of the second inclined surface; a third side that lies at an end of the bottom surface; and a tip that is formed by contact of the first and second sides with each other and forms the near-field light generating part, the method comprising: a step of forming a metal layer that is to be etched later to become the near-field light generating element; a step of forming a polishing stopper layer on the metal layer, the polishing stopper layer being intended for use in a polishing step to be performed later; a first etching step of etching the polishing stopper layer and the metal layer so that the metal layer is provided with the first inclined surface; a step of forming a coating layer to cover the polishing stopper layer and the metal layer provided with the first inclined surface, the coating layer being made of a non-metallic inorganic material that has an etching rate lower than that of the metal layer in a second etching step to be performed later; the polishing step of polishing the coating layer until the polishing stopper layer is exposed; and the second etching step of etching the polishing stopper layer and the metal layer by using the coating layer polished in the polishing step as an etching mask so that the metal layer is provided with the second inclined surface and the edge part and thereby becomes the near-field light generating element.