Patent ID: 7979978

Claim:
A process for the manufacture of a symmetrically shielded vertical magnetic write pole, comprising: providing a substrate, having first and second opposing edges, and depositing thereon a first insulating layer having a first thickness; then forming a trench that extends through said first thickness of said first insulating layer as far as said substrate, said trench further comprising a narrow section, defining shape and location of said write pole, that borders a first edge of the insulating layer, a wide section that borders a second edge of the insulating layer, and an intermediate section that connects said wide and narrow sections; depositing a first layer of ruthenium to uniformly cover said trench on an inside as well a top surface of said first insulating layer; depositing a first layer of soft magnetic material onto said first layer of ruthenium, to a thickness sufficient to overfill said trench; using CMP, with said first ruthenium layer as an etch stop layer, removing said first soft magnetic layer until said first ruthenium layer is fully exposed and said first soft magnetic layer just fills said trench; then, using ion beam etching, removing all of said first ruthenium layer that lies outside of said trench from said top surface of the first insulating layer; then selectively removing said first insulating layer from outside of said trench that extends between said first edge and said second edge, thereby exposing said substrate in a region; then depositing a second ruthenium layer and then patterning said second ruthenium layer so that said second ruthenium layer contacts said first ruthenium layer, thereby ensuring that all surfaces of said write pole are covered with a layer of non-magnetic material; and then depositing a second soft magnetic layer to a thickness sufficient to fully cover said second ruthenium layer and then removing, through CMP, said second soft magnetic layer until said second soft magnetic layer has a top surface that is coplanar with that of said second ruthenium layer, whereby said first and second soft magnetic layers now comprise a magnetic side shield for said write pole, thereby ensuring that said write head is symmetrically disposed relative to said magnetic side shield.