Patent ID: 8228634

Claim:
A process for manufacturing a feature that facilitates thermally assisted magnetic recording by a magnetic write head having a main write pole and an air bearing surface (ABS), comprising: providing a substrate having an edge that is coplanar with said ABS; depositing a bottom cladding layer on said substrate; depositing a first wave-guide (WG) layer on said bottom cladding layer; patterning said first WG layer to form a first WG having orthogonal first and second sections that are linear and that have first and second ends respectively, said first and second sections being connected to one another through a curved section; further patterning said first end so that it has a curved shape whereby said first end is a first cylindrical lens; disposing said second end to be within 500 nm of said main write pole and to terminate at said ABS; then depositing a top cladding layer to fully cover said substrate; then forming a cavity that extends through said top cladding layer as far as said substrate, including all layers between said top cladding layer and said substrate, said cavity having a wall that faces said first cylindrical lens and is within 10 microns therefrom; and then mounting and orienting a laser diode (LD) within said cavity whereby light emitted by said LD enters said WG after being focused by said first cylindrical lens.