Patent ID: 8325441

Claim:
A thermally assisted magnetic head comprising a main magnetic pole layer having a magnetic pole end face arranged within a medium-opposing surface opposing a magnetic recording medium; a near-field light generating layer having a generating end part arranged within the medium-opposing surface, the generating end part generating near-field light for heating the magnetic recording medium; and an optical waveguide guiding light to the near-field light generating layer, the thermally assisted magnetic head comprising: a base layer which a base groove part having a width gradually getting smaller along a depth direction and extending in an intersecting direction intersecting with the medium-opposing surface is formed, wherein the near-field light generating layer has an in-groove generating layer formed inside of the base groove part in the base layer, wherein the in-groove generating layer is configured such that a portion arranged within the medium-opposing surface of a deepest part arranged at a deepest position constitutes the generating end part, and wherein the in-groove generating layer is formed along an inner wall surface of the base groove part and has a thin-film like structure in which an inner groove part, having the width gradually getting smaller along the depth direction, smaller in size than the base groove part is formed in the base groove part.