Patent ID: 7974043

Claim:
A thermally assisted magnetic head comprising: a slider having a medium-facing surface; and a light source unit having a light source support substrate and a light source disposed on the light source support substrate; wherein the slider has a slider substrate and a magnetic head portion disposed on a side of the medium-facing surface in the slider substrate; wherein the magnetic head portion includes a magnetic recording element for generating a magnetic field, first and second waveguides for receiving light through an end face thereof opposite to the medium-facing surface, and guiding the light to the medium-facing surface, the first waveguide having a first entrance face and a first exit face and the second waveguide having a second entrance face and a second exit face and a near-field light generator disposed on the first exit face of the first waveguide; wherein the light source support substrate is fixed to a surface opposite to the medium-facing surface in the slider substrate so that light emitted from the light source can enter the end face of the first waveguide, wherein the first entrance face is provided on an end face opposite to the medium-facing surface and the first exit face is provided on the medium-facing surface; wherein the second entrance face is provided on the end face opposite to the medium-facing surface and the second exit face is provided on the medium-facing surface; and wherein the first waveguide is separate from the second waveguide.