Method of manufacturing a magnetic head for perpendicular magnetic recording

摘要

A method of manufacturing a magnetic head is disclosed. The steps of manufacture include the formation of an underlying layer made of a material whose etching rate of ion beam etching is higher than that of a magnetic alloy used to make a pole layer, and the formation of a magnetic layer, which includes a portion of the magnetic layer to be etched that will be formed into a track width defining portion by making its side surfaces sloped through etching. The magnetic layer is formed such that the portion to be etched is disposed on the underlying layer. The side surfaces of the portion to be etched by the ion beam etching are etched so that the magnetic layer is formed into the pole layer and so that the end face of the track width defining portion located in the medium facing surface has a width that decreases with decreasing distance from the substrate.