Thin film magnetic head and method of manufacturing the same

A method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head including:

• a first magnetic layer and a second magnetic layer magnetically coupled to each other and having two magnetic poles facing each other with a gap layer in between near and in a recording-medium-facing surface to be faced with a recording medium;
• a thin film coil provided between the first and second magnetic layers;
• and an insulating layer for insulating the thin film coil from the first and the second magnetic layers, the first magnetic layer including a laminate of a first magnetic layer portion and a second magnetic layer portion, the first magnetic layer portion being located away from the gap layer and the second magnetic layer portion being located close to the gap layer, the second magnetic layer portion extending adjacent to the gap layer from the recording-medium-facing surface to a first position, while maintaining a uniform width for defining a write track width on the recording medium, the first magnetic layer portion including a uniform width portion and a widened portion, the uniform width portion extending from the recording-medium-facing surface or its neighborhood to a second position located at or near the first position, while maintaining the same width as the uniform width of the second magnetic layer portion, the widened portion extending from the second position to a third position, and having a width greater than that of the uniform width portion, the method comprising:
• a first step of forming a recess region in the second magnetic layer close to the first magnetic layer;
• and
• a second step of forming a first thin film coil for constituting a part of the thin film coil in the recess region.