Narrow write head pole tip fabricated by sidewall processing

A hard disk drive comprising:

• at least one hard disk being fabricated for rotary motion upon a disk drive;
• at least one magnetic head adapted to fly over said hard disk for writing data on said hard disk, said magnetic head including:
• a substrate;
• a read head being fabricated upon said substrate;
• a P1 pole being fabricated upon said read head;
• a write gap layer being fabricated upon said P1 pole;
• a P2 pole tip being fabricated upon portions of said write gap layer, wherein said P2 pole tip includes a first portion being comprised of a seed layer material and a second portion being comprised of electroplated material, and wherein said P2 pole tip has a width dimension W that is formed in part from a thickness of said seed layer material portion and in part from a thickness of said electroplated material portion.

A method for fabricating a magnetic head, comprising the steps of:

• fabricating a read head upon a substrate;
• fabricating a P1 pole upon said read head;
• fabricating a write gap layer upon said P1 pole;
• fabricating a block of material upon said write gap layer, said block of material having a sidewall disposed proximate a P2 pole tip location;
• fabricating a seed layer upon said sidewall;
• electroplating P2 pole tip material upon said seed layer, whereby a P2 pole tip is formed having a width W that is comprised of a thickness of said seed layer material and a thickness of said electroplated material;
• fabricating an induction coil proximate said P2 pole tip;
• fabricating a P3 pole above said induction coil in magnetic interconnection with said P2 pole tip;
• and
• fabricating an encapsulation layer above said P3 pole.