Magnetic head assembly having trimming recesses, method for producing the same, and magnetic-tape recording and playback apparatus

A magnetic-tape recording and playback apparatus comprising a rotating drum having a magnetic head assembly,

• wherein a tape-loading path is defined by winding a magnetic tape drawn from a tape reel on the rotating drum,
• wherein the magnetic head assembly includes a head container, and the head container comprises:
• a medium-sliding surface;
• a plurality of thin-film magnetic heads provided inside the head container so that widths thereof in a track-width direction are inclined at the same azimuth angle, each of the thin-film magnetic heads including a gap layer and a pair of core layers sandwiching the gap layer, and leading end portions of the gap layer and the core layers being exposed from the medium-sliding surface;
• and
• a pair of trimming recesses provided on the medium-sliding surface,
• wherein the trimming recesses include edge lines extending on both sides in the track-width direction of the gap layer and the core layers and in a traveling direction of the thin-film magnetic head.

A method for producing a magnetic head assembly, comprising:

• a thin-film magnetic-head forming step of forming a plurality of thin-film magnetic heads on a nonmagnetic substrate, each of the thin-film magnetic heads including a gap layer and a pair of core layers sandwiching the gap layer;
• a cutting step of forming split bars by cutting the nonmagnetic substrate, each of the split bars including some of the thin-film magnetic heads, and leading end portions of the gap layer and the core layers in each of the thin-film magnetic heads being exposed from a cutting surface;
• and
• a trimming step of forming a resist film on the cutting surface of the split bar, forming a plurality of patterning holes in the resist film, and etching the cutting surface through the patterning holes of the resist film to form a pair of trimming recesses including edge lines extending on both sides in a track-width direction of the gap layer and the core layers in the thin-film magnetic head and in a traveling direction of the thin-film magnetic head.