Method of manufacturing magnetic head for perpendicular magnetic recording

A method of manufacturing a magnetic head for perpendicular magnetic recording, the magnetic head comprising:

• a medium facing surface that faces toward a recording medium;
• a coil for generating a magnetic field corresponding to data to be written on the recording medium;
• a main pole layer having an end located in the medium facing surface, allowing a magnetic flux corresponding to the magnetic field generated by the coil to pass therethrough, and generating a write magnetic field for writing the data on the recording medium through the use of a perpendicular magnetic recording system;
• an auxiliary pole layer having an end located in the medium facing surface, and having a portion located away from the medium facing surface and coupled to the main pole layer;
• and
• a gap layer made of a nonmagnetic material and provided between the main pole layer and the auxiliary pole layer, wherein:
• in the medium facing surface, the end of the main pole layer is disposed forward of the end of the auxiliary pole layer along a direction of travel of the recording medium with a specific distance therebetween;
• at least a portion of the coil is disposed between the main pole layer and the auxiliary pole layer and insulated from the main pole layer and the auxiliary pole layer;
• the main pole layer includes:
• a first portion having a specific thickness, one of ends of the first portion closer to the medium facing surface being located at a distance from the medium facing surface;
• and a second portion having a thickness smaller than the thickness of the first portion and disposed between the first portion and the medium facing surface;
• and
• the main pole layer has a surface located farther from the gap layer, at least a portion of the surface near the medium facing surface being substantially flat, the method comprising the steps of:
• forming the auxiliary pole layer;
• forming the gap layer and the coil on the auxiliary pole layer;
• and
• forming the main pole layer on the gap layer, wherein
• the step of forming the main pole layer includes the steps of
• forming a plating layer by plating in a region that includes a region in which the first portion is to be disposed, such that one of ends of the plating layer closer to the medium facing surface is located at a position that coincides with the position of the one of the ends of the first portion closer to the medium facing surface;
• forming a first nonmagnetic layer to cover the plating layer;
• patterning the first nonmagnetic layer into such a shape that the first nonmagnetic layer is adjacent to the plating layer by polishing the first nonmagnetic layer and the plating layer until the plating layer is exposed;
• forming a space by removing the plating layer by etching, the space being adjacent to the first nonmagnetic layer and having a shape corresponding to the shape of the plating layer;
• forming a magnetic layer in the space and on a top surface of the first nonmagnetic layer, the magnetic layer having a plane geometry corresponding to that of the main pole layer;
• forming a second nonmagnetic layer to cover the magnetic layer;
• and
• polishing the second nonmagnetic layer and the magnetic layer until the magnetic layer is exposed, so that the magnetic layer becomes the main pole layer.