Near-field transducer dielectric layer

An apparatus, comprising:

• a slider having an air bearing surface (ABS), the slider comprising:
• a write pole;
• and
• a near-field transducer comprising:
• a peg, the peg having a front surface proximate the ABS, an opposing back surface, a top surface facing the write pole that extends from the front surface to the back surface, two side surfaces that extend from the front surface to the back surface, and a bottom surface opposing the top surface;
• a disc portion surrounding a portion of the peg and including the back surface, the disc portion having a front edge facing the ABS, wherein the distance from the ABS to the front edge is larger than the distance from the ABS to the front surface of the peg;
• and
• a dielectric layer disposed at the interface of the top surface of the peg and the disc portion.

A method comprising:

• depositing a layer of near-field transducer (NFT) peg material;
• depositing a layer of dielectric material on the layer of NFT peg material;
• milling the layers to form an NFT peg;
• and
• forming an enlarged NFT portion around a portion of the NFT peg.