Method of manufacturing thin-film magnetic head

A method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head, comprising the steps of:

• forming, on a lower auxiliary pole, a three-layer pole tip structure consisting of a lower pole tip element, a recording gap layer and an upper pole tip element;
• depositing a lower insulating layer on said three-layer pole tip structure such that the top of the three-layer pole tip structure is fully buried by said lower insulating layer;
• polishing said lower insulating layer by chemical-mechanical polishing so that a top surface of said lower insulating layer is leveled lower than the top of said three-layer pole tip structure over a least a region within which a coil conductor is to be formed;
• forming the coil conductor on said lower insulating layer;
• forming an upper insulating layer to cover said coil conductor;
• and
• forming an upper auxiliary pole so that a part of which contacts to said upper pole tip element.