Perpendicular head with trailing shield and rhodium gap process

A method of manufacturing a perpendicular write head comprising:

• forming a laminate layer;
• forming a metal layer upon the laminate layer;
• forming a diamond-like carbon (DLC) layer upon the metal layer;
• forming a durimide layer upon the diamond-like carbon layer;
• forming a hard mask layer upon the durimide layer;
• forming an anti-reflective layer upon the hard mask layer;
• forming an image resist layer upon the anti-reflective layer;
• performing a reactive ion milling to transfer a pattern from the image resist layer to the anti-reflective layer, and then to the hard mask layer, and finally to the durimide and the DLC layer, leaving the hard mask layer, the durimide layer and a DLC layer;
• performing ion milling to remove the hard mask layer;
• depositing alumina that covers the top and sides of the durimide layer and surrounds the DLC layer and hard mask layer;
• performing chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) process to remove the alumina deposited on the top and sides of the durimide layer and the durimide layer;
• and
• reactive ion etching (RIE) to remove the DLC layer for creating a trench for deposition of trailing shield.