Thermally-assisted magnetic recording head

A thermally assisted magnetic recording head comprising:

• a semiconductor laser having a mirror at one end thereof in an oscillator direction, the mirror being adapted to reflect a laser beam in a direction crossing the oscillator direction;
• a slider having a pair of magnetic poles at one end thereof and a waveguide formed on the one end side, the waveguide being optically coupled to one end of the semiconductor laser;
• a first submount mounting the semiconductor laser and having a main surface extending in the oscillator direction of the semiconductor laser;
• and
• a second submount having on opposite sides thereof a first main surface and a second main surface and having the slider secured to a part of a first end side of the first main surface;
• wherein the other part of the first main surface on a second end side opposite the first end and a part of the second main surface opposing the other part extend in a pair of separate portions from the second end toward the part and are U-shaped;
• wherein the first submount is joined, on both sides of a portion of the main surface thereof where the semiconductor laser is mounted, to the pair of separate portions forming the other part of the first main surface of the second submount so that the semiconductor laser mounted on the main surface of the first submount is sandwiched between the pair of separate portions forming the U-shaped other part of the first main surface of the second submount;
• wherein the one end of the semiconductor laser and the waveguide formed in the slider are optically coupled in a space enclosed by the main surface of the first submount, the part of the first main surface of the second submount and the pair of separate portions forming the other part.