Abstract: A debris barrier surrounds a transducer for preventing microscopic debris from migrating near the magnetic poles of the transducer in a disk drive. In one embodiment, the debris barrier is composed of a barrier wall and a barrier cavity and used with a thin film transducer. The barrier elements are disposed within a region of an air bearing surface surrounding the poles of the transducer such that, during operation, debris is collected within and around the barrier thereby preventing the debris from migrating to the pole region. By eliminating debris around the transducer poles, this invention eliminates errors caused by the debris and thereby provides a more reliable disk drive. In another embodiment, the debris barrier is used with multiple transducers. In yet another embodiment, the debris barrier is used with a planar structure transducer having planar poles.