Abstract: A method for manufacturing a write head with a helical coil having a very small and well controlled spacing between adjacent coil leads. The method includes forming a first set of coil leads, then conformally depositing a thin layer of electrically insulating material such as alumina over the first set of coil leads and over the substrate. An electrically conductive seed layer is then deposited over the thin layer of non-magnetic, electrically insulating material An electrically conductive material such as Cu is then deposited by electroplating in order to form a second set of electrically conductive leads interspersed within the first set of electrically conductive leads, each of the second set of leads being separated from the second set of leads by a portion of the thin layer of non-magnetic, electrically insulating material.

Abstract: A magnetic write head for perpendicular magnetic recording having a write pole with a concave trailing edge. The magnetic write pole can have a trapezoidal shape with first and second laterally opposed sides that are further apart at the trailing edge than at the leading edge. The write head may or may not include a magnetic trailing shield, and if a trailing shield is included it is separated from the trailing edge by a non-magnetic write gap layer. The concave trailing edge improves magnetic performance such as by improving the transition curvature. A method for constructing the write head includes forming a magnetic write pole by forming a mask structure over a deposited write pole material, the mask structure having an alumina hard mask and an image transfer layer such as DURAMIDE®. An alumina fill layer is then deposited and a chemical mechanical polish is performed to open up the image transfer layer.