A write head having a main pole, a gap layer, and at least two sacrificial layers. In accordance with one embodiment, a method includes depositing a non-magnetic gap layer of material above a main pole layer of magnetic material; depositing a sacrificial layer of material above the non-magnetic gap layer of material; etching a portion of the sacrificial layer of material while not entirely removing the sacrificial layer of material; and depositing additional sacrificial material to the etched sacrificial layer.

A magnetic sensor comprising a first shield and a second shield and a sensor stack between the first and the second shield, the sensor stack having a plurality of layers wherein at least one layer is annealed using in-situ rapid thermal annealing. In one implementation of the magnetic sensor a seed layer is annealed using in-situ rapid thermal annealing. Alternatively, one of a barrier layer, an antiferromagnetic (AFM) layer, and a cap layer is annealed using in-situ rapid thermal annealing.

A magnetic write apparatus has a media-facing surface (MFS), a pole, a write gap, a top shield and coil(s). The pole includes a yoke and a pole tip. The pole tip includes a bottom, a top wider than the bottom and first and second sides. The pole tip has a height between the top and the bottom. At least part of the top of the pole tip is convex in a cross-track direction between the first and second sides such that the height at the MFS is larger between the first and second sides than at the first and second sides. The height increases in a yoke direction perpendicular to the MFS. The write gap is adjacent to and conformal with the top of the pole at the MFS and is between part of the top shield and the pole. The top shield is concave at the MFS.

Ionized physical vapor deposition (IPVD) is used to form a magnetic recording disk drive write head main pole with thin side gap layers and a thicker leading gap layer. A metal or metal alloy is formed by IPVD in a trench with a bottom and outwardly sloping sidewalls. An optional Ru seed layer is deposited on the metal or metal alloy. This is followed by atomic layer deposition (ALD) of a Ru smoothing layer. If the IPVD results in metal or metal alloy side gap layers with a rough surface, the ALD process is modified, resulting in a smooth Ru smoothing layer that does not replicate the rough surface of the side gap layers.

A data writer can have at least a write pole laterally disposed between first and second side shields and vertically disposed between a wrap-around shield and a front shield. The write pole may be separated from the side shields and the wrap-around shield by a lamination of first and second non-magnetic layers.

Ionized physical vapor deposition (IPVD) is used to form a magnetic recording disk drive write head main pole with thin side gap layers and a thicker leading gap layer. A metal or metal alloy is formed by IPVD in a trench with a bottom and outwardly sloping sidewalls. An optional Ru seed layer is deposited on the metal or metal alloy. This is followed by atomic layer deposition (ALD) of a Ru smoothing layer. If the IPVD results in metal or metal alloy side gap layers with a rough surface, the ALD process is modified, resulting in a smooth Ru smoothing layer that does not replicate the rough surface of the side gap layers.

The present invention generally relates to a method for forming a smooth gap of a damascene write pole. An opening having a side wall with a first angle with respect to vertical is formed in a fill layer, and a first non-magnetic layer is deposited into the opening by ion beam deposition. The ion beam is delivered to the side wall at a second angle with respect to vertical. The ratio of the first angle to the second angle ranges from about 250 to about 3.5.

A servo pattern recording head includes: a plurality of head cores that are magnetically separated from each other; and a plurality of gap patterns that are formed on a front surface of each of the plurality of head cores and that are used for recording a plurality of servo patterns in a width direction of a magnetic tape by applying a magnetic field to the magnetic tape in response to a pulse current, in which the plurality of gap patterns are formed on the front surface along a direction corresponding to the width direction, and the plurality of gap patterns deviate from each other at a predetermined interval in a direction corresponding to a longitudinal direction of the magnetic tape between the gap patterns adjacent to each other along the direction corresponding to the width direction.

In an approach to improve write transducers a write transducer for recording data on a magnetic media is disclosed. The write transducer comprises a first pole piece. The write transducer further comprises a second pole piece. The first pole piece and the second pole piece are arranged in such a way, that a write gap is formed between the first pole piece and the second pole piece. A longitudinal axis is defined between opposite ends of the write gap. A length of the write gap along the longitudinal axis varies in the direction transverse to the longitudinal axis.