Abstract:
The present invention discloses an improved structure and method for forming an interleaved magnetic head. In one aspect, an interleaved magnetic head is formed by providing a wafer comprising a first thick magnetic layer extending across read and write segments of the head and patterned to form a first read shield and a first write pole and, in a second step, a second thick magnetic layer is formed across the read and write segments of the head at substantially the same time to provide substantially all of a second read shield and substantially all of a second write pole. A write gap between the write poles may be formed in such a manner as to have a different thickness than the read gap between the read shields. In addition, tight processing control is maintained over the critical read gap thickness.