Magnetic head having a stepped or segmented wrap around shield and methods of formation thereof

1. A magnetic head system, comprising:

a magnetic pole having a media-facing end; and

a wrap around shield spaced from the magnetic pole, wherein the wrap around shield has a media-facing end positioned along three sides of the media-facing end of the magnetic pole,

wherein the wrap around shield has inner, second, and middle regions separated by transitional regions, the inner region being closest to the media facing end of the magnetic pole, the second region being farthest from the media facing end of the magnetic pole, and the middle region being between the inner and second regions,

wherein cross-sectional heights of the regions of the wrap around shield are measured in a direction perpendicular to the media-facing end of the wrap around shield,

wherein a cross-sectional height of the inner region is less than a cross-sectional height of the second region,

wherein a cross-sectional height of the middle region is greater than the cross-sectional height of the inner region and less than the cross-sectional height of the second region.

2. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the inner, middle, and second regions have faces positioned opposite the media-facing end of the wrap around shield, wherein the faces are substantially parallel to the media-facing end of the wrap around shield, wherein the heights of the regions are measured between the media-facing end of the wrap around shield and the respective face.

3. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the transition regions are angled relative to a plane of the media-facing end of the wrap around shield.

4. The system as recited in claim 3 , wherein the transition regions are angled at an angle of between about 8° and about 25°, from the plane of the media-facing end of the wrap around shield.

5. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein a width W 1 of the inner region measured in a direction parallel to a plane of deposition of the wrap around shield and the media-facing end thereof is between about a width PW of the media-facing end of the magnetic pole and about 2×PW.

6. The system as recited in claim 5 , wherein a width of the middle region on one side of the magnetic pole is between about 2.5×W 1 and about 10×W 1 .

7. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the height H 1 of the inner region is between about 75 nm and about 250 nm.

8. The system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the height HM of the middle region is between about 1.5×H 1 and about 3×H 1 .

9. The system as recited in claim 8 , wherein the height H 2 of the second region is between about 1.5×HM and about 5×HM.

10. The system as recited in claim 1 , further comprising a gap in the second region that separates the second region into multiple pieces.

11. The system as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

at least one head for reading from and writing to a magnetic medium, each head having:

a sensor for reading data written by the magnetic pole;

a slider for supporting the head; and

a control unit coupled to the head for controlling operation of the head.

12. A magnetic head system, comprising:

a magnetic pole having a media-facing end; and

a wrap around shield spaced from the magnetic pole, wherein the wrap around shield has a media-facing end positioned along three sides of the media-facing end of the magnetic pole, wherein the wrap around shield has inner and second regions separated from each other by a transitional region, the inner region being closest to the media facing end of the magnetic pole, the second region being farther from the media facing end of the magnetic pole than the inner region,

wherein cross-sectional heights of the regions of the wrap around shield are measured in a direction perpendicular to the media-facing end of the wrap around shield,

wherein a cross-sectional height of the inner region is less than a cross-sectional height of the second region,

wherein the second region is divided into two sections by a nonmagnetic gap.

13. The system as recited in claim 12 , wherein a distal end of the second region farthest from the media-facing end of the magnetic pole and positioned laterally thereto is positioned beyond a side edge of an upper return pole.

14. The system as recited in claim 13 , wherein the nonmagnetic gap is positioned below the upper return pole.

15. The system as recited in claim 12 , wherein a width W 1 of the inner region measured in a direction parallel to a plane of deposition of the wrap around shield and the media-facing end thereof is between about a width PW of the media-facing end of the magnetic pole and about 2×PW.

16. The system as recited in claim 15 , wherein a width of the second region between the transitional region and the nonmagnetic gap on one side of the magnetic pole is between about 2×W 1 and about 6×W 1 .

17. The system as recited in claim 12 , wherein the height H 1 of the inner region is between about 75 nm and about 250 nm.

18. The system as recited in claim 12 , further comprising a middle region of the wrap around shield between the inner and second regions, the middle region being separated from the inner and second regions by transitional regions, wherein cross-sectional heights of the regions of the wrap around shield are measured in a direction perpendicular to the media-facing end of the wrap around shield, wherein the cross-sectional height of the inner region is less than the cross-sectional height of the middle region, wherein the cross-sectional height of the middle region is less than the cross-sectional height of the second region.

19. The system as recited in claim 12 , further comprising:

at least one head for reading from and writing to a magnetic medium, each head having:

a sensor for reading data written by the magnetic pole;

a slider for supporting the head; and

a control unit coupled to the head for controlling operation of the head.

20. A method for making a magnetic head, comprising:

forming a magnetic pole having a media-facing end; and

forming a wrap around shield spaced from the magnetic pole, wherein the wrap around shield has a media-facing end positioned along three sides of the media-facing end of the magnetic pole, wherein the wrap around shield has inner, second, and middle regions separated by transitional regions, the inner region being closest to the media facing end of the magnetic pole, the second region being farthest from the media facing end of the magnetic pole, and the middle region being between the inner and second regions,

wherein cross-sectional heights of the regions of the wrap around shield are measured in a direction perpendicular to the media-facing end of the wrap around shield,

wherein a cross-sectional height of the inner region is less than a cross-sectional height of a second region,

wherein a cross-sectional height of the middle region is greater than the cross-sectional height of the inner region and less than the cross-sectional height of the second region.

21. The method as recited in claim 20 , further comprising forming a gap in the second region that separates the second region into multiple pieces.

22. A method for making a magnetic head, comprising:

forming a magnetic pole having a media-facing end; and

forming a wrap around shield spaced from the magnetic pole, wherein the wrap around shield has a media-facing end positioned along three sides of the media-facing end of the magnetic pole, wherein the wrap around shield has inner and second regions separated from each other by a transitional region, the inner region being closest to the media facing end of the magnetic pole, the second region being farther from the media facing end of the magnetic pole than the inner region,

wherein cross-sectional heights of the regions of the wrap around shield are measured in a direction perpendicular to the media-facing end of the wrap around shield,

wherein a cross-sectional height of the inner region is less than a cross-sectional height of the second region,

wherein the second region is divided into two sections by a nonmagnetic gap.

23. The method as recited in claim 22 , wherein a distal end of the second region farthest from the media-facing end of the magnetic pole and positioned laterally thereto is positioned beyond a side edge of an upper return pole.

24. The method as recited in claim 23 , wherein the nonmagnetic gap is positioned below the upper return pole.