The write performance and off-track performance of inductive/MR thin-film heads with a wrap-around upper-pole write head are studied in comparison with those of conventional inductive/MR thin-film heads. The wrap-around write heads have a good overwrite perfomance equal to that of conventional write heads. The effective write-track width of conventional heads becomes smaller with an increase in the recording density. Howerver, it was found that the effective write-track width of wrap-around heads remains almost the same with an increase in the recording density, owing to the azimuth loss on the track side of the MR head in a read process. Therefore, inductive/MR thinfilm heads with a wrap-around upper-pole write head have the potential to provide magnetic recording with a higher TPI.
