A magnetic head having a magnetic shield and/or pole layer that is fabricated as a plurality of laminated layers, in which each layer includes a sublayer thickness of Fe(N) and a sublayer thickness of NiFe(N), and where the relative thickness of these two sublayers is graduated. Particularly, the initially deposited laminations include sublayers of NiFe(N) having a thickness that is substantially greater than the thickness of the Fe(N) sublayers, whereas the finally deposited laminations include sublayers having an Fe(N) thickness that is substantially greater than the thickness of the NiFe(N) sublayers.