Conventional perpendicular writers that utilize an extended return pole
are subject to large flux leakage. This problem has been reduced in the prior art
by adding a downstream shield. This still leaves significant upstream leakage.
This has now been eliminated by adding an upstream shield and then connecting the
up and downstream shields by using side shields. The latter need not extend all
the way from the downstream to the upstream shield in which case their thickness
is increased relative to the full side shields.