A medium-opposed surface of a slider body is hemisected into first and
second areas by the centerline extending in the longitudinal direction of
the slider body. The second area is designed to generate a positive
pressure larger than that generated at the first area when a load acting
on the slider body in a direction toward a recording medium decreases.
The head slider of the type is allowed to enjoy the imbalance of the lift
on the slider body. This imbalance can be utilized to intentionally
induce increases in the roll angle and the pitch angle of the slider
body. The increase in the roll and pitch angles causes disappearance of
the lift and the negative pressure generated at the medium-opposed
surface. The head slider can reliably be distanced from the moving
surface of the recording medium solely with the assistance of the airflow
acting on the medium-opposed surface.