A method is provided for making a thin film magnetic write head with a notch structure located on top of one of two pole layers. The notch structure is a generally U-shaped thin film layer which forms a trench inside the U for the containment of one or more pole tip layers in the pole tip region of the head. The notch structure has front surfaces at the tips of the legs of the U which lie in a plane that forms a part of the air bearing surface. The thickness of the notch layer is substantially equal to the thickness or thicknesses of the one or more pole tip layers located in the trench. A method of manufacturing the write head includes forming a very thin photoresist layer for defining the notch structure. The notch structure is well-defined which in turn allows the one or more pole tip layers to be well-defined with a very narrow trackwidth in the trench.