The present invention provides a scaled down write head which has a high recording density and a high data rate. A significant dimension not scaled down proportionally is the thickness of the write coil layer so as to prevent heating of the head. The thickness of the write coil layer is equal to or greater than the thickness of the second pole piece layer. The insulation stack of the write head employs a nonorganic first insulation layer and only one baked photoresist layer which is a second insulation layer. A third insulation layer of the insulation stack may be provided by an extension of the write gap layer. With a lower stack height and with first and second pole pieces that are thinner, a well-defined second pole tip is constructed without reflective notching. The write gap layer is constructed after the other insulation layers of the insulation stack so as to prevent a reduction of its thickness during construction of the write coil layer. The data rate is increased by decreasing the thicknesses of the first and second pole piece layers which reduced thicknesses are enabled by decreasing the pitch of the write coil layer and moving the write coil layer closer to the ABS.