A perpendicular magnetic recording head includes a laminated main write pole and a return pole magnetically coupled to the main write pole. The main write pole includes a first magnetic layer having a high saturation magnetization, a second magnetic layer having a high saturation magnetization, and a non-magnetic interlayer positioned between the first magnetic layer and the second magnetic layer. The first and second magnetic layers may comprise, for example, FexCoy, wherein 40≦x≦90 and 10≦y≦60.