Hybrid exposure strategies have been implemented with commercially available chemically amplified resists for the fabrication of magnetic recording heads, This approach relics on splitting the pattern into high-resolution and low-resolution components at the same resist level. Two critical features of the thin-film head (TFH) device (write top pole and read sensor widths) are defined by e-beam direct writing for the high-resolution patterning, and all other. relatively large features, are patterned with optical lithography for high throughput. In this article we will present the results from the fabrication of sub-50 nm magnetic write and read components with this hybrid exposure process. Key lessons from many aspects of the process development effort will be discussed in relation to TFH fabrication, including dual sensitive resist selection, exposure sequence. postexposure delay effect, e-beam process challenges, and overlay alignment issue. We demonstrate the capability of printing top pole structures with pole width,, of sub-40 nm in a 0,35-mu m-thick resist film (aspect ratio > 8:1), and electroplated top pole structures of 40 nm with CoFe. (c) 2005 American Vacuum Society.