A perpendicular write head with a stitched pole tip and side yoke recessed from the air-bearing surface is proposed and investigated using three-dimensional micromagnetic modeling. The design yields an increase of head field magnitude by 30% over the conventional single pole head. It is found that the optimal flare angle at the bottom of the yoke is 45degrees, for maximizing the on-track field magnitude and getting the minimum off-track field at the same time. Reducing the throat height significantly increases on-track field, while the off-track field increases as well. Lamination of the pole tip is necessary for producing robust zero remanent field for deep-submicron track widths. Introducing adequate transverse anisotropy in the head will significantly shorten the relaxation time of the magnetic moments after writing with little degradation on write efficiency. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.