Patent ID: 8221636
Filing Date: 2012-07-17
Classification: G11B

Abstract:
1. A method of manufacturing a magnetic head for perpendicular magnetic recording, the magnetic head comprising: a medium facing surface that faces toward a recording medium; a coil that generates a magnetic field corresponding to data to be written on the recording medium; a pole layer that allows a magnetic flux corresponding to the magnetic field generated by the coil to pass and generates a write magnetic field for writing the data on the recording medium by means of a perpendicular magnetic recording system; an encasing layer made of a nonmagnetic material and having a groove that opens at a top surface of the encasing layer and that accommodates the pole layer; and a substrate on which the encasing layer, the pole layer and the coil are stacked, wherein: the pole layer includes a track width defining portion having an end face that is located in the medium facing surface and that defines a track width; the end face of the track width defining portion located in the medium facing surface has a width that decreases with decreasing distance from the substrate; and the groove of the encasing layer includes a portion to accommodate the track width defining portion, and this portion of the groove has a width that decreases with decreasing distance from the substrate, the method comprising the steps of: forming a nonmagnetic layer that will later undergo formation of the groove therein and will thereby become the encasing layer; forming a mask layer on the nonmagnetic layer, the mask layer having an opening that penetrates and that has a shape corresponding to a plane geometry of the groove to be formed later, the mask layer being formed of a nonmagnetic metal material and being lower in etching rate than the nonmagnetic layer in reactive ion etching to be performed later on the nonmagnetic layer; forming the groove in the nonmagnetic layer so that the nonmagnetic layer becomes the encasing layer; forming the pole layer such that the pole layer is accommodated in the groove of the encasing layer; and forming the coil, wherein: the nonmagnetic layer is formed of Al the step of forming the groove in the nonmagnetic layer includes the step of taper-etching the nonmagnetic layer by reactive ion etching using the mask layer with an etching gas containing at least BCl