Patent ID: 6264787
Filing Date: 2001-07-24
Classification: G11B

Abstract:
An etching system for fabricating a taper in a selected area on a bearing surface of a disc head slider, the etching system comprising:an etching beam source which generates an anisotropic etching beam;a resist layer positioned on the bearing surface in a pattern which leaves the selected area uncovered, wherein the resist layer has a thickness and the selected area has a length measured from a base of the resist layer;a fixture which holds the disc head slider with the bearing surface at a progressively variable angle of incidence relative to the etching beam such that a first portion of the selected area is shaded from the etching beam by the resist layer and a second portion of the selected area is unshaded from the etching beam by the resist layer; andcontroller means coupled to the fixture for:defining n segments, segment.sub.1 -segment.sub.n, along the length wherein each segment.sub.i has a segment length L.sub.i, n is an integer, i is an integer ranging from 1 to n, and segment.sub.n is closer to the resist layer than segment.sub.1 ;operating the etching beam source to etch the unshaded second portion and the resist layer in n steps step.sub.i,-step.sub.n, with each step.sub.i corresponding to a segment.sub.i ; andcontrolling the angle of incidence such that, for each step.sub.i, the unshaded, second portion, including segment.sub.1, and the resist layer are etched at an angle .alpha..sub.i that results in the resist layer shadowing all segments, segment.sub.i+1 segment.sub.n, that are closer to the resist layer than segment.sub.i and results in the resist layer being etched to a remaining thickness, where the angle .alpha..sub.i =arctan ((L .sub.i+1 +L.sub.i+2 +. . . +L.sub.n)/(the remaining thickness)).