Patent ID: 8117737
Filing Date: 2012-02-21
Classification: G11B,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A manufacturing method for a magnetic head for perpendicular magnetic recording, the magnetic head comprising: a medium facing surface that faces a recording medium; a coil that produces a magnetic field corresponding to data to be recorded on the recording medium; a main magnetic pole that has an end face located in the medium facing surface, allows a magnetic flux corresponding to the magnetic field produced by the coil to pass, and produces a recording magnetic field for recording the data on the recording medium by means of a perpendicular magnetic recording system; a shield having an end face that is located in the medium facing surface to wrap around the end face of the main magnetic pole; and a gap made of a nonmagnetic material and provided between the main magnetic pole and the shield, wherein: the main magnetic pole has a first side surface and a second side surface that are located at opposite ends in a track width direction; the shield includes a lower shield, an upper shield, and first and second side shields; the gap includes a lower gap, an upper gap, and first and second side gaps; the lower gap, the main magnetic pole, the upper gap, and the upper shield are arranged in this order on the lower shield; the first side gap is in contact with the first side surface of the main magnetic pole; the second side gap is in contact with the second side surface of the main magnetic pole; the first side shield is located at such a position as to sandwich the first side gap between itself and the first side surface of the main magnetic pole, and is magnetically coupled to the lower shield and the upper shield; and the second side shield is located at such a position as to sandwich the second side gap between itself and the second side surface of the main magnetic pole, and is magnetically coupled to the lower shield and the upper shield, the manufacturing method comprising the steps of: forming the lower shield; forming a structure on the lower shield, the structure including the lower gap, the main magnetic pole and the first and second side gaps; forming the first and second side shields; forming the upper gap; forming the upper shield; and forming the coil, wherein the step of forming the structure includes: the step of forming an initial lower gap layer on the lower shield, the initial lower gap layer including a pre-lower-gap portion that is intended to later become the lower gap, and two to-be-removed portions that are located on opposite sides of the pre-lower-gap portion in the track width direction and intended to be removed later; the step of forming the main magnetic pole on the pre-lower-gap portion; the step of forming the first and second side gaps on the first and second side surfaces of the main magnetic pole so that a protrusion is produced on the pre-lower-gap portion, the protrusion including the main magnetic pole and the first and second side gaps and protruding upward from a top surface of the initial lower gap layer; the step of forming a resin layer so as not to lie on a top surface of the protrusion but to lie on opposite sides of the protrusion in the track width direction, in contact with opposite side surfaces of the protrusion in the track width direction, the resin layer being developer-soluble and non-photosensitive; the step of forming a photoresist layer to cover the resin layer and the protrusion; the step of patterning the photoresist layer by photolithography including exposure and development, thereby forming a mask that covers the top surface of the protrusion and removing the resin layer by dissolution in a developer that is used in the development; and an etching step of etching the initial lower gap layer in part with the top surface of the protrusion covered with the mask, so that the two to-be-removed portions are removed and the pre-lower-gap portion becomes the lower gap, and wherein, in the medium facing surface, positions of opposite ends of a top surface of the lower gap in the track width direction coincide with positions of opposite ends of a bottom surface of the protrusion in the track width direction after the etching step.