Abstract:
Disclosed herein are storage device sliders incorporatig thin-film sensors and wear resistant extensions. Also disclosed herein are data storage devices and assemblies utilizing those sliders. Detailed information on various example embodiments of the inventions are provided in the Detailed Description below, and the inventions are defined by the appended claims.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/453,714 filed Dec. 23, 2002, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND  
         [0002]    The claimed inventions relate generally to disk drives utilizing a flexible medium and more particularly to storage devices utilizing thin film read/write sensors to read and record information on flexible medium, those sensors being incorporated in sliders having wear resistant features.  
           [0003]    This application is related to previously filed commonly assigned applications now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,115,219, issued 5 Sep. 2000, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,487,049, issued 26 Nov. 2002, which are hereby incorporated by reference.  
           [0004]    In a typical storage media drive, a storage media is passed by a drive head such that the drive head can read information from and/or write information to the storage media. Particularly where the storage media is a two-sided disk or other similar object, the information may be stored on both sides thereof. Accordingly, the typical drive includes a pair of opposing drive heads, and the storage media travels between such opposing drive heads. Of course, in the situation where a drive includes multiple media such as multiple disks (usually stacked on a single spindle), each disk travels between its own pair of drive heads.  
           [0005]    When the storage media is a disk, to facilitate the reading and/or writing operations of the storage media drive, the storage media is rotated at an angular speed high enough to cause each drive head to ‘ride up’ onto an air bearing formed between the face of the drive head and the surface of the rotating storage media. Under ideal conditions the media is perfectly smooth and rigid, and the air bearing maintains proper separation preventing contact and wear between the heads and the media. Under practical conditions, some contact occurs due to imperfections in the faces of the head structures and the media, imperfections in the planarity of the media and flexure of the media material in operation, particularly if flexible storage media material is used, for example Mylar™.  
           [0006]    However, if the storage media is relatively flexible, as can be the case, and should the drive heads become misaligned such that one of the drive sensors becomes unopposed, the flexible storage media will not travel adjacent each drive sensor in close proximity to such drive sensors.  
           [0007]    To complicate matters, in a typical drive head, the drive sensor is positioned toward the trailing termination of the air bearing surface on which it resides, and in some instances can even be positioned at such trailing termination. As may be understood, the amount of misalignment that can be tolerated decreases as the drive sensor gets closer to the trailing termination. At the trailing termination, then, practically any misalignment will result in one of the drive sensors being unopposed by an air bearing surface.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY  
         [0008]    The claimed inventions relate generally to data storage devices utilizing a flexible medium and more particularly to disk drives utilizing thin film read/write sensors to read and record information on flexible medium, those sensors being incorporated in sliders having wear resistant features.  
           [0009]    Disclosed herein are storage device sliders incorporating thin-film sensors and wear resistant extensions. Also disclosed herein are data storage devices and assemblies utilizing those sliders. Detailed information on various example embodiments of the inventions are provided in the Detailed Description below, and the inventions are defined by the appended claims. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary disk drive.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 2 depicts a view of an exemplary slider assembly having opposing sensor head structures.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 3 shows an exemplary slider and sensor head.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 4 shows an exemplary sensor unit.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 5 a  shows a cross-section of an exemplary slider.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 5 b  depicts a cross-section of a pair of exemplary sliders in operation with media.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIGS. 6 a  and  6   b  depict a pair of exemplary operational sliders having trailing misalignments.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 7 depicts an exemplary slider having a wear-resistant extension incorporated into a side-attached closure.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 8 depicts an exemplary slider having wear-resistant extensions incorporated into a bottom-attached closure.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 9 shows an exemplary slider having a centered wear-resistant extension incorporated into a readward-attached closure.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 10 shows an exemplary slider having a pair of wear-resistant extensions incorporated into a pair of readward-attached closures.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 11 shows an exemplary slider having a pair of wear-resistant extensions incorporated into a closure with an aperture for underside wire access.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 12 shows an exemplary slider having a closure incorporating a pair of wear-resistant extensions and terminals.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 13 shows an exemplary slider having a closure incorporating a pair of wear-resistant extensions and a flexible circuit.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 14 shows an exemplary slider having a terminal extension and a closure incorporating a pair of wear-resistant extensions.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIGS. 15 a  and  15   b  show an exemplary slider construction including a brick incorporating a sensor layer and a body incorporating a pair of wear-resistant extensions.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 16 shows an exemplary slider having a trailing wear-protective layer incorporating a pair of wear-resistant extensions.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 17 shows an exemplary slider having a trailing wear-protective laminate incorporating a pair wear-resistant extensions.  
     
    
       [0028]    Reference will now be made in detail to some disk drive slider products and devices, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0029]    Referring to the drawings in detail wherein like numerals are used to indicate like elements throughout, there is shown in FIG. 1 an exemplary storage media drive  10 . The drive  10  is for reading from and/or writing to a storage media  12 , as is shown. In this example, the media  12  is a flexible or “floppy” disk or the like, which may be encased within an appropriate cartridge (not shown), and which is removably insertable into the drive  10 . Examples of such flexible disk media  12  include known 3.5″ and 5.25″ floppy disks, IOMEGA ZIP™ and PocketZip™ disks, which are manufactured and marketed by IOMEGA Corporation of Roy, Utah, and the like. The media  12  may be constructed of many storage media types, for example a magnetic floppy disk, an optical floppy disk, or even flexible magnetic or optical storage tape. In addition, the media  12  may be fixedly positioned within the drive  10 , if so desired.  
         [0030]    The drive  10  also includes an appropriate motor  20  to rotate or move the media  12 . The motor  20  is typically coaxial with the media  12  and directly drives such media  12  by way of an appropriate spindle interacting with a hub in such media  12 . However, the motor may also be non-coaxial and indirectly drive the media  12  by way of gears or the like (not shown). The motor  20  may be any appropriate motor, and is not further described further herein.  
         [0031]    As shown in FIG. 1, the drive  10  has a pair of opposing drive heads  14  for reading from and/or writing to the media  12 . The opposing drive heads  14  are in intimate relationship with the media  12 , with one drive head  14  on either side of such media  12 . Each drive head  14  can read from and/or write to an information layer on the respective side of the media  12 . The aforementioned intimate relationship is necessary to effectuate the transferring of data between the media  12  and the drive heads  14  as the motor  20  rotates the media  12  past the drive heads  14 , especially where individual pieces of such data are organized on the media  12  in exceedingly small spaces.  
         [0032]    Despite the need for such intimate relationship, the drive heads  14  are preferably designed to avoid direct contact with the rotating media  12 , since such direct contact could wear on and/or damage the drive heads  14  and/or the media  12 . However, in many instances, such as where the media  12  is flexible, such direct contact is unavoidable, and is in fact substantially continuous. In such instances, measures are preferably employed to minimize contact friction, or to protect important parts of the head structures from excessive wear.  
         [0033]    Each drive head  14  is typically supported by a load beam  22 , as is seen in FIGS. 1 and 2. Preferably, each drive head  14  is flexibly attached to its respective load beam  22  such that the drive head can orient itself into the aforementioned intimate relationship with the surface of the media  12 . In one example, a flexure rotating over a dimple (i.e., a gimbal mount) (not shown) is employed.  
         [0034]    In addition to the drive heads  14  and the motor  20 , the drive  10  typically has an actuator  16  (FIG. 1) for actuating movement of the drive heads  14  with respect to the media  12 . As should be understood, especially with regard to rotating media  12 , such actuator  16  positions the drive heads  14  in a radial manner with respect to such media  12  so that the drive heads  14  can read from and/or write to particular radially organized tracks of data (not shown) or to a helical track of data (not shown) on the rotating media  12 . The actuator  16  may move the drive heads  14  linearly, either along a radial line of the media  12  or at an angle to such a radial line, or may move the drive heads  14  about a pivot point exterior to the media  12 , among other modes of operation. Typically, and as should be understood, the actuator  16  positions the drive heads  14  by way of the load beams  22 .  
         [0035]    As also seen in FIG. 1, the drive  10  includes appropriate circuitry  18  for facilitating the aforementioned reading and/or writing by the drive heads  14 . Such circuitry  18  operates the drive heads  14 , actuator  16 , and motor  20 , and also facilitates transfers of information between the media  12  and a selected external entity (not shown) in response to a request for such information from such external entity, among other things. The external entity is typically a computer or other similar device having a processor and memory.  
         [0036]    As should be understood, and especially in the case where the storage media  12  is a disk, the drive  10  may in fact have several disks, typically mounted at different axial heights on a single spindle (not shown). In such a situation, and as is known, each disk typically has its own pair of drive heads  14 .  
         [0037]    For the purposes of discussion, FIGS. 2 and 3 depict an exemplary slider  14 . Slider  14  has a sensor face  24  that faces generally toward the media  12  and also toward the opposing drive head  14  (not shown in FIG. 3). As particularly seen in FIG. 3, the sensor face  24  includes first and second generally parallel longitudinally extending air bearing surfaces  26   a,    26   b.  Each air bearing surface  26   a,    26   b  has a leading termination  261  at one longitudinal end thereof and a generally longitudinally opposing trailing termination  26   t  at the other longitudinal end thereof. As should be understood, the storage media  12  typically travels adjacent the sensor face  24  of the drive head  14  in a traveling direction T (as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3) that extends generally along the air bearing surfaces  26   a,    26   b  from the respective leading terminations  261  to the respective trailing terminations  26   t.    
         [0038]    As was alluded to above, in the instance where the media  12  is flexible, actual ‘riding up’ onto an air cushion formed by the air bearing surfaces  26   a,    26   b  is not always established, and direct contact between the drive heads  14  and media  12  may be encountered. Generally, the flexible media  12  does not spin flat, and vibrations caused thereby disrupt the ability to ‘ride up’. Nevertheless, in such instance, the air bearing surfaces  26   a,    26   b  ‘iron out’ the flexible media, and also act to minimize contact friction with such media  12  and drive heads  14 .  
         [0039]    The particular arrangements of air bearing surfaces  26   a,    26   b,  rails  28 , bevels  30  and blends  32  on the sensor face  24  of each drive head  14  need not be strictly adhered to; these features may be varied or even eliminated to form sliders with different characteristics. For example, other types of bevels  30  and blends  32  may be employed, and some bevels  30  and/or blends  32  may even be removed. Moreover, although each rail  28  is shown as being continuous and uninterrupted, one or more interrupting cross-slots  33  may be placed in the raised rails  28 . Such interrupting cross-slots can be useful in forming, regulating, and/or maintaining air bearings.  
         [0040]    In the examples of FIGS. 2 and 3, each drive head  14  is typically a unitary body machined from a block of material such as a zirconia or the like. In many instances, the drive head  14  is formed at least initially as one of many drive heads  14  organized and machined into a block of material in the form of rows and columns therein. The rows and columns of drive heads  14  are then appropriately separated into individual elements for further processing and finishing operations.  
         [0041]    Referring to FIG. 3, a drive sensor  34  is positioned on the first air bearing surface  26   a  of each sensor face  24  a distance D 1  from the trailing termination  26   t  of such first air bearing surface  26   a.  As should be understood, such drive sensor  34  is positioned on such first air bearing surface  26   a  such that the sensor is flush with such air bearing surface  26   a  and does not significantly disturb the air bearing formed thereby, and such that full advantage is taken of such formed air bearing. Now it is also to be understood that a drive sensor such as  34  may be configured to not only sense, but also write to the media, for example through coil  38 . Alternatively, a sense coil and a write coil may be provided, the sense coil generally having a different number of windings than the write coil as understood by those skilled in the art. Such a coil pair may also be considered to be part of a sensor under a commonly understood definition.  
         [0042]    Depicted in FIG. 4 is a drive sensor  34  suitable for use with the exemplary sliders of FIGS. 2 and 3. Sensor  34  is a magnetic drive sensor and is in actuality the upper-most portion of a glass gap in an iron core  36  that is positioned within a longitudinally and vertically extending slot  37  (FIGS. 2 and 3) in the drive head  14 . As should be understood, such slot  37  extends longitudinally and vertically into the first air bearing surface  26   a  and also through any trailing bevel  30  and blend  32  adjacent thereto.  
         [0043]    Still referring to FIG. 4, iron core  36  includes a winding  38 . Data is magnetically written onto a magnetic storage media  12  by flowing current through the winding  38  in a predetermined manner to create magnetic flux in the core  36  and in particular at the gap/drive sensor  34 .. Such flux alters the magnetic orientation of magnetic particles on the side of the media  12  adjacent the gap/drive sensor  34  as the media  12  rotates past such gap/drive sensor  34 . Correspondingly, written data on the media  12  is magnetically read therefrom by sensing the magnetic orientation of magnetic particles on the side of the media  12  adjacent the gap/drive sensor  34  as the media  12  rotates past such gap/drive sensor  34 . In particular, changes in the magnetic orientation of such magnetic particles change the flux present at the gap/drive sensor  34  as the media  12  rotates there-past, and such changes are made to appear as changing voltages at the winding  38 .  
         [0044]    In more recent magnetic sensors, instead of a core, certain thin film sensors or magneto-resistive sensors are employed. Using those sensors, rather than mounting a distinctly formed core  36  into the drive head  14  and forming the winding  38  by passing a conductor around the core several times, the core  36 , the drive sensor  34  thereon, and/or the winding  38  may instead be formed with the drive head  14  by way of deposition technology or another forming technology. In such deposition technology, layers of material are selectively deposited in a pre-determined step-by-step process to build the head  14 . Such deposition technology may for example include the use of multiple masks, etching, sputtering of material, other depositions, etc. If deposition technology is in fact employed, slot  37  and/or slot  39  may not be necessary. It should be noted that while the core  36  shown in FIG. 4 is applicable for magnetic-based media  12 , other appropriate devices may be necessary for non-magnetic-based media  12 , such as optical-based media  12  or the like.  
         [0045]    Still referring to FIG. 3, the sensor face  24  typically includes additional elements in conjunction with the first and second air bearing surfaces  26   a,    26   b.  In particular, each air bearing surface  26   a,    26   b  on each sensor face  24  of each drive head  14  is the top surface of a raised rail  28  on such sensor face  24 . The bevel  30  extending from the leading termination  261  of each air bearing surface  26   a,    26   b  typically has a very gentle grade. Accordingly, and as should be understood, the leading bevel  30  contributes to the formation of the air bearing effect when the media  12  is rotated past the drive head  14 . In particular, the gentle grade of the leading bevel  30  tends to trap or entrain air moved toward the drive head  14  by the rotating media  12 , and to insert the trapped air between the air bearing surfaces  26   a,    26   b  and the surface of the media  12 . Accordingly, and as should be likewise understood, the trailing bevel  30  quickly dissipates the trapped air and therefore dissipates the air bearing formed thereby.  
         [0046]    For the purposes of discussion, FIG. 5 a  depicts in cross-section an exemplary slider  14   c,  bearing similarity to the slider components shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and  4 . Slider  14 c is of the type having rails, one shown having a forward rail  28   c  and a rear rail  26   c,  the forward rail having bevel  30   c  for producing an air-bearing. A sensor  34   c  is provided for reading and writing the surface of proximal media, writing being performed by the energizing of coil  38   c  and sensing by sampling the voltage therefrom. A trailing edge  50   c  is a point of transition from high to low air pressure between the slider and proximal media while that media is traveling in the operating direction “T”. Slider  14   c  is attached to load beam  22   c  by way of flexure  51   c  by conventional methods, flexure  51   c  providing for rotation of slider  14   c  relative to beam  22   c  such that the slider may attain proper orientation relative to the media in normal operation.  
         [0047]    [0047]FIG. 5 b  depicts in cross-section a slider pair,  14   u  and  14   l,  in operational position with media  12   c.  In this view, for which only one rail is visible, the lower slider  141  contains a coil  38   c  for reading and writing the media, while opposing upper slider rail does not have a coil (the upper slide rail may contain a coil at the other rail, if reading/writing the upper media surface were desirable). Slider  14   u  is positioned on the opposite side of media  12   c  from lower slider  14   l  to provide pressure against the air bearing formed between media  12   c  and lower slider  14   l,  which maintains the read/write sensor in close proximity to the media. Also in this view, upper slider trailing edge  50   u  does not directly oppose lower slider trailing edge  50   l,  as the upper slider  14   u  is positioned slightly forward of lower slider  14   l.  Such a difference in forward position may be referred to as a trailing misalignment.  
         [0048]    Trailing misalignments may occur due to several factors, which make impractical the requirement of maintaining small-tolerance alignments in operation of the storage device. First, a misalignment may occur due to normal manufacturing tolerances in the load beam, or in the attachment of the load beam to the actuating device, and in the position of heads relative to media. Second, because the attachment between the load beam and the slider is flexible, there is a tendency for the slider to move, especially where the media is not perfectly flat or of uniform thickness. Third, if the traveling media has imperfections, or is dirty, one or both of the sliders may drag against the traveling media. Because the load beams cannot be made to be perfectly stiff, the sliders may oscillate in the direction of media travel, which oscillation may be started from that drag or environmental vibration of the storage device itself.  
         [0049]    Shown in FIGS. 6 a  and  6   b  in cross-section are the rearward portions of a slider pair,  14   u  and  14   l,  enclosing media  12   c,  the sliders being of the type shown in FIG. 5 b.  In these figures media  12   c  travels in the direction labeled “T”. In FIG. 6 a,  the upper slider  14   u  precedes lower slider  14   l,  with the upper trailing edge  50   u  also preceding lower trailing edge  50   l.  In that position, a high air pressure occurs against the media and the lower slider  14   l  in the area beginning at the opposite side of media  12   c  from upper trailing edge  50   u  and ending at lower trailing edge  50   l.  The area on the opposite side of media  12   c  is not supported by slider material, in which a low pressure forms. The combination of high and low pressure on opposing sides of media  12   c  causes a deflection of the media in the direction marked “D”. Although media  12   c  is flexible, some degree of rigidity is maintained. The deflection thereby tends to cause the media  12   c  to be forced against the upper trailing edge  50   u.  A deflection in the opposite direction may occur if the lower slider precedes the upper slider, as depicted in FIG. 6 b.    
         [0050]    With current processes, magneto-resistive (Anisotropic Magnetoresistive, Giant Magnetoresistive, and Dual Stripe Magnetoresistive) sensors are typically located within 20-30 μm of the trailing edge of a slider. In a rigid disk application this trailing edge position allows the sensor to remain in close proximity to the media as the slider flies above the media. The rigid media supports the pressure between the slider and the media without significant distortion.  
         [0051]    In a floppy disk environment, the media itself is unable to support the pressure between an unopposed slider and the media without significant distortion. This distortion causes separation between the sensor and the magnetic information-containing material, which causes loss of signal. The pressure can be maintained by a separate slider on the opposite side of the media. If a sensor is located on or near the trailing edge of the sliders without further trailing material, it is difficult to maintain support unless the sliders are kept in nearly perfect-alignment. If the sensor is moved some distance away from the trailing edge, or if significant overlap exists between opposing sliders, it is possible for the media to be supported and good spacing (contact) can exist between the sensor and the media.  
         [0052]    Flexible media is abrasive and wears material away from the slider. Because of the high pressures and forces acting on the media as it passes between the two sliders, the media tends to exhibit intense oscillations as it exits the trailing edges of the sliders. These oscillations are largely due to spinning disk dynamics which are suppressed to a large extent while the media is between the sliders. When the media escapes the slider enclosure, owing to its continuous nature the media resumes its natural vibrations. In this process, the last bit of media between the heads, and the first bit, may experience excessive oscillating direction movements causing media wrap. These oscillations cause significantly more wear on the trailing edge as compared to the rest of the ABS (air bearing surface). It is therefore desirable to move the sensor away from the trailing edge, which may reduce material loss at the sensor location and thereby improve sensor life.  
         [0053]    According to one thin-film process, sensors are deposited on the surface of a wafer. An overcoat of approximately 25 μm is then deposited over the top of the sensors. In this configuration, with magneto-resistive sensors, the sensor is too close to the trailing edge for repeated use in a flexible media environment. It is therefore desirable to move the sensor away from the trailing edge, which may reduce material loss at the sensor location and thereby improve sensor life.  
         [0054]    Depicted in FIGS.  7  to  17  are several distinct thin-film slider configurations, which may provide relief from the sensor wear described above, by providing additional material on the trailing edge. Referring first to FIG. 7, an exemplary slider is depicted in perspective having a slider body  60   a  and a thin film sensor layer  61   a.  A sensor rail  65   a  and a supporting rail  66   a  are optionally formed in the slider body  60   a  providing localized pressure to bring the sensor  62   a,  or a sensor of an opposing slider, into position relative to proximal media. In practice, sensor layer  61   a  may be a lamination of several layers manufactured through a thin-film process as described above, and may include a read/write sensor  62   a  and terminals  64   a  for making electrical connection to the sensor. A sensor layer may be directly deposited on a body or body material, or may be formed separately and attached through conventional methods. An overcoat layer is typically applied to slider bodies and sensor layers, which may provide protection from wear and from electrostatic discharge. Of course, the overcoat layer is not applied over terminals  64 a, which may be achieved through conventional masking techniques. Terminals  64   a  may also have plated or deposited thereto a corrosion resistant and electrically conductive material, such as gold, nickel alloy or carbon composite, and may have wires welded or otherwise fastened thereto providing to a connection with read/write circuitry as previously described. Wear-resistant material  63   a,  otherwise referred to as a closure, is applied to the body/sensor combination; the particular configuration of FIG. 7 being largely attached to one side of the slider body  60   a  and providing additional supporting material at the trailing edge of the slider at  73   a.    
         [0055]    Now the configuration of FIG. 7 as shown is not generally sufficient to prevent wear to the sensor  62   a,  as the closure material does not extend behind the trailing edge of the slider in the sensor area. That configuration, however, may provide media support to an opposing slider and sensor in the event of a misalignment. In order to provide sensor wear protection, closure material may be applied to the opposite side of  60   a,  particularly trailing the sensor, largely attached to the opposite side of slider body  60   a  from the attachment of closure material  63   a.    
         [0056]    Described in FIGS.  8  to  17  are other slider configurations, labeled in similar fashion to the slider depicted in FIG. 7. More particularly, the sliders of FIGS.  8  to  17  may each include a slider body  60 , a sensor layer  61 , a sensor  62 , closure material  63 , terminals  64 , rails  65  and  66 , and closure material  73  providing support and/or wear protection to the sensor of the particular slider configuration, each component individually identified by a suffix “b”, “c”, etc. For the purposes of brevity, these component parts will not be further discussed where the above disclosure in combination with the drawings is sufficient.  
         [0057]    In FIG. 8 a slider is depicted with closure material  63   b  largely attached to the bottom of slider  60   b.  Closure material includes an extension from the slider-bottom attaching portion to trailing supporting material  73   b,  thereby forming a unitary closure component. As with other described slider configurations, an aperture is provided in closure material  73   b  to provide bonding access to terminals  64   b  for wires, as described above.  
         [0058]    [0058]FIG. 9 depicts another slider configuration, including a third rail  67  in the center of the top of slider  60   c,  providing an air bearing over a sensor, not shown, that sensor located to the trailing edge of that third rail  67 . In this example, closure material  63   c  is provided attached to sensor layer  61   c  at the center of the rear-facing surface thereof, the closure material  63   c  including a supportive and wear protective area  73   c.  In that slider configuration, terminals  64   c  are located to one side or the other (or both) of closure  63   c.    
         [0059]    In FIG. 10 a slider is shown having two-part closure material,  63   da  and  63   db,  attached to sensor layer  61   d  at the trailing end of rails  65   a  and  66   a.  FIG. 11 shows a similar slider to that of FIG. 10, with closure material  63   e  attached in the same locations. Additional closure material is added between the material trailing the rails to form a unitary closure material component  63   e.  Also provided is an aperture in the closure  63   e  at the bottom of the slider, providing access to terminals  64   e.    
         [0060]    [0060]FIG. 12 depicts another slider configuration having a closure material  63   f  attached generally to the entire trailing surface of sensor layer  61   f.  In this configuration terminals  64   f  are rather provided in the closure material  63   f.  Those terminals may be included in closure  63   f  through several methods.  
         [0061]    In a first method, closure  63   f  is first formed with terminal channels and attached to sensor layer  61   f.  Terminals are then plated through the terminal channels from terminals located in sensor layer  61   f  to near the surface of closure  63   f.  Alternately, sputtering or another vapor deposition process may be used to deposit conductive material at the terminal locations. Wires may then be bonded to the formed terminals.  
         [0062]    In a third method, terminals  64   f  are formed separately from closure  63   f  and inserted thereto. Electrical attachment between terminals  64   f  and sensor layer  61   f  may be performed by the use of conductive adhesive, or alternately a welding operation perhaps using a solder powder, paste or similar compound. Many other methods may be used to provide attachment between the terminals and a sensor layer.  
         [0063]    [0063]FIG. 13 depicts a slider having a flexible circuit  68  providing electrical access to a sensor located as in the previous examples. Flexible circuit  68  is located adjacent to sensor layer  61   g,  whereby electrical connections are made, for example by conductive adhesive, between the flexible circuit and the sensor layer contacts. Closure  63   g  attaches to sensor layer  61   g  and optionally flexible circuit  68 , providing trailing extensions  73   g  providing support and/or wear protection.  
         [0064]    Shown in FIG. 14 is a slider having a slider body extension  74  incorporated in slider body  64   h,  providing a larger bonding surface for sensor layer  61   h.  A closure  63   h  is attached to sensor layer  61   h,  closure  63   h  being a similar size to that shown in FIG. 12. Terminals  64   h  are included in sensor layer  61   h  in the portion not covered by closure  63   h  provided by the extension  74 . In alternate configurations, the closure may extend up to the entire sensor layer surface, providing more attachment/bonding area. In those configurations, terminals may be provided as in other slider configurations as desired.  
         [0065]    The manufacture of closures as disclosed above may be done in many ways. A closure, for example, might be machined from a block of wear-resistant material. Alternatively, a closure might be manufactured utilizing a molding process, or a metal vapor deposition process. Many materials may be selected for closures, as desirable keeping in mind the expected circumstances of use, i.e. the abrasive characteristics of the media, rotational speed and frequency of use and/or motion. In many cases, a closure may be formed from the same material as a slider body, for example altic. Harder minerals, such as corundum, may be used providing enhanced wear resistance. In some circumstances, closures might be gang-machined, i.e. a number of closures machined from a block of material from common machining steps.  
         [0066]    Attachment of a closure to a slider body or sensor layer may occur through any number of methods, including soldering, ultrasonic welding, epoxy and many others. The attachment may be performed at any logical stage of slider manufacture, for example at the wafer, bar, or slider stages. If attachment to a sensor layer is to be done, it may be desirable to form grooves, pins or other structures to provide for added adhesion characteristics in either the sensor layer, closure or both.  
         [0067]    Now it should be understood that a trailing extension should extend a sufficient distance in the direction of media travel to prevent wear of the sensor (and surrounding material in locality to the sensor) from the media surface. That minimum distance will vary depending on the trailing extension material, the abrasiveness of the media, the rotational speed of the media and the lifespan and service expectations of the slider. For media as used in the IOMEGA ZIP 750 drive, a trailing extension of about 100-125 μm may yield good results. It is also possible to make the trailing extension so long as to cause, at times, the read/write sensor to be located relatively far from the media, particularly if the media has become distorted, as discussed above. Note that that condition may be correctible through repeated read or verify/write operations, relying on the probability that the position and shape of the media will likely change on the next cycle, although it may be desirable to avoid the added time required to perform those operations.  
         [0068]    [0068]FIGS. 15 a  and  15   b  depict an alternate slider configuration in which a “brick”  69  is insertable into a slider body  60   i.  The sensor layer  61   i  is attached or deposited to brick  69 , which assembly may then be inserted into the slider body  60   i  as shown in FIG. 15 a  and bonded thereto, forming the assembly shown in FIG. 15 b.  Note that in this configuration, trailing extensions  73   i  are provided in the slider body  60   i  rather than a closure. A brick  69  might be cut and machined from a wafer whereon sensor layers  61   i  are formed, without the addition of further material if the slider body  60   i  is suitably shaped.  
         [0069]    Alternate slider configurations may utilize a deposition process to form trailing extensions, for example  73   j  in FIG. 16. In that example, a relatively thick deposited layer  70  is applied to the sensor layer, not shown, encapsulating that sensor layer thereby. Layer  70  may be any depositable and wear resistant material, for example alumina. Layer  70  may applied in a single step, or alternatively in a series of steps forming a lamination of wear-resistant layer material. In one exemplary method, a protective layer of 105 μm is deposited in a laminate structure of three 35 μm layers. Again, exposed terminals  64   j  are provided to make electrical connection with an embedded sensor. The terminals may again be built up to the surface of layer  70  from the sensor layer through plating or deposition methods as suggested above.  
         [0070]    Now depending on the circumstances of use, a single layer of wear resistant material may be susceptible to breakage and/or separation from the slider structure. Shown in FIG. 17 is a similar slider to that shown in FIG. 16, but rather layers of deposited material onto sensor layer  61   k  are utilized to provide trailing extensions  73   k.  In the example of FIG. 16, layers marked  72  are of a relatively stress resistant, soft or flexible material and layers marked  71  are relatively hard and wear resistant material, for example alumina. The laminate structure formed by layers  71  and  72  form a wear resistant layer having trailing extensions but relatively flexible and/or resistant to stress or strain. The deposition of layers  71 ,  72  and  70  of FIG. 16 may be efficiently performed at the wafer level, particularly before cutting and machining to individual sensor layer components. As in the slider of FIG. 16, the terminals may be built up to the surface of layer  70  from the sensor layer through plating or deposition methods as suggested above.  
         [0071]    While storage device sliders incorporating thin-film sensors and wear resistant extensions, slider assemblies and disk drives incorporating those sliders and further the manufacture thereof have been described and illustrated in conjunction with a number of specific configurations and methods, those skilled in the art will appreciate that variations and modifications may be made without departing from the principles herein illustrated, described, and claimed. The claimed products may therefore be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the disclosed products. The configurations described herein are to be considered in all respects as only illustrative, and not restrictive. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.