Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US7492555?ie=ISO-8859-1
Timestamp: 2014-12-20 16:46:44
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Matched Legal Cases: ['art 12', 'art 12', 'art 17', 'art 17', 'art 17', 'art 17', 'art 17', 'art 12', 'art 12', 'art 17', 'art 17', 'art 17', 'art 12', 'art 12', 'art 12', 'art 22', 'art 22', 'art 21']

Patent US7492555 - Thin-film magnetic head structure, method of manufacturing the same, and ... - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsA method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head structure comprises the steps of preparing an insulating layer 10; forming a first resist layer 51 provided with a first slit pattern 51 a corresponding to a very narrow groove part and a second slit pattern 51 b corresponding to a temporary groove...http://www.google.com/patents/US7492555?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US7492555 - Thin-film magnetic head structure, method of manufacturing the same, and thin-film magnetic headAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS7492555 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 11/179,728Publication dateFeb 17, 2009Filing dateJul 13, 2005Priority dateJul 13, 2005Fee statusPaidAlso published asUS7943288, US8169740, US20070014048, US20090040655, US20090042143Publication number11179728, 179728, US 7492555 B2, US 7492555B2, US-B2-7492555, US7492555 B2, US7492555B2InventorsYoshitaka Sasaki, Hiroyuki Ito, Takehiro Kamigama, Tatsushi Shimizu, Hironori Araki, Shigeki Tanemura, Kazuo IshizakiOriginal AssigneeHeadway Technologies, Inc., Sae Magnetics (H.K.) Ltd.Export CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (17), Non-Patent Citations (1), Referenced by (4), Classifications (8), Legal Events (2) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetThin-film magnetic head structure, method of manufacturing the same, and thin-film magnetic headUS 7492555 B2Abstract A method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head structure comprises the steps of preparing an insulating layer 10; forming a first resist layer 51 provided with a first slit pattern 51 a corresponding to a very narrow groove part and a second slit pattern 51 b corresponding to a temporary groove part integrally extending from the very narrow groove part along outer edges of a main depression onto the insulating layer 10; etching the insulating layer 10 while using the first resist layer 51 as a mask; eliminating the first resist layer 51; forming a second resist layer having an opening pattern corresponding to the main depression onto the insulating layer 10; and etching the insulating layer 10 while using the second resist layer as a mask.
1. A thin-film magnetic head structure adapted to manufacture a thin-film magnetic head comprising a main magnetic pole layer having a magnetic pole end part on a side of a medium-opposing surface opposing a recording medium; a write shield layer opposing the magnetic pole end part so as to form a recording gap layer on the medium-opposing surface side; a thin-film coil wound about the write shield layer or the main magnetic pole layer; and a base insulating layer formed with a magnetic pole forming depression, filled with the main magnetic pole layer, including a very narrow groove part defining a form of the magnetic pole end part and a main depression integrally extending from an end part of the very narrow groove part remote from the medium-opposing surface,
wherein the bottom face of the main depression is positioned at a height lower than that of the bottom face of the very narrow groove part, and
wherein the distance between the stepped part and the medium-opposing surface is 0.1 to 0.3 μm.
2. A thin-film magnetic head structure adapted to manufacture a thin-film magnetic head comprising a main magnetic pole layer having a magnetic pole end part on a side of a medium-opposing surface opposing a recording medium; a write shield layer opposing the magnetic pole end part so as to form a recording gap layer on the medium-opposing surface side; a thin-film coil wound about the write shield layer or the main magnetic pole layer; and a base insulating layer formed with a magnetic pole forming depression, filled with the main magnetic pole layer, including a very narrow groove part defining a form of the magnetic pole end part and a main depression integrally extending from an end part of the very narrow groove part remote from the medium-opposing surface;
wherein at least a part of side faces in the main depression has an angle of inclination substantially the same as that of a side face in the very narrow groove part;
wherein at least a part of the main depression is constituted by a variable width depression integrally extending from the end part of the very narrow groove part remote from the medium-opposing surface and gradually increasing the width as distanced farther from the very narrow groove part;
wherein a side face in the variable width depression has an angle of inclination substantially the same as that of a side face in the very narrow groove part; and
wherein a side face of the very narrow groove part and the variable width depression has an angle of inclination smaller than that of a side face of the remnant of the main depression excluding the variable width depression. Description
In a PMR head in which the magnetic pole end part on the air bearing surface side of the above-mentioned main magnetic pole layer is formed like a bevel, the width of the magnetic pole end part (hereinafter referred to as magnetic pole width) is not sufficiently uniform, so that it is uneven in the longitudinal direction of the main magnetic pole layer. Therefore, when the above-mentioned magnetic pole end part of the main magnetic pole layer formed on the wafer is cut at a predetermined position so as to define the air bearing surface of the main magnetic pole layer, it has been problematic in that the magnetic pole width on the air bearing surface may vary depending on the cuffing position. Therefore, in the conventional PMR, there have been cases where the track width (recording track width) in the air bearing surface greatly varies among products.
Preferably, the stepped part has an angle of inclination α falling within the range of 0�<α<90�. This allows the end part of the lower yoke layer on the air bearing surface side to approach the air bearing surface while suppressing the occurrence of pole erasure, thereby enhancing the magnetic volume accordingly, which can further improve the overwrite characteristic.
Returning to FIG. 2, the main depression 13 is constituted by a variable width depression 14 and a fixed depression 15. The variable width depression 14 comprises a first variable width depression 14 a and a second variable width depression 14 b. The first variable width depression 14 a extends integrally from the end part of the very narrow groove part 12 remote from the air bearing surface S, while gradually increasing the groove width in a direction extending along the air bearing surface S as distanced farther from the very narrow groove part 12. A stepped part 17 extending along outer edges of the first variable width depression 14 a is provided on the inside of the first variable width depression 14 a, whereas the distance from a corner part 17 a formed by the side and lower faces of the stepped part 17 to the air bearing surface S is about 0.1 to 0.3 μm, which is substantially the same as the neck height NH (see part (d) in FIG. 3). Namely, the height of the bottom face in the first variable width depression changes at the stepped part 17. Specifically, the height of the bottom face (defined by the depth d2 of the main depression 13) on the second variable width depression 14 b side of the stepped part 17 is lower than the height of the bottom face (defined by the depth d1 of the very narrow groove part 12) on the very narrow groove part 12 side of the stepped part 17 (i.e., d2>d1). The second variable width depression 14 b has a groove width at the end part on the air bearing surface S side somewhat narrower than that of the end part of the first variable width depression 14 a and continuously extends from the end part of the first variable width depression 14 a remote from the air bearing surface S, while gradually increasing the groove width as distanced farther from the first variable width depression 14 b. The angle of inclination θ2 of each side face in the first variable width depression 14 a (i.e., the angle formed by the side face of the first variable width depression 14 a and a plane perpendicular to the surface of the insulating layer 10) is set to about 7 to 12� (e.g., 10�). The angles of inclination θ1 and θ2 are identical to each other here, though not required to be so. The angle of inclination α of the stepped part 17 (the angle formed by a plane forming the stepped part 17 and a plane including the bottom face of the very narrow groove part 12 (see the broken line in part (b) of FIG. 3)) is preferably greater than 0� but smaller than 90�, more preferably greater than 0� but not more than 60�.
The fixed width depression 15 continuously extends from the end part of the second variable width depression 14 b remote from the air bearing surface S while having a fixed groove width in a direction extending along the air bearing surface S. The angle of inclination θ3 of each side face in the fixed width depression 15 (the angle formed by the side face of the fixed width depression 15 and a plane perpendicular to the surface of the insulating layer 10) is about 12 to 20� (e.g., 18�). Namely, each of the angles of inclination θ1 and θ2 is smaller than the angle of inclination θ3 of the fixed width depression 15, which is the remnant of the main depression 13 excluding the variable width depression 14. The protruded depression 16 continuously extends from the other end part of the very narrow groove part 12, while gradually increasing the groove width in a direction extending along the air bearing surface S as distanced farther from the very narrow groove part 12.
First, when manufacturing the thin-film magnetic head structure 1, a reproducing head structure comprising an MR device and the like is laminated on an undepicted substrate made of aluminum oxide titanium carbide (Al2O3�TiC), for example. Subsequently, an insulating layer 10 made of alumina (Al2O3) and a nonmagnetic film 41 made of Ta or the like are formed on the upper side of the reproducing head structure (see FIG. 5). The nonmagnetic layer 41 may be omitted.
In addition, the angle of inclination θ2 of the side faces in the first variable width depression 14 a becomes very acute, so that, when the main magnetic pole layer 20 is formed by filling the cavity 11 with a magnetic material as shown in part (a) of FIG. 18, the difference between the distance Lla from the air bearing surface S to the start point of the yoke magnetic pole part 22 on the upper face side of the main magnetic pole layer 20 and the distance L1 b from the air bearing surface S to the start point of the yoke magnetic pole part 22 on the lower face side of the main magnetic pole layer 20 is much smaller than that attained conventionally. As a result, the magnetic pole end part 21 becomes very short on the bottom face of the main magnetic pole layer 20, thereby making it possible to suppress the occurrence of pole erasure.
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