JP2964722B2 - Manufacturing method of floating type thin film magnetic head - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a flying type thin film magnetic head used in a magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various types of thin film magnetic heads have been developed with the spread of information equipment, and their manufacturing methods have been variously improved.

A method of manufacturing a conventional floating type thin film magnetic head will be described below. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a general thin film magnetic head.

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 1 denotes a slider body processed by an Al ₂ O ₃ —TiC ceramic material, 2 denotes a thin film surface formed on one surface of the slider body 1 by sputtering, and 3 denotes precision grinding and polishing. The flying surface 4 is a leading taper formed by forming an end of the flying surface 3 at an inclination angle of about 1 degree with respect to the flying surface 3, and 5 is a floating type thin film magnetic head composed of the above components.

A method of manufacturing the floating type thin film magnetic head configured as described above will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 7 is a process diagram of grinding a slider body from a general substrate block. A head element in which a circular substrate having a thin film and a pattern formed by a sputtering method, an electrodeposition method, or the like is arranged on a wafer substrate made of an Al ₂ O ₃ —TiC-based ceramic or the like mirror-polished in the step (a). Is ground to form a square block 6.

Next, in the step (b), for the purpose of improving the processing efficiency, row cutting is performed precisely along the head elements so that a large number of head elements can be processed collectively, and grinding is performed to further increase the precision. Then, a row-shaped workpiece 7 is manufactured. Then, in the step (c), the flying surface 3 is processed by grinding and polished to improve the surface accuracy, and in the step (d), the leading taper 4 is similarly produced by the polishing. Finally, in step (e), the row-shaped workpieces 7 are precisely cut to complete the slider body 1.

Here, a method of processing the row-shaped workpiece 7 will be described. FIG. 8 is a cutting process diagram for cutting only a conventional row-shaped workpiece, and (a) is a perspective view of the row-shaped workpiece;
(B) is a perspective view after the cutting. FIG. 9 is an explanatory view at the time of cutting. When cutting into slider body 1, thin film surface 2
Is in a state of being exposed to the outside, the thin film surface 2 is easily damaged by the rotation of the cutting grindstone 8 at the time of contact with the grindstone 8 or at the time of cutting, so that the thin film surface 2 is scratched. Cutting is performed with great care so as not to damage the thin film surface 2 due to the abrasive grains or chips of the grindstone 8, etc. Yield was low.

The Vickers hardness (Hv = 2000) of the Al ₂ O ₃ —TiC-based ceramic, which is the material forming the slider body 1, is the Vickers hardness (A) of the thin film surface 2.
l ₂ O ₃ protective film is for compared Hv = 400 to 800) to be very hard hard materials. When cutting composite materials having different hardnesses, it is difficult to select the rotation speed and cutting feed speed of the cutting grindstone, abrasive grains, and the grindstone, and it is possible to perform good cutting of the slider body 1, but Al ₂ O, which is liable to chip. _This is because it is not easy to keep the appearance of the thin film surface 2 of ₃ good.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show an improved method for solving these problems of the cutting method shown in FIG. 9, and a cutting process diagram showing a method of arranging the patch 9 on the thin film surface 2 and performing cutting. 10 (a) is a perspective view of a row-shaped workpiece to which a patch has been applied, FIG. 10 (b) is a perspective view after cutting, and FIG. 11 is an explanatory view at the time of cutting. The purpose of this method is to keep the contact material 9 in contact with the thin film surface 2 so as to prevent the above-mentioned various problems that may be caused by the thin film surface 2 being exposed.
The contact material 9 pre-processed to the same size as the row-shaped workpiece 7 is brought into close contact with the thin film surface 2 and then cut by the cutting whetstone 8, so that the thin film surface 2 where the thin film surface 2 is protected by the contact material is scratched. Can be prevented to some extent.

[0011]

However, in the above-described conventional method of manufacturing a flying type thin film magnetic head, cutting conditions are different due to a difference in material between the thin film surface 2 and the backing material 9, and the like.
It was impossible to completely prevent the thin film surface 2 from being scratched or chipped. Further, there is a problem in that the cost is increased because another material called the patch 9 is further required, and the patch 9 must be brought into complete contact with the patch 9 each time, which increases the number of steps and significantly lowers productivity. Had.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and prevents the occurrence of scratches or chipping on the thin film surface and enables mass production of a high quality floating type thin film magnetic head with high productivity and high yield. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a flying type thin film magnetic head.

[0013]

In order to achieve this object, a method of manufacturing a floating type thin film magnetic head according to the present invention comprises a machine for cutting, grinding, polishing, etc., a substrate having a thin film surface formed by a sputtering method or the like. What is claimed is: 1. A method for manufacturing a floating type thin-film magnetic head which forms a slider by performing processing, comprising: a step of cutting a block substrate cut from a wafer substrate into a row of workpieces along a head element aligned; A step of bringing the thin film surfaces of the row-shaped workpieces into contact with each other, and then performing mechanical processing such as cutting, grinding, and polishing.

[0014]

With this configuration, when processing the workpiece, the same mechanical properties are brought into contact with each other to restrict the thin film surface and the like, thereby significantly reducing the occurrence of scratches and chipping due to the rotation of the processing grindstone and the like. In addition, the productivity and the yield can be increased.

[0015]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIGS. 1 and 2 are explanatory views for explaining a cutting method according to the present embodiment. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing cutting of a row-shaped workpiece cut from a block substrate along a head element. It is process drawing, (a) is a perspective view when the thin film surface of the row-shaped workpiece faces each other, (b) is a perspective view when the thin film face is brought into contact, and (c) is a perspective view of the row-shaped workpiece. FIG. 2D is a perspective view of the slider body when cut to the size of the slider body, FIG. 2D is a perspective view of the slider body, and FIG.

2 is a thin film surface, 7 and 7 'are row-shaped workpieces, and 8 is a cutting grindstone. The thin film surfaces 2 of the row-shaped workpieces 7 and 7 'are brought into contact with each other, and then the two row-shaped workpieces 7 and 7' are simultaneously cut by the cutting whetstone 8, and the two slider bodies 1 are cut by one cutting operation. I got it. A microphotograph of the thin film surface 2 was taken at a magnification of 100 and observed. The result is shown in FIG.

(Comparative Examples 1 and 2) As Comparative Example 1, only row-shaped workpieces were cut by the method shown in FIGS. The thin film surface 2 was observed under the same conditions as in Example 1. The result is shown in FIG.

As Comparative Example 2, FIG. 10 and FIG.
The contact material 9 was brought into close contact with the thin film surface 2 of the row-shaped workpiece and cut by the method shown in FIG. The thin film surface 2 was observed under the same conditions as in Example 1. The result is shown in FIG.

As is clear from FIG. 3, according to this embodiment, since the same kind of material on the thin film surface 2 is in close contact, this portion can be considered as a continuous single material. Since it is possible to perform processing under optimum processing conditions for No. 2, it can be seen that it has the best appearance without any scratches or chippings.

On the other hand, in Comparative Example 1, the number of scratches and chips was larger than those of the other processing methods. In particular, when the chip was generated because the thin film surface 2 was a free surface, it propagated and the chip depth became 3.
It has been found that it tends to grow to 0 μm and to considerable dimensions. In Comparative Example 2, the occurrence of scratches and chipping was somewhat improved, and the chipping depth was 5 μm. However, the thin film surface 2 and the backing material 9 are considered as a composite material processing because the materials are different, and it is difficult to simultaneously process each material under optimum conditions, and as a result, various small scratches and chippings occur and the appearance is reduced. It can be said that there remains a problem with the quality of the product.

(Embodiment 2) As shown in FIG. 4, a group of row-shaped workpieces in contact with the thin film surface 2 of the row-shaped workpiece 7 were arranged in a plurality of stages as shown in FIG. Thin film surface 2 as in
In this way, four slider bodies 1 with no damage were obtained by one cutting operation. From this, it was found that according to the present embodiment, a slider body of high quality can be manufactured with high productivity.

(Embodiment 3) Next, the grooving shown in FIG. 5 was performed by bringing the thin film surfaces 2 of the two row-shaped workpieces 7, 7 'into contact with each other, but the thin film surface 2 was hardly damaged. Grooving could be performed.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, in the process of manufacturing a floating type thin film magnetic head, a thin film surface is generated by abutting two thin film surfaces of two workpieces and processing a plurality of thin film surfaces simultaneously. Manufacture of excellent floating thin-film magnetic heads that can be mass-produced at high yield and at low cost with high yield and low cost while reducing scratches and chipping, improving appearance quality and improving magnetic characteristics The method can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cutting process diagram of a row-shaped workpiece cut along a head element from a block substrate at the time of manufacturing a floating type thin-film magnetic head according to an embodiment of the present invention; (B) Perspective view when the thin film surface is brought into contact (c) Perspective view when the row of workpieces is cut to the size of the slider body (d) Perspective view of the slider body

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a row of workpieces according to an embodiment of the present invention when cutting.

FIG. 3A is a microscopic view of a thin film surface of a slider body manufactured in the present embodiment. FIG. 3B is a microscopic view of a thin film surface obtained by directly processing a conventional row-shaped workpiece. Microscopic view of the thin film surface when processed using the patch

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a cutting state according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a slider body when the present invention is applied to groove processing.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a general floating magnetic head.

FIG. 7 is a process diagram of cutting a slider main body from a general substrate block. (A) A perspective view of a block substrate cut from a wafer substrate. (B) A perspective view of an array of workpieces. (C) A floating surface is formed by grinding. (D) Perspective view of a row-shaped workpiece formed by grinding and forming a leading taper (e) Perspective view of a slider body

FIG. 8 is a cutting process diagram in the case of cutting only a conventional row-shaped workpiece, (a) a perspective view of the row-shaped workpiece, and (b) a perspective view after cutting.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view at the time of cutting.

FIG. 10 is a cutting process diagram in a case where a patch is disposed on a thin film surface in the related art and a cutting process is performed. (A) A perspective view of a row of workpieces to which a patch has been applied (b) A perspective view after the cutting

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view at the time of cutting.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 1 'slider body 2 thin film surface 3 air bearing surface 4 leading taper 5 floating type thin film magnetic head 6 block 7 row work 8 cutting whetstone 9 patch

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method of manufacturing a floating type thin film magnetic head for forming a slider by subjecting a substrate having a thin film surface formed by a sputtering method or the like to machining such as cutting, grinding and polishing, wherein the cutting is performed from a wafer substrate. Cutting the block substrate into row-shaped workpieces along the aligned head elements,
Contacting the thin film surfaces of the row-shaped workpieces obtained in the above steps, and then performing mechanical processing such as cutting, grinding, polishing, etc., a method of manufacturing a floating type thin film magnetic head.