JP3228385B2 - Method for manufacturing 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 thin-film magnetic head, and more particularly, to a method for manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head suitable for fine processing of an air bearing surface.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In this type of thin-film magnetic head, it is sometimes necessary to perform fine processing on an air bearing surface of a slider in order to set a width of a pole portion in a track direction, improve electromagnetic conversion characteristics, or improve a flying attitude. . For example, JP
In JP-A-274014 and JP-A-4-274008, a recess having a minute depth is provided at the end of the pole portion in the width direction or the thickness (length) direction of the air bearing surface, and the width of the pole portion in the track direction is set with high accuracy. Or a technique for improving the electromagnetic conversion characteristics.

As means for performing the above-described fine processing on the air bearing surface, an organic resist is attached to the air bearing surface, and the organic resist is patterned into a pattern corresponding to the fine processing. Means for performing fine processing by, for example, ion milling or the like using an organic resist remaining after patterning as a protective film is employed. The organic resist remaining as the protective film is removed by chemical and physical etching after the completion of the fine processing.

A slider constituting an air bearing surface is:
For example, a Al ₂ O ₃ (hereinafter referred to as ALTIC) -TiC like magnetic poles is constituted by, for example, permalloy. Therefore, the etching rates during ion milling are significantly different between the two. It is required that the depth of the concave portion obtained by the fine processing be set to an arbitrary value of 0.5 μm or more with respect to a fixed value of the magnetic pole (0.5 to 2.0 μm). Conventionally, a two-step process of forming a resist mask for patterning a slider base after forming a resist mask for magnetic pole patterning is performed, or a reaction such as CF ₄ or CCl ₄ is performed. The method of adjusting the etching rate of the magnetic pole and the slider base using a gas has been adopted.

[0005]

Among the above-mentioned conventional processing methods, a two-step method in which a resist mask for magnetic pole patterning is formed and then a resist mask for slider substrate patterning is formed. Is liable to increase the number of processes, limit the processing capacity and decrease the yield,
That caused the cost to rise.

In the case of controlling the etching rate ratio between the magnetic pole and the slider base using a reaction gas, the etching rate tends to vary in the reaction process, and it is difficult to obtain a concave portion having a constant depth. This has led to a decrease in yield. In addition, since it is essential to provide an exhaust gas treatment facility, there are various problems that must be solved, such as an increase in facility cost and a problem in safety due to the reaction gas as described above. I have.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head capable of etching a part of an end face of a pole portion and a slider base so as to form a highly accurate pattern according to a mask pattern. It is to be.

Another object of the present invention is to simultaneously form a pole portion and an air bearing surface, which is a slider base, in an intended shape and depth while maintaining an effective etching rate and a good processed surface condition. An object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head that can be processed so as to be as follows.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head capable of reducing the number of steps, increasing the processing capacity, improving the yield, and the like, thereby achieving cost reduction. .

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head capable of easily obtaining a concave portion having a constant depth, having a low equipment cost, and maintaining a safe working environment. That is.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head according to the present invention includes a step of processing an air bearing surface of a slider base supporting a magnetic transducer. The magnetic transducer includes a pole portion, and an end surface of the pole portion appears on a surface of the air bearing surface formed by the slider base. Then, after attaching a mask so as to have a pattern covering at least a part of the end face of the pole portion and the slider base with a space therearound, the incident angle with respect to the normal to the air bearing surface is adjusted. The pole portion and the slider are subjected to anisotropic dry etching from an oblique direction, according to the incident angle, the interval, and the height of the mask. Controlling the etching rate of the body.

[0012]

After the mask is attached to the surface of the air bearing surface including the pole portion so as to have a pattern covering at least a part of the end surface of the pole portion and the slider base with a space therearound at an interval, the mask is then dried. By performing the etching, it is possible to etch a part of the end face of the pole portion and the slider base with a space around the end portion so as to form a highly accurate pattern according to the pattern of the mask.

In performing the dry etching, after attaching a mask, anisotropic dry etching is performed from an oblique direction so as to have an incident angle with respect to a normal line of the air bearing surface, and the incident angle, the interval and the mask. An etching rate of the pole portion and the slider base is controlled according to the height. Thereby, the pole portion and the air bearing surface formed of the slider base can be processed to have the intended shape and depth in a simultaneous process while maintaining an effective etching rate and a good processed surface state.

Since the pole portion and the air bearing surface formed of the slider base can be simultaneously processed, the number of steps can be reduced, the processing capacity can be increased, the yield can be improved, and the cost can be reduced.

Moreover, since processing is performed by dry etching, unlike the case of using a reaction gas, variations in the etching rate hardly occur, and a concave portion having a constant depth can be easily obtained. Since an exhaust gas treatment facility or the like is not required, advantages such as a low facility cost and a safe working environment can be obtained.

[0016]

1 is a perspective view of a thin-film magnetic head to which the manufacturing method according to the present invention can be applied, FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a magnetic transducer element of the thin-film magnetic head shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a pole portion of the thin film magnetic head shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a pole portion of the thin film magnetic head shown in FIG. It is the enlarged view seen from the opposing surface side. In each figure,
The dimensions are exaggerated. Referring to the drawing, the slider 1 has rail portions 101 and 102 on the medium facing surface side.
The rail portions 101 and 102 have an air bearing surface 10
3. The number of rail portions 101 and 102 is not limited to two. One or three may be provided.

The thin-film magnetic transducer 2 includes a lower magnetic film 21,
It has a thin-film magnetic circuit including the upper magnetic film 23 and the coil film 24, and is provided at one end or both of the rail portions 101 and 102 at the edge in the air outflow direction a. The structure of the thin-film magnetic transducer 2 is shown in detail in FIG. In FIG. 3, a slider 1 has an insulating film 12 made of Al ₂ O ₃ or the like on a base 110 made of ALTIC or the like.
0 is attached by means of sputtering or the like, and the thin-film magnetic transducer 2 is provided on the insulating film 120. The thin-film magnetic transducer 2 is a thin-film element formed according to a process similar to the IC manufacturing technology. 21 is a lower magnetic film made of permalloy or the like, 22 is Al
A gap film made of ₂ O ₃ or the like, 23 is an upper magnetic film made of permalloy or the like, 24 is a coil film, 251 to 253 are interlayer insulating films made of photoresist or the like, and 26 is Al ₂
Protective films such as O ₃ , and 27 and 28 are lead conductors.

The lower magnetic film 21 and the upper magnetic film 23 are connected to a lower pole portion P which is opposed to a front end surface via a gap film 22.
1 and an upper pole portion P2. Lower pole part P
1 and the tip of the upper pole portion P2 are air bearing surfaces 1
Appears at 03. Lower magnetic film 21 and upper magnetic film 23
Has yoke portions 211 and 231 that are continuous behind the lower pole portion P1 and the upper pole portion P2, and the yoke portions 211 and 231 are connected to each other to complete a magnetic circuit at a rear connection portion. . The coil film 24 is formed so as to spiral around the joint. Both ends of the coil film 24 are connected to lead conductors 27 and 28. The lead conductors 27 and 28 are led out to the region where the extraction electrodes 41 and 42 are formed, and the extraction electrodes 41 and 4
Two. The periphery of the extraction electrodes 41 and 42 is covered with a protective film 26 that protects the entire thin-film magnetic transducer 2.

Referring to FIG. 4, the lower pole portion P1 has a concave portion 104, and the concave portion 104 is formed on the side opposite to the gap film 22 by partially removing the pole tip surface. The edge of the recess 104, which is the boundary with the tip surface, is not parallel to the gap film 22. Similarly, the upper pole portion P2 has a concave portion 104, and the concave portion 104
On the opposite side, the pole tip surface is partially removed. The edge of the recess 104, which is the boundary with the tip surface, is not parallel to the gap film 22. The present invention discloses a technique for forming the recess 104 as described above. Recess 104 can also be filled with a suitable non-magnetic filler, for example, ceramic.

At least one of the pole portions P 1 and P 2 has an edge opposite to the gap film 22.
And non-parallel. This structure is equivalent to gradually reducing the magnetic characteristics of the pole portion P1 or P2 along the running direction a of the magnetic recording medium to eliminate the pseudo gap. Therefore, the sub-pulses are dispersed on the time axis,
Almost no sub-pulses are included, and an output waveform close to a Lorentz pulse is obtained. This allows partial. A thin-film magnetic head to which the response signal method can be applied is obtained.

The retreat amount d of the deletion by the concave portion 104 is 0.5
It is desirable to set in the range of μm to 2.0 μm. When the receding amount d is 0.5 μm or less, the overwrite characteristics deteriorate, and the structure of the present invention does not substantially function.
Above μm, there is a problem in reliability due to exposure of the insulating film on the magnetic pole side.

The recessed portion 104 is formed such that the retreating amount d, which is the depth of the pole portions P1 and P2, maintains the depth of the air bearing surface 103 at a certain depth at which the structure of the present invention functions, and satisfies the floating characteristics. Is ideal, the slider constituting the air bearing surface 103 is made of, for example, ALTIC, and the pole portions P1 and P2 are made of, for example, Permalloy. Are significantly different between the two.
For this reason, while keeping the retreat amount d of the pole portions P1 and P2 at a constant value, the air bearing surface 103
As described above, it is difficult to arbitrarily set the retreat amount of the slider 1 that constitutes the above-described configuration, and the present invention discloses means capable of solving such difficulty. Next, a specific example to which the present invention is applied to the thin film magnetic head shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, referring to FIG. 6, a thin film magnetic head 5 is arranged on a jig 3. Each of the thin-film magnetic heads 5 is arranged on the jig 3 and fixed by means such as bonding. In the illustration, the thin-film magnetic head 5
Are already individually separated, but may be in an aggregate state before being separated. Thin film magnetic head 5
The air bearing surface 103 which appears on the opposite side to the adhesive surface is a surface having a high degree of flatness after the polishing process has been completed.
Then, the mask 61 is formed on the surface of the air bearing surface 103 including the pole portions P1 and P2 so as to have a pattern for covering at least a part of the end surfaces of the pole portions P1 and P2 and the slider 1 at intervals therearound. , 62 are deposited.

FIG. 7 shows a specific example of mask attachment.
The masks 61 and 62 are attached so as to have a pattern that covers a part of the end surfaces of the pole portions P1 and P2 and the slider 1 with a mask interval X around the portions. Mask 6
Reference numerals 1 and 62 are made of an organic resist, and the patterning is performed by a well-known photolithography process.

Next, after attaching the masks 61 and 62,
As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, anisotropic dry etching is performed from an oblique direction so as to have an incident angle θ with respect to a normal line n of the air bearing surface 103. A specific example of dry etching is ion milling. The pole part P at this time
1 and P2 and the etching rate of the slider 1 are the incident angle θ, the mask interval X, and the height Y of the masks 61 and 62.
(See FIG. 9). Therefore, by appropriately selecting the incident angle θ, the mask interval X, and the height Y of the masks 61 and 62, the etching rate ratio of the pole portions P1 and P2 and the slider 1 is changed, and the pole portion P1
While the retraction amount d of P2 and P2 is maintained at a constant value,
Can be arbitrarily set in the simultaneous process.

FIG. 10 shows the milling rate and the incident angle θ,
It is actual measurement data showing the relationship between the mask interval X and the height Y of the masks 61 and 62. In the figure, the vertical axis represents milling
Rate (× 10 ° / min), and the horizontal axis indicates the incident angle θ
Is shown. The height Y of the masks 61 and 62 is 4.
It was 9 μm. The distance X between the masks 61 and 62 is NiF
This is illustrated in FIG. 10 as e (X). The ALTIC data is data when the mask interval is sufficiently wide.

According to FIG. 10, for example, when the incident angle θ is about 50 degrees, the milling rate curve of the ALTIC as the slider 1 and the milling rate curve of NiFe (X = 5) intersect. That is, when the height of the masks 61 and 62 is set to 4.9 μm, the incident angle θ is selected to be about 50 degrees, and when the distance X between the masks 61 and 62 is selected to 5 μm, the pole portions P1 and P2 are formed. The milling rate of NiFe to be made coincides with the milling rate of the ALTIC constituting the slider 1, and the retreat amount d, which is the depth of the recess 104, is set to the same value in the pole portions P 1 and P 2 and the slider 1. It becomes possible. It goes without saying that the milling rate ratio between the pole portions P1 and P2 and the slider 1 can be set arbitrarily.

When the mask height Y is set to 4.9 μm, in the region where the incident angle θ is less than 0 to 30 degrees, the milling rates of NiFe and ALTIC increase almost the same as the incident angle θ increases. . On the contrary,
When the incident angle θ exceeds 30 degrees, milling of NiFe
There is a region where the rate sharply decreases as the incident angle θ increases. During this time, the milling rate of the slider, that is, the ALTIC increases with an increase in the incident angle θ, or remains flat. Therefore, when the incident angle θ exceeds 30 degrees, the milling rate of NiFe becomes
The incident angle θ is selected to be 30 degrees or more because the direction approaches the milling rate of the TIC. When the incident angle θ exceeds 60 degrees, the milling rate becomes too small, and the working efficiency is reduced. Therefore, it is desirable to set the incident angle θ in the range of 30 to 60 degrees. Further, at this Q value, good matching surface accuracy of ALTIC can be maintained.

When the mask height Y is set to 4.9 μm, the mask interval X is 5 to 12.5 μm and the incident angle θ is 3
In the range of 0 to 60 degrees, the milling rate of NiFe and A
The deviation from the LTIC milling rate can be kept within a practically acceptable range. Equivalently, when the incident angle θ is set in the range of 30 to 60 degrees, 1 ≦
When (X / Y) ≦ 3.0 is satisfied, milling of NiFe
The deviation between the rate and the milling rate of the ALTIC can be kept within a practically acceptable range.

Moreover, since the pole portions P1 and P2 and the air bearing surface 103 formed of the slider base 1 can be simultaneously processed, the number of steps can be reduced, the processing capacity can be increased, the yield can be improved, and the cost can be reduced. Is achieved.

Furthermore, since processing is performed by dry etching, unlike the case of using a reactive gas, there is little variation in the etching rate, and the concave portion 10 having a certain depth is formed.
4 can be easily obtained. Since an exhaust gas treatment facility or the like is not required, advantages such as a low facility cost and a safe working environment can be obtained.

Although the present embodiment has been described in detail with reference to the drawings, it can be widely applied when it is necessary to perform fine processing on the air bearing surface 103. For example, it can be used when obtaining a TPC type slider, a sweep rail, or the like.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. (A) It is possible to provide a method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head capable of etching a part of an end face of a pole portion and a slider base surrounding the end portion so as to form a highly accurate pattern according to a mask pattern. (B) A method for manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head capable of simultaneously processing the pole portion and the air bearing surface formed of the slider base body to an arbitrary depth while maintaining an effective etching rate and a favorable processed surface state. Can be provided. (C) It is possible to provide a method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head capable of achieving a reduction in the number of steps, an increase in processing capacity, an improvement in yield, and the like, thereby achieving a cost reduction. (D) It is possible to provide a method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head that can easily obtain a concave portion having a certain depth, has low equipment costs, and can maintain a safe working environment.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a thin-film magnetic head to which a manufacturing method according to the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a magnetic conversion element portion of the thin-film magnetic head shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a magnetic transducer element of the thin-film magnetic head shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a pole portion of the thin-film magnetic head shown in FIG.

5 is an enlarged view of a pole portion of the thin-film magnetic head shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from a medium facing surface side.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing steps of a method for manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged plan view showing a part of the manufacturing process shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a view showing the next step of the method for manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged plan view showing a part of the manufacturing process shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is actually measured data showing a relationship between a milling rate, an incident angle θ, a mask interval X, and a mask height Y.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Slider 101, 102 Rail part 103 Air bearing surface 104 Depression 2 Magnetic transducer

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G11B 5/60

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method for manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head, comprising a step of processing an air bearing surface of a slider base supporting a magnetic transducer, wherein the magnetic transducer includes a pole part, and an end face of the pole part. Appears on the surface of the air bearing surface formed by the slider base, and the step includes, on the surface of the air bearing surface including the pole portion, at least a part of an end surface of the pole portion, and around the end portion. After attaching a mask so as to have a pattern covering the slider base at intervals, anisotropic dry etching is performed from an oblique direction so as to have an incident angle with respect to the normal line of the air bearing surface, Manufacturing of a thin-film magnetic head for controlling an etching rate of the pole portion and the slider base in accordance with an incident angle, the interval, and the height of the mask Law. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the incident angle is set in a range of 30 to 60 degrees. 3. The method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein when the interval is X and the height of the mask is Y, 1 ≦ (X / Y) ≦ 3.0.