JPH087848B2 - Thin film magnetic head and method of manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thin film magnetic head and a method for manufacturing the same, and particularly to a thin film magnetic head used in a fixed disk device or a magnetic tape device as an external storage device for a computer. And a manufacturing method thereof.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, in this type of thin-film magnetic head and its manufacturing method, a substrate 21 made of a non-magnetic material is first prepared as shown in FIG. 3 (a), and then the substrate 21 is prepared as shown in FIG. 3 (b). The lower core layer 22 made of a magnetic material is formed on the top of the lower core layer 22 so that the front end 22a is much thinner than the rear part. Next, as shown in FIG. 3C, a magnetic gap layer 23 made of a non-magnetic material is formed on the lower core layer 22 to connect the lower core layer 22 and an upper core layer 31 described later. The through hole 23a is bored.
Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 3D, the interlayer insulating layer 26, the first conductor coil layer 27 of the first layer, the interlayer insulating layer 28, the second conductor coil layer 29 of the second layer, and the interlayer insulating layer 30. Are sequentially formed. Then, as shown in FIG. 3 (e), an upper core layer 31 made of a magnetic material is formed, and as shown in FIG. 3 (f), the upper core layer 31 is processed into a desired shape. After that, a protective layer (not shown) is covered and polishing or the like is performed to complete the conventional thin film magnetic head.

In such a conventional thin film magnetic head and the manufacturing method thereof, the magnetic gap layer 23, which is the most important part for the thin film magnetic head, is formed after the formation of the interlayer insulating layers 26, 28 and 3.
The magnetic gap layer 23 is damaged by a large number of steps and the characteristics are deteriorated, and the flatness and dimensions are deteriorated because various effects are caused in the steps of forming the 0 and the conductor coil layers 27 and 29. However, there has already been proposed a thin film magnetic head and a manufacturing method thereof for suppressing the characteristic deterioration of the magnetic gap layer by separately forming the pole portion and the yoke portion of the upper core layer. (See Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-178710).

Further, in the conventional thin film magnetic head and the manufacturing method thereof, the interlayer insulating layer 26 that is a portion that regulates the gap depth.
Similar to the case of the magnetic gap layer 23 at the tip of the, the various steps are performed in the subsequent steps, so that there is a problem that the dimensional accuracy deteriorates and it is difficult to accurately provide the gap depth. A thin film magnetic head and a method of manufacturing the same have been already proposed (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-128017), in which an etching stopper is formed on a layer so that the gap depth can be obtained with high accuracy.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in the above-described conventional thin film magnetic head, since the position of the connection point between the lower core layer 22 and the upper core layer 31 is low, and the hole for connecting the upper core layer 31 to the lower core layer 22 is deep,
There is a problem in that the crystal growth of the magnetic material forming the upper core layer 31 is disturbed in the sloped portion of the hole.

Further, in order to solve such a problem, even in the conventional method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head, it is possible to raise a part of the lower core layer 22 to increase the connection position with the upper core layer 31. However, this has a problem that the number of steps is extra.

In view of the above points, an object of the present invention is to form the lower core layer into two layers, and form the magnetic gap layer on the first lower core layer,
A gap depth regulating portion and a connection point lift portion are formed thereon, and a second lower core layer is further formed thereon, and the second lower core layer is joined to the rear portion of the upper core layer at the position of the connection point lift portion. Another object of the present invention is to provide a thin film magnetic head as described above.

Another object of the present invention is to simultaneously form the gap depth restricting portion and the connection point lift portion and simultaneously form the upper core layer tip portion and the second lower core layer, thereby suppressing an increase in the number of steps. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing such a thin film magnetic head.

[Means for solving problems]

A thin film magnetic head of the present invention is a thin film magnetic head manufactured by a thin film manufacturing method, wherein a first lower core layer formed on a substrate made of a non-magnetic material and a magnetic layer formed on the first lower core layer. A gap layer, a gap depth restricting portion formed on the rear end side of the magnetic gap front end portion of the magnetic gap layer, and a connection point lift portion formed on the front end side of the magnetic gap rear end portion of the magnetic gap layer. An upper core layer tip portion formed in a range from above the magnetic gap tip portion of the magnetic gap layer to above the gap depth regulating portion; and from a rear position of the gap depth regulating portion of the magnetic gap layer from above. A second portion formed in a range including the connection point lift portion up to the rear end portion of the magnetic gap.
A lower core layer, a conductor coil layer formed on the second lower core layer in an area excluding the connection point lift portion via an interlayer insulating layer, and an interlayer insulating layer on the conductor coil layer. And a rear portion of the upper core layer formed and coupled to the front end portion of the upper core layer and the second lower core layer on the connection point lift portion.

The method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head of the present invention is the method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head manufactured by the thin-film manufacturing method, comprising the step of forming a first lower core layer on a substrate made of a non-magnetic material; A step of forming a magnetic gap layer on the lower core layer, and a gap depth restricting portion on the rear end side of the magnetic gap tip portion of the magnetic gap layer, and on the tip side of the magnetic gap rear end portion of the magnetic gap layer. Forming a connection point lift portion at the same time, and forming an upper core layer tip portion in a range from above the magnetic gap tip portion of the magnetic gap layer to above the gap depth regulation portion, and the gap depth regulation portion of the magnetic gap layer. A second lower core layer at the same time in a range from the rear position of the magnetic gap to the rear end of the magnetic gap including the connection point lift portion, and the second lower core layer on the second lower core layer. Forming a conductor coil layer through the interlayer insulating layer in a range except on the connection point lifting unit,
Forming on the conductor coil layer an upper core layer rear portion coupled to the upper core layer front end portion and the second lower core layer on the connection point lift portion via an interlayer insulating layer. Characterize.

[Action]

In the thin-film magnetic head of the present invention, the lower core layer is composed of two layers, the magnetic gap layer is formed on the first lower core layer, the gap depth restricting portion and the connection point lift portion are formed thereon, and further on top of that. Forming a second lower core layer on the second
Since the lower core layer is joined to the rear portion of the upper core layer at the connection point lift portion, the hole for connecting the lower core layer and the upper core layer can be shallow.

In the method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head of the invention, the first lower core layer is formed on the base material made of a non-magnetic material, the magnetic gap layer is formed on the first lower core layer, and the magnetic gap layer is formed on the magnetic gap layer. The gap depth restricting portion and the connection point lift portion are formed at the same time, and the upper core layer tip portion and the second portion are formed on the magnetic gap layer, the gap depth restricting portion and the connection point lift portion.
The lower core layer is formed at the same time, the interlayer insulating layer and the conductor coil layer are formed on the second lower core layer, and the upper core layer tip and the second lower core layer are bonded on the interlayer insulating layer that insulates the conductor coil layer. The upper core layer rear portion is formed.

〔Example〕

 Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a thin-film magnetic head according to one embodiment of the present invention. The thin-film magnetic head of this embodiment includes a substrate 1 made of a non-magnetic material, a first lower core layer 2 made of a magnetic material on the substrate 1, and a first lower core layer 2.
A magnetic gap layer 3 formed of a non-magnetic material on the top, a gap depth regulating portion 4a and a connection point lift portion 4b formed of a non-magnetic material on the magnetic gap layer 3, a magnetic gap layer 3, a gap depth regulating portion. 4a and connection point lift section 4b
The upper core layer tip portion 5a and the second lower core layer 5b formed of a magnetic material thereabove, and the interlayer insulation formed of an insulating material on the second lower core layer 5b for insulation and planarization The layer 6, the first conductor coil layer 7 of the first layer formed on the interlayer insulating layer 6 by a conductive material in a plane spiral shape, and the insulating material on the first conductor coil layer 7 for insulation and flattening. The formed inter-layer insulation layer 8, the second conductor coil layer 9 of the second layer formed on the inter-layer insulation layer 8 in a plane spiral shape by a conductive material, and the second
An interlayer insulating layer 10 formed of an insulating material for insulation and flattening is formed on the conductor coil layer 9, and is formed on the interlayer insulating layer 10 in combination with the upper core tip portion 5a and the second lower core layer 5b. The upper core layer rear portion 11 and a protective layer 12 formed of a protective material on the upper core layer rear portion 11 and the like form the main part.

Although the first lower core layer 2 and the second lower core layer 5b are not directly connected to each other in the thin film magnetic head of the present embodiment, the magnetic gap layer 3 interposed between them is extremely smaller than 1 μm. Since it is a thin layer, magnetic flux does not flow through the magnetic gap layer 3 and the function as the lower core layer is not hindered.

Next, a method of manufacturing the thin-film magnetic head of this embodiment having the above-described structure will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, as shown in FIG. 2 (a), a substrate made of a non-magnetic material such as Altec or non-magnetic ferrite is coated with a material such as alumina, which is likely to have a flatness, by sputtering, etc. Used as the substrate 1, a first lower core layer 2 is formed on the substrate 1 by sputtering, plating, or the like of a magnetic material such as ferrite. The magnetic gap layer 3 is formed by sputtering a magnetic material.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2B, a non-magnetic material such as an organic material such as polyimide or an inorganic material such as silica or alumina is laminated and processed to obtain the gap depth of the tip portion 5a of the upper core layer. The gap depth restricting portion 4a and the connection point lift portion 4b for connecting the second lower core layer 5b and the upper core layer rear portion 11 at a high position are respectively formed. The gap depth restricting portion 4a is formed on the rear end side of the magnetic gap tip portion 3a of the magnetic gap layer 3, and the connection point lift portion 4b is
It is formed on the front end side of the magnetic gap rear end portion 3b of the magnetic gap layer 3.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 2C, a magnetic material layer 5 is formed by sputtering a magnetic material such as ferrite, sendust, or amorphous metal.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2D, the magnetic material layer 5 is processed by an etching means such as milling to separate the upper core layer tip portion 5a from the second lower core layer 5b. To form. The upper core layer tip portion 5a is located above the magnetic gap tip portion 3a of the magnetic gap layer 3 from the gap depth regulating portion.
The second lower core layer 5b is formed in the range up to 4a, and includes the upper part of the connection point lift part 4b from the rear position of the gap depth restricting part 4a of the magnetic gap layer 3 to the upper part of the magnetic gap rear end part 3b. It is formed in the range. At this time, the gap depth restricting portion 4a accurately outputs the gap depth of the upper core layer tip portion 5a, and the connection point lift portion 4b causes the second lower core layer 5b.
The connection point with the upper core layer rear portion 11 is formed at a high position.

Then, as shown in FIG. 2 (e), a second lower core layer is formed.
The interlayer insulating layer 6 is formed by stacking an organic insulating material such as polyimide or an inorganic insulating material such as silica or alumina on 5b or the like for insulation and flattening, and copper or aluminum is formed on the interlayer insulating layer 6. The first conductor coil layer 7 is formed in a plane spiral shape by sputtering of a conductive material such as, for example, an organic material such as polyimide or an inorganic material such as silica or alumina for insulation and flattening on the first conductor coil layer 7. The interlayer insulating layer 8 is formed by laminating the insulating material of 1 above, and the second conductor coil layer 9 is formed in a planar spiral shape on the interlayer insulating layer 8 by sputtering a conductive material such as copper or aluminum.
An interlayer insulating layer 10 is formed by laminating an organic material such as polyimide or an inorganic material such as silica or alumina for insulation and flattening on the second conductor coil layer 9. Interlayer insulating layer 6, first conductor coil layer 7, interlayer insulating layer 8 and second
The conductor coil layer 9 is not formed on the upper core layer tip portion 5a and the second lower core layer 5b on the connection point lift portion 4b.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2 (f), the upper core layer rear portion 11 is formed on the interlayer insulating layer 10 by sputtering a magnetic material such as ferrite, sendust, or amorphous metal so that the upper core layer rear portion 11 and the upper core layer tip portion 5a and the 2 is formed by being combined with the lower core layer 5b.

Thereafter, the protective layer 12 is coated on the rear portion 11 of the upper core layer and the like by coating synthetic resin, carbon or the like, and is sputtered to polish the thin film magnetic head of this embodiment as shown in FIG. Will be completed.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the thin-film magnetic head of the present invention, the lower core layer has two layers, the magnetic gap layer is formed on the first lower core layer, and the gap depth regulating portion and the connection point lift are formed on the magnetic gap layer. The second lower core layer and the second lower core layer are further formed thereon, and the second lower core layer is coupled to the rear portion of the upper core layer at the connection point lift portion. Since the connection point with the rear part can be increased, the hole for coupling the second lower core layer and the rear part of the upper core layer becomes shallower, and the disorder of crystal growth in the rear part of the upper core layer on the slope of the hole is reduced. There is an effect that.

According to the method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head of the present invention,
Since the gap depth regulating portion and the connection point lift portion are formed at the same time, and the tip portion of the upper core layer and the second lower core layer are formed at the same time, the upper core layer on the slope portion of the hole is suppressed while suppressing the increase in the number of steps. There is an effect that a thin film magnetic head with less disordered crystal growth in the rear portion can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a thin film magnetic head according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2A to 2F show sequential steps in the method of manufacturing the thin film magnetic head shown in FIG. 3A to 3F are sectional views showing sequential steps in an example of a conventional method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head. In the figure, 1 ... Substrate, 2 ... First lower core layer, 3 ... Magnetic gap layer, 3a ... Magnetic gap front end, 3b ... Magnetic gap rear end 4a ... Gap depth restricting portion, 4b ... … Connection point lift part, 5a… Upper core layer tip part, 5b… Second lower core layer, 6,8,10… Interlayer insulation layer, 7… First conductor coil layer, 9… Second conductor Coil layer, 11 ... is the rear part of the upper core layer.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A thin film magnetic head manufactured by a thin film manufacturing method, comprising: a first lower core layer formed on a substrate made of a nonmagnetic material; and a magnetic gap layer formed on the first lower core layer. A gap depth restricting portion formed on the rear end side of the magnetic gap front end portion of the magnetic gap layer, a connection point lift portion formed on the front end side of the magnetic gap rear end portion of the magnetic gap layer, An upper core layer tip portion formed in a range from above the magnetic gap tip portion of the magnetic gap layer to above the gap depth regulation portion; and from the rear position of the gap depth regulation portion of the magnetic gap layer above the magnetic gap A second lower core layer formed up to an end portion in a range including the connection point lift portion, and an interlayer insulating layer in a range on the second lower core layer excluding the connection point lift portion. And a conductor coil layer formed via the insulating layer, and a top end portion of the upper core layer formed on the conductor coil layer via an interlayer insulating layer and the second lower core layer on the connection point lift portion. A thin film magnetic head comprising: a rear portion of an upper core layer; 2. A method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head manufactured by a thin film manufacturing method, the method comprising: forming a first lower core layer on a substrate made of a non-magnetic material; and a magnetic gap layer on the first lower core layer. And forming a gap depth restricting portion on the rear end side of the magnetic gap front end portion of the magnetic gap layer and a connection point lift portion on the front end side of the magnetic gap rear end portion of the magnetic gap layer. An upper core layer tip portion in a range from above the magnetic gap tip portion of the magnetic gap layer to above the gap depth regulating portion, and the magnetic gap from a position behind the gap depth regulating portion of the magnetic gap layer. A step of simultaneously forming a second lower core layer in a range up to the rear end portion including the connection point lift portion; and a step of removing the second connection point lift portion on the second lower core layer. A step of forming a conductor coil layer in an area with an interlayer insulating layer interposed therebetween, and a step of forming the upper core layer tip portion and the second lower core layer above the connection point lift portion with the interlayer insulating layer provided on the conductor coil layer. And a step of forming a rear portion of the upper core layer coupled to the thin film magnetic head.