JP2000215409A - Thin-film magnetic head and its production - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve narrow tracking corresponding to a higher recording density by matching the widths of upper and lower poles facing each other across the magnetic gap film of an inductive head and defining a track width with high accuracy. SOLUTION: The inductive head formed by laminating a lower magnetic film 4, a magnetic gap film 7, a conductor coil, an insulating layer and upper magnetic film on a substrate is formed with the magnetic gap film 7a by selecting nonmagnetic material having approximately the same milling rate as the milling rate of the upper and lower magnetic films. An upper pole 13, a lower pole 14 and the magnetic gap film 7 are trimmed to the desired track width by ion milling.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention provides an inductive (inductive) head for both writing and reading, or an inductive head for writing and a magnetoresistive (M) for reading.
R) a thin-film magnetic head integrally provided with a type head and used for recording and reproducing devices of various electronic devices such as a computer and a word processor such as a hard disk device;
And its manufacturing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, thin film magnetic heads using a magnetic material having a high saturation magnetic flux density have been widely used in order to increase the capacity and density of magnetic recording. In particular, recently, a write / read inductive head, which has been frequently used in the past, is employed exclusively for writing, and a read-only MR head which has a large reproduction sensitivity and whose reproduction output does not depend on a relative speed with respect to a recording medium is used. With the integrated MR / inductive hybrid type head, higher recording density, miniaturization of the apparatus, and higher output have been achieved. Conventionally,
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei.
As described in JP-A-147508 and JP-A-5-334621, by making the pole widths of the top and bottom magnetic films opposite to each other with the magnetic gap film interposed therebetween, recording bleeding and crosstalk due to side fringes of magnetic flux are prevented. A method for solving the problem and narrowing the track is known.

On the other hand, in a composite type head in which the upper shield of the MR head also serves as the lower magnetic film of the inductive head, there is a problem that a considerably large side fringe occurs at the time of recording, and the track narrowing is limited. Therefore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 262519/1994 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-143817, the upper surface of the upper shield is partially removed to form a rectangular ridge, that is, a lower pole portion below the upper pole and the magnetic gap film of the inductive head. By vertically aligning the side walls of the upper pole, the magnetic gap film, and the lower pole portion by ion milling or the like and trimming them so as to have the same width, the side surface of the MR element can be maintained while maintaining its function as an upper shield. Fringe minimization,
A method for improving off-track characteristics has been proposed.

[0004]

Generally, a magnetic material such as NiFe and a non-magnetic material such as alumina are used for the upper and lower magnetic films and the magnetic gap films of the inductive head, even in the MR / inductive hybrid type head. . However, when simultaneously ion-milling the upper pole, the magnetic gap film and the lower pole portion, alumina has a lower milling rate than NiFe, so that the magnetic gap film is not uniformly milled depending on the position where ions are irradiated. Has a problem that the upper and lower pole widths cannot be made to coincide with each other because the side wall has a tapered shape spreading downward. Further, it is practically difficult to trim the side wall vertically by controlling the milling conditions such as the ion incident angle.

[0005] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-143817 discloses that a magnetic gap film is formed by chemically removing a nonmagnetic material layer by plasma etching so as not to affect a magnetic material layer, and by ion milling. A method is disclosed in which the raised portions of the magnetic material, that is, both sides of the lower pole portion are formed in a rectangular shape having a width corresponding to the width of the upper pole. However, this method uses two different types of expensive mechanical devices, which not only increases the equipment cost, but also causes the trimming to be performed in at least two different steps. Alignment or the like is required, processing accuracy and production efficiency are reduced, and there is a possibility that the yield will decrease and the manufacturing cost will increase.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a thin film magnetic head having an inductive head, in which the magnetic gap film and the magnetic gap film are formed. By matching the width of the upper and lower poles of the upper and lower magnetic films opposite to each other, the track width can be precisely defined,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a thin-film magnetic head capable of realizing a narrow track in response to a demand for high recording density.

Another object of the present invention is to trim such a thin-film magnetic head relatively easily and with high precision using a single machine without requiring complicated steps and control. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head which can improve productivity and yield and reduce manufacturing cost.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to achieve the above-mentioned object, and comprises: a lower magnetic film made of a magnetic material formed on a substrate; a magnetic gap film made of a non-magnetic material; An upper magnetic film of a magnetic material, wherein the non-magnetic material has a milling rate substantially equal to that of the magnetic material, and the upper magnetic film sandwiches the magnetic gap film. A thin-film magnetic head is provided, wherein a lower pole of the lower magnetic film opposite the upper pole of the tip has the same track width as the lower pole.

According to the present invention, in the inductive head, the non-magnetic material of the magnetic gap film has substantially the same milling rate as the magnetic material of the upper and lower magnetic films, so that the magnetic gap film and the upper and lower poles are continuously ion-milled. Through the process, the desired track width can be controlled to the same desired value with high accuracy, and the side fringe can be suitably suppressed.

As a nonmagnetic material suitable for the magnetic gap film of the present invention having a milling rate substantially equal to that of a permalloy alloy generally used as a material for the upper and lower magnetic films, for example, Ta ₂ O ₅ or BeCu may be used. it can.

In one embodiment, the substrate is formed by stacking a lower shield, a magnetoresistive element, and an upper shield which also serves as a lower magnetic film of a writing inductive head on the substrate.
An inductive head is provided in the combined type head while maintaining the function of the upper shield for shielding the read MR head from the outside by further comprising an R head and forming the lower pole so as to protrude from the surface of the upper shield. Side fringes can be suppressed.

In this case, when the height of the lower pole protruding from the upper shield is about 1-2 times the thickness of the magnetic gap film, the distance between the inductive head and the MR head can be increased without excessively increasing the distance between the inductive head and the MR head. This is advantageous because fringes can be suppressed.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a lower magnetic film, a magnetic gap film, a conductor coil, and an insulating layer are provided on a substrate, and a lower pole of the lower magnetic film is provided at a tip thereof with the magnetic gap film interposed therebetween. Stacking an upper magnetic film having opposing upper poles, trimming the upper pole, the magnetic gap film, and the lower pole so as to have the same track width, and substantially the same as the magnetic material of the lower and upper magnetic films. A method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head, comprising: forming a magnetic gap film from a non-magnetic material having a milling rate; and performing the trimming by continuously ion milling an upper pole, a magnetic gap film, and a lower pole. Is provided.

With this configuration, the widths of the magnetic gap film and the upper and lower poles can be relatively easily adjusted without requiring complicated processes and control with a single mechanical facility, and the desired identical The track width can be controlled with high precision.

In one embodiment, the method further includes a step of laminating a lower shield, a magnetoresistive element, and an upper shield for forming a lower magnetic film of the inductive head on the substrate to form an MR head, By forming the lower pole so as to protrude from the upper shield surface by the trimming, it is possible to relatively easily manufacture a composite type head in which the magnetic gap film and the upper and lower poles are precisely controlled to the same desired track width. it can.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a process for manufacturing an MR / inductive combined thin film magnetic head according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Al ₂ O ₃ shown in FIG.
-On the surface of the substrate 1 made of a TiC-based ceramic material,
Using conventional manufacturing processes, deposited an insulating base film 2 such as alumina or SiO _2, Permalloy alloy thereon,
A read MR head 6 having a lower shield 3 and an upper shield 4 formed by plating or sputter-depositing a soft magnetic material such as a cobalt-based alloy or an iron-based sendust alloy, and an MR element 5 interposed therebetween is provided. Is formed. The MR element 5 includes a magnetoresistive thin film made of NiFe or the like provided between upper and lower gap layers made of an insulating film such as alumina, a bias film for reducing distortion of a reproduction signal, a magnetic domain stabilizing film, and the like.

A magnetic gap film 7 made of a non-magnetic material for forming a magnetic conversion gap is deposited on the upper shield 4 also serving as a lower magnetic film of the inductive head for writing by sputtering. In this embodiment,
A magnetic gap film is formed by using NiFe as a magnetic material of the upper shield 4 and using Ta ₂ O ₅ or BeCu as a non-magnetic material having substantially the same milling rate. For the upper shield, for example, Fe-N, CuZr, or the like can be used as another magnetic material.

On the magnetic gap film, organic insulating layers 8 and 9 made of novolak resin and a back gap 10
And a conductor coil 11 for writing made of spiral Cu centered on the center. Further thereon, a plating base film 12 for electroplating an upper magnetic film of an inductive head described later is deposited by sputtering or the like.

Next, an upper magnetic film is formed using NiFe, which is the same magnetic material as the upper shield, that is, the lower magnetic film 4.
The upper pole 13 of the upper magnetic film has a width T slightly larger than a desired track width Tw, as shown in FIG. 2A. In the present embodiment, the upper magnetic film is formed by the frame plating method using the conventional photolithography technique and the electroplating using the base film for plating.
In another embodiment, it can be formed by a film forming method such as ion plating, vapor deposition, or sputtering.

Next, the ion incident angle θ is set so that the selectivity of the lower pole portion, the upper pole 13 and the magnetic gap film 7 at the tip of the lower magnetic film 4, that is, the milling rate is 0.9 to 1.1. Perform ion milling. As a result, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3B, the portions on both sides of the magnetic gap film are completely removed except for the portion 7a below the upper pole 13. At this time, the side walls of the upper pole are also slightly narrower than the original width T by ion milling and uniformly removed to the same width T 'as the magnetic gap film 7a.

Further, the upper pole 13 and the magnetic gap film 7
The ion milling is performed using a as a mask, and the lower magnetic film 4 on both sides thereof is partially removed to a certain depth to form a lower pole 14 projecting in a rectangular shape from the surface of the lower magnetic film.
At this time, both side walls of the upper pole and the magnetic gap film are further slightly and uniformly removed by ion milling so that the upper pole, the magnetic gap film and the lower pole have the same desired track width. In the ion milling of the lower magnetic film, the height H of the lower pole 14 is set to about one thickness TG of the magnetic gap film 7a.
It is performed so as to be twice. According to the present invention, the upper pole, the magnetic gap film, and the lower pole can be trimmed in this way, and the desired track width can be controlled with high precision.

The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the technical scope thereof is not limited thereto. Various modifications and changes can be made within the embodiment.

[0023]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects. According to the thin film magnetic head of the present invention, the width of the magnetic gap film and the upper and lower poles having substantially the same milling rate can be trimmed by ion milling so that their widths are matched and the desired track width is controlled with high precision. As a result, side fringes can be suitably suppressed, and a narrow track and a high recording density of the inductive head can be achieved.

Further, according to the method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head of the present invention, the width of the magnetic gap film and the upper and lower poles can be made equal to each other without the need for complicated processes and control with a single mechanical facility. Since the same track width can be controlled with high precision, productivity and yield can be improved, and manufacturing costs can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a substrate on which a magnetic gap film of an MR head, an inductive head, a conductor coil, an organic insulating layer, and a metal base film for plating are stacked.

FIGS. 2A to 2C are cross-sectional views taken along line II-II of FIG. 1 showing a process of trimming an upper pole of an upper magnetic film of an inductive head formed on a substrate in a process order.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate 2 Insulating base film 3 Lower shield 4 Upper shield 5 MR element 6 MR head 7, 7a Magnetic gap film 8, 9 Organic insulating layer 10 Back gap 11 Conductor coil 12 Base film 13 Upper pole 14 Lower pole

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Tomohito Miyazaki 2-15-17 Egawa, Shimamoto-cho, Mishima-gun, Osaka Prefecture F-term within ReadWrite SMI Co., Ltd. 5D033 BA13 BA15 BA22 BB43 DA02 DA08 DA31 5D034 AA03 BA19 BB02 BB09 CA04 DA07

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A lower magnetic film of a magnetic material formed on a substrate, a magnetic gap film of a non-magnetic material, a conductor coil and an insulating layer laminated thereon, and an upper magnetic film of a magnetic material. Wherein the nonmagnetic material has a milling rate substantially equal to that of the magnetic material, and the lower pole of the lower magnetic film tip facing the upper pole of the upper magnetic film tip with the magnetic gap film interposed therebetween is the same as them. A thin film magnetic head having a track width of: 2. The thin-film magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein the non-magnetic material is Ta ₂ O ₅ or BeCu. 3. The substrate further comprises an MR head on which a lower shield, a magnetoresistive element, and an upper shield for forming the lower magnetic film are stacked, wherein the lower pole projects from the surface of the upper shield. The thin-film magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein the thin-film magnetic head is formed as follows. 4. The magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein a height of the lower pole protruding from the upper shield is about 1 to 2 times a thickness of the magnetic gap film. Thin film magnetic head. 5. An upper magnetic layer having a lower magnetic film, a magnetic gap film, a conductor coil, and an insulating layer on a substrate, and an upper pole at a tip thereof opposed to a lower pole of the lower magnetic film tip with the magnetic gap film interposed therebetween. A step of stacking films and trimming the upper pole, the magnetic gap film and the lower pole so as to have the same track width, and a non-magnetic material having a milling rate substantially the same as the magnetic material of the lower and upper magnetic films Forming said magnetic gap film, and said trimming comprises a step of continuously ion milling said upper pole, magnetic gap film and lower pole. 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the non-magnetic material is Ta ₂ O ₅ or BeCu. 7. The method according to claim 7, further comprising the step of laminating a lower shield, a magnetoresistive element, and an upper shield for forming the lower magnetic film on the substrate to form an MR head. 7 is formed so as to protrude from the upper shield surface.
3. The method for manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head according to item 1. 8. A method for manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein a height of said lower pole protruding from said upper shield is about 1-2 times a thickness of said magnetic gap film.