JP2001034909A - Thin film magnetic head and fabrication method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate a step between a shielding core and a planarization layer adjacent to the shielding core. SOLUTION: A thin film magnetic head includes a reproduction thin film head formed on a substrate, a shielding core 42 formed on this reproduction thin film head as an intermediate core, a planarization layer 47 formed around this shielding core 42 for planarizing an upper surface, and a recording thin film head formed over the shielding core 42 and the planarization layer 47. An interface surface 42a of the shielding core 42 with respect to the planarization layer 47 is inclined in an upward direction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thin film magnetic head for recording and reproducing information on a magnetic recording medium such as a magnetic tape by helical scanning, and a method of manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a thin film magnetic head is constructed by laminating thin films such as a magnetic film and an insulating film in multiple layers, and further forming a conductor coil and a lead wire. Since such a thin film magnetic head is formed by a vacuum thin film forming technique, it has an advantage that it is easy to make fine dimensions such as a narrow track and a narrow gap, and that high-resolution recording is possible. Has attracted attention as a thin-film magnetic head compatible with high-density recording.

For example, as a thin film magnetic head for recording and reproducing information signals on a magnetic recording medium, a conductor coil and a magnetic film are formed on a substrate made of an oxide magnetic material such as ferrite by a vacuum thin film forming technique. A thin-film magnetic head configured as described above is known. Specifically, for example, a so-called inductive type thin film magnetic head is known as a thin film magnetic head for recording. This inductive type thin film magnetic head is configured, for example, as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 7, a thin-film magnetic head 1 has a shield core 3 as a lower core made of a soft magnetic material layer formed on a substrate 2 made of an oxide magnetic material such as ferrite. An insulating layer 4 for ensuring insulation is formed, a spiral conductive coil 5 is formed on the insulating layer 4, and a polymer material such as a resist is used to planarize the surface thereon. The flattening layer 6 is formed, and an upper core 7 made of a soft magnetic material is formed on the flattening layer 6 at last.

[0005] The thin-film magnetic head 1 having the above-described structure can be used together with, for example, a magnetoresistive thin-film magnetic head for reproduction.
It is configured as a composite type thin film magnetic head, and is mounted and used in a magnetic recording / reproducing device such as a hard disk device and a tape streamer. Here, the composite type thin film magnetic head is formed by, for example, further forming the thin film magnetic head 1 on a magnetoresistive effect type thin film head, and a line C in FIG. It is.

[0006]

In such an inductive type thin film magnetic head or a composite type thin film magnetic head, the shield core 3 (an intermediate core in the case of the composite type thin film magnetic head) is etched. It is formed using processing and plating. However, in the case of etching, since a thick film of several μm is etched, there is a problem that the throughput is not increased and the processing time is lengthened. In the case of plating, the film forming speed is relatively high, but there is a problem that it takes time to perform a base treatment on the substrate surface before plating.

Further, in both the etching process and the plating process, the end of the shield core 3 is formed vertically. The conductor coil 5 is formed on the shield core 3 as described above.
Since the shield core 3 is larger than the shield core 3, the flattening layer 8 for the shield core 3 is formed at the same height as the shield core 3 over a slightly wider range than the conductor coil 5. However, as described above, the shield core 3
Is formed vertically, a gap or a step A occurs at the boundary between the planarizing layer 8 made of resist and the shield core 3 as shown in FIG. Therefore, if there is such a gap or step A, the line width of the conductor coil 5 is about several μm, so that optimal exposure cannot be performed when exposing the resist for forming the conductor coil 5. However, there is a problem that the insulation between the shield core 3 and the conductor coil 5 may be impaired by the step in some cases.

In view of the above, the present invention eliminates a step between a shield core and an adjacent flattening layer.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a thin-film magnetic head and a method of manufacturing the same.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a thin-film reproducing head formed on a substrate, and a shield core as an intermediate core formed on the thin-film reproducing head. And a thin-film magnetic head including a flattening layer formed around the shield core for flattening the upper surface, and a recording thin-film head formed on the shield core and the flattening layer. A manufacturing method,
This is achieved by a method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head in which the shield core is formed by a lift-off process, and the interface between the intermediate core and the flattening layer is inclined.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a shield core as a lower layer core formed on a substrate, and a flat core formed around the shield core for flattening an upper surface. A thin-film magnetic head including a passivation layer and a recording thin-film head formed on the shield core and the flattening layer, wherein the shield core is formed by a lift-off process. This is achieved by a method for manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head in which the boundary surface between the core and the flattening layer is an inclined surface.

According to the first or second aspect of the present invention, the shield core as the intermediate core or the lower core constituting the thin-film recording head is formed by a lift-off process, so that the processing time for forming the shield core is reduced. For example, since the processing time is about 0.5 hours, the processing time can be greatly reduced as compared with the processing time of about 5 hours by the conventional etching processing, and the base processing such as the plating processing is not required. Therefore, the production efficiency of the thin-film magnetic head is greatly improved.

Further, since the shield core is formed by a lift-off process, the boundary surface between the shield core and the flattening layer is preferably inclined at an inclination angle of 30 to 70 degrees as an inclined surface. Therefore, when forming the flattening layer, a step does not occur at the boundary between the shield core and the flattening layer. For this reason, on the shield core and the flattening layer,
Exposure of the resist is optimally performed for the formation of the conductor coil constituting the recording thin film head, and the insulation between the shield core and the conductor coil is improved.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. still,
Since the embodiments described below are preferred specific examples of the present invention, various technically preferred limitations are added.
The scope of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments unless otherwise specified in the following description.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a rotary magnetic head device provided with the thin-film magnetic head according to the present embodiment. FIG.
, The rotating magnetic head device 10 includes the fixed drum 1
1, a rotating drum 12 as means for rotating and supporting a magnetic head, a motor M, and the like. A motor M is provided below the fixed drum 11, and the fixed drum 11
The rotary drum 12 is disposed on the upper side. The rotating drum 12 and the motor M are connected via a shaft 14, and the fixed drum 11 rotatably supports the shaft 14 by a bearing (not shown). A lead guide portion 13 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the fixed drum 11, and a magnetic tape TP, which is a tape-shaped magnetic information recording medium, is moved along the lead guide portion 13 along the entrance side as shown by an arrow E. IN
From the outlet to the exit side OUT.

A notch is formed in the outer peripheral surface of the rotary drum 12, and the thin film magnetic head 20 is disposed in the notch so as to protrude from the outer peripheral surface of the rotary drum 12. The rotating drum 12 rotates in the direction of the arrow R1 with respect to the fixed drum 11 by the operation of the motor M. Accordingly, the thin-film magnetic head 20 also rotates, and performs recording or reproduction while sliding on the magnetic tape TP. At this time, since the magnetic tape TP advances obliquely in the direction of arrow E along the lead guide portion 13, the thin-film magnetic head 20 records information on the magnetic tape TP by a so-called helical scan method, Or it is designed to be played.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show an embodiment of the thin-film magnetic head 20 according to the present invention. In FIG. 2, the thin-film magnetic head 20 is formed by joining two substrates 21 and 21 with an adhesive or the like at a joining surface, and a sliding surface 22 is formed on the upper surfaces of the substrates 21 and 21. Have been. The sliding surface 22 is subjected to a curved surface processing in order to make sliding with the magnetic tape TP good.

FIG. 3 shows the structure of the thin-film magnetic head 20 in detail. The thin-film magnetic head 20 includes a reproducing head 30, a recording head 40, and the like. The reproducing head 30 includes a shield core (lower core) 31 and a lower gap film 3, each of which is made of a magnetic film sequentially laminated on the substrate 21.
2, an MR (magnetoresistive) element 33. Here, the MR element 33 has a predetermined track width Tw, and an electrode terminal 34 for applying a sense current I is connected to the MR element 33. In the reproducing head 30, the lower core 31 and the intermediate core 42 (described later)
Form a magnetic pole, and the information signal is reproduced by reading a change in magnetic flux generated from the magnetic tape TP to the magnetic pole as a change in resistance of the MR element 33.

On the other hand, the recording head 40 comprises an upper gap film 41 formed sequentially on the MR element 33, a shield core (intermediate core) 42 made of a magnetic film, a conductor coil 43, and an upper magnetic pole 44. Here, the recording head 40
In the above, the intermediate core 42 and the upper magnetic pole 44 form a magnetic pole through a gap film (not shown), and the magnetic flux generated by the conductor coil 43 is applied to the magnetic tape TP to write the information signal, thereby recording the information signal. Done.

Here, the lower gap film 32 and the upper gap film 41 are made of, for example, insulating films 32a and 41a made of, for example, alumina (Al ₂ O ₃ ) and a nonmagnetic material having good thermal conductivity, and are preferably used. It is composed of nonmagnetic metal films 32b and 41b made of ductile material such as silver. This nonmagnetic metal film 32 having good thermal conductivity
The heat radiation of the MR element 33 is promoted by b and 41b.

Here, the recording head 40 is configured in detail as shown in FIG. That is, the recording head 40 further includes an insulating film 45 made of alumina or the like formed on the upper gap film 41, a first flattening film 46 for flattening the surface of the conductor coil 43, and an intermediate core 42.
A second planarizing film 47 formed adjacent to the intermediate core 42 to planarize the surface of the substrate, and alumina and the like formed on the surfaces of the planarized intermediate core 42 and the planarizing film 46. And an insulating film 48.

Further, the recording head 40 of the thin-film magnetic head 10 according to the present embodiment has a different structure in that the boundary surface of the intermediate core 42 with the second flattening layer 47 is formed to be inclined upward. ing. The angle of inclination of this interface is preferably chosen between 30 and 70 degrees.

The thin-film magnetic head 10 having such a structure is
At the time of manufacture, it is manufactured as shown below. First, the reproducing head 30 is manufactured by a conventionally known method. The recording head 40 is manufactured as shown in FIG. It should be noted that in FIG.
0 and the insulating film 45 are omitted.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the reproducing head 30
A resist (for example, ZPN-110 manufactured by Zeon Corporation) is formed on the upper surface of the upper gap film 41 formed on the MR element 33 of FIG.
0) is applied and using a photomask (not shown)
Patterning is performed. This patterning is performed by first performing a pre-bake at 90 ° C. for 90 seconds, and then using an exposure apparatus (for example, a Nikon stepper) for an exposure time of 2 seconds.
This is performed by performing pattern exposure at 000 msec, then performing PEB at 120 ° C. for 90 seconds, and finally performing post-baking at 120 ° C. for 10 seconds. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5A, a resist pattern 51 having a thickness of 4 μm and a cut angle θ of about 45 degrees is formed on the upper gap film 41, for example.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 5B, a material layer 52 to be a lower core of the recording head 40 (inductive thin film magnetic head) is formed on the resist pattern 51 by sputtering. The thickness of the material layer 52 is about 4 μm. Here, the material of the material layer 52 is, for example, an amorphous alloy such as Co, Zr, Nb, and Ta.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 5C, the upper gap film 41 on which the resist pattern 51 and the material layer 52 are formed is put into an organic solvent such as acetone by a so-called lift-off process, and ultrasonic waves are applied. By applying, the resist pattern 51 is removed. In this case, the material layer 52 formed on the resist pattern 51 is also removed together. Thus, only the intermediate core 42 remains on the upper gap film 41, and the boundary surface 42a of the intermediate core 42 is
It is formed as an inclined surface inclined at an inclination angle of 45 degrees upward corresponding to the cut angle of 1.

Subsequently, as shown in FIGS. 5D and 5E, a resist film 53 (second planarization layer 47) having the same thickness as the intermediate core 42 is formed. In this case, since the boundary surface 42a of the intermediate core 42 is inclined upward,
The step between the intermediate core 42 and the resist film 53 is very small as shown in the figure, and the required flatness can be obtained when the conductor coil 43 is formed.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG.
An insulating film 48 is formed on the upper surface of the second flattening layer 47, a conductor coil 43 is formed, a first flattening layer 46 is formed, and then an upper magnetic pole 44 is formed.
Finally, the sliding surface side is cut along the cutting line 49 and processed into a curved surface, whereby the recording head 40 is completed.

Here, in the above-described example, the intermediate core 42
The boundary surface of the (lower core) has an upward inclination angle of 45 degrees, but is not limited thereto, and may have an inclination angle of, for example, 30 to 70 degrees. When the inclination angle is 70 degrees or more, a step having a size that cannot be ignored is generated between the second flattening layer 47 and the inclination angle, as in the case where the boundary surface is vertical. Is less than 30 degrees, the second flattening layer 47 is also formed on the boundary surface, so that a step is generated. Therefore, the effect of eliminating the step according to the present embodiment cannot be obtained.

The thin-film magnetic head 10 according to the present embodiment is
The magnetic tape TP slides along the sliding surface 22 of the thin-film magnetic head 20 at the time of recording, and is externally connected to the conductor coil 43 of the recording head 40 of the thin-film magnetic head 20 during recording. As a result, the magnetic field corresponding to the drive current is applied to the conductor coil 4.
Occurs at 3. Then, the magnetic field generated in the conductor coil 43 passes through the gap g between the intermediate core 42 and the upper magnetic pole 44, whereby magnetic recording of desired information is performed on the magnetic tape TP.

During reproduction, the sliding magnetic tape T
Based on the magnetic signal recorded in P, a magnetic field circulating through the lower core 31 and the intermediate core 42 is generated from the gap g,
Based on this magnetic field, the resistance of the MR element 33 fluctuates,
The change in the resistance value is detected and appropriately processed, so that the information recorded on the magnetic tape TP is reproduced.

Here, in the thin-film magnetic head 10 according to the present embodiment, since the boundary surface of the intermediate core 42 of the recording head 40 with respect to the second flattening layer 47 is inclined upward, the second flattening layer When forming 47, no step is generated near this boundary surface. Therefore, the intermediate core 42
And the surface of the second flattening layer 47 has a sufficient flatness. When the resist is exposed for forming the conductive coil 43 thereon, the conductive coil 43 has a thickness of, for example, about several μm. Exposure through a resist photomask is reliably performed even with a fine line width. This allows
While the conductor coil 43 is formed reliably and easily,
The yield of the thin film magnetic head 10 is improved.

Further, since the intermediate core 42 is formed by a so-called lift-off process, the intermediate core 42 is, for example, 0.5 times smaller than the conventional case of etching or plating.
Since the processing time and the processing time are greatly reduced, the production efficiency is improved, and the processing can be easily performed since the base treatment is not required.

In the above-described embodiment, the thin-film magnetic head 20 is composed of the reproducing head 30 and the recording head 40, and the shield is formed on the upper gap film 41 formed on the MR element 33 of the reproducing head 30. Although the intermediate core 42 as the core is formed, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is apparent that the present invention can be applied to a so-called inductive type thin film magnetic head including only a recording head. In this case, the lower core as a shield core is shown in FIG.
Is formed on the substrate, not on the upper gap film 41. Similarly, by the lift-off process, the boundary surface is formed so as to be inclined upward.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a thin-film magnetic head and a method of manufacturing the same in which a step between a shield core and an adjacent flattening layer is eliminated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing the overall configuration of a magnetic head device provided with a thin-film magnetic head according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a configuration of an embodiment of a composite thin-film magnetic head in the magnetic head device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of the thin-film magnetic head of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged sectional view showing a configuration of a main part of the thin-film magnetic head of FIG. 3;

5A and 5B are a schematic cross-sectional view and a plan view sequentially showing a manufacturing process of an intermediate core of the recording head in the thin-film magnetic head of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing a final stage of a manufacturing process of the thin-film magnetic head of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing a configuration of an example of a conventional inductive type thin film magnetic head.

8 is a schematic plan view showing a relationship between a lower core and a flattening layer in the thin-film magnetic head of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a schematic sectional view showing the relationship between a lower core and a planarizing layer in the thin-film magnetic head of FIG. 7;

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Rotating magnetic head device, 20 ... Thin film magnetic head, 30 ... Reproducing head, 31 ... Lower core (shield core), 32 ... Lower gap film, 33 ... M
R element, 40: recording head, 41: upper gap film, 42: intermediate core (shield core), 43:
Conductor coil, 44 ... Upper magnetic pole.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A reproducing thin film head formed on a substrate, a shield core as an intermediate core formed on the reproducing thin film head, and a shield core formed around the shield core for flattening an upper surface. A method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head, comprising: a flattened layer formed as described above; and a thin-film recording head formed on the shield core and the flattened layer, wherein the shield core is formed by a lift-off process. A method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head, characterized in that an interface between the intermediate core and the flattening layer is an inclined surface. 2. A shield core as a lower layer core formed on a substrate, a flattening layer formed around the shield core for flattening an upper surface, and a shield layer formed on the shield core and the flattening layer. A thin-film magnetic head including a recording thin-film head configured as described above, wherein the shield core is formed by a lift-off process so that a boundary surface between the intermediate core and the flattening layer is formed as an inclined surface. A method for manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head, comprising: 3. The shield core according to claim 1, wherein an inclined surface of the shield core has an angle of 30 to 70 degrees.
Or the method for manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head according to 2. 4. A reproducing thin film head formed on a substrate, a shield core as an intermediate core formed on the reproducing thin film head, and a shield core formed around the shield core to flatten an upper surface. A flattened layer, and a thin-film magnetic head for recording formed on the shield core and the flattened layer. A thin-film magnetic head, wherein a boundary surface between the flattened layer of the shield core and A thin-film magnetic head comprising an inclined surface. 5. A shield core as a lower layer core formed on a substrate, a flattening layer formed around the shield core for flattening an upper surface, and a shield core formed on the shield core and the flattening layer. A thin-film magnetic head comprising: a recording thin-film head configured as described above, wherein a boundary surface between the shield core and the flattening layer is formed by an inclined surface. 6. The thin-film magnetic head according to claim 4, wherein the inclined surface of the shield core has an angle of 30 to 70 degrees. 7. A thin-film magnetic head for recording and / or reproducing information on a tape-shaped recording medium, and the thin-film magnetic head runs obliquely relative to the tape-shaped recording medium. The thin-film magnetic head comprises: a reproducing thin-film head formed on a substrate; a shield core as an intermediate core formed on the reproducing thin-film head; A thin-film magnetic head, comprising: a flattening layer formed for flattening the upper surface around a core; and a recording thin-film head formed on the shield core and the flattening layer, A rotary magnetic head device, wherein a boundary surface between the shield core and the flattening layer is formed by an inclined surface.