JP2004047089A - Thin film magnetic head, its manufacturing method and magnetic disk drive having slider using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem of corrosion resistance in dealing with the increase of the recording density by making the protective film thin to be about 40Å for an MR thin film magnetic head that can cope with recording density and drastically reducing the spacing loss in a large-capacity magnetic recording medium. <P>SOLUTION: In a magnetoresistive effect thin film head, an upper layer of a diamond-like thin film having composition expressed by a formula CH<SB>a</SB>O<SB>b</SB>N<SB>c</SB>F<SB>d</SB>B<SB>e</SB>P<SB>f</SB>(a = 0 to 0.7, b = 0 to 1, c = 0 to 1, d = 0 to 1, e = 0 to 1 and f = 0 to 1, here) represented by an atom ratio is formed on a surface where at least the head is brought into contact with a recording medium, and the thickness of the magnetic head is ≤40Å. A method for manufacturing the thin film head and a magnetic head device using the thin film head are provided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

The present invention relates to a thin-film magnetic head, a method of manufacturing the same, and a magnetic disk drive having a slider using the same. The present invention relates to a thin-film magnetic head using a magnetoresistive film such as a Perpendicular in Plane type, a method for manufacturing the same, and a magnetic disk drive provided with a slider using the same.

In recent years, the density of magnetic recording has been increased. Along with this, the development of thin-film magnetic heads that use a soft magnetic thin film as the magnetic pole and MR heads that perform recording using an inductive head and perform reproduction using the magnetoresistance effect as hard disk heads has been actively promoted. I have.

The MR head reads an external magnetic signal by a change in resistance of a reading sensor unit using a magnetic material. The MR head has a feature that a high output can be obtained even in magnetic recording with a high linear recording density, because the reproduction output depends on the magnetic signal of the recording medium and does not depend on the relative speed to the recording medium. In order to increase the resolution and obtain good high-frequency characteristics, the MR head is usually configured such that a magnetoresistive film (MR film) is sandwiched between a pair of magnetic shield films (shield type MR head). In this case, since the MR head is a reproduction head, an MR induction type composite head in which an induction type head for recording is integrated with the MR head is usually used.

In general, a thin film magnetic head floats on a recording medium by an air bearing function, and employs a CSS (Contact Start Stop) method. In many cases, the thin film magnetic head has a thickness of about 0.2 to 2.0 μm on a high-speed rotating magnetic disk. It is held at a very small flying height. For this reason, surface strength and abrasion resistance to withstand head crash and CSS abrasion become problems. Various attempts have been made to improve the wear resistance. For example, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 4-27667, a method of providing a protective film on a rail of a magnetic head slider is known. However, the protective film, which forms a silicon adhesive layer and a hydrogen-containing amorphous carbon film to a thickness of 250 ° or less, is insufficient in strength because silicon is used for the adhesive layer. Also, when such a silicon adhesive layer is provided on a structure such as a sintered substrate of alumina and titanium carbide, an alumina insulating layer, and a soft magnetic thin film such as permalloy, sendust, and iron nitride, which constitute a magnetic thin film magnetic head. In addition, due to insufficient adhesion or adhesion between the thin film magnetic head and the protective film, there have been problems such as peeling and insufficient abrasion resistance.

Further, for example, Japanese Patent No. 2571957 describes that a buffer layer of amorphous silicon or amorphous silicon carbide is provided on an oxide surface, and further a carbon or a film containing carbon as a main component is provided thereon. However, even if such a protective layer provided with a buffer layer is applied to a thin-film magnetic head, it is still insufficient in durability. In addition, a buffer layer forming step is required in addition to the step of providing a protective film, which increases the manufacturing time and manufacturing cost and increases the film thickness. Therefore, there is a demand for cost reduction, mass productivity, and an increase in recording density. This is extremely disadvantageous in the field of magnetic heads for hard disks, which are becoming increasingly larger.

In general, in an industrial method for forming a silicon intermediate layer, only silicon atoms are sputtered, and no chemical bond is formed between the silicon atoms, so that the hardness is low, the density is low, and a lump of silicon atoms is easily formed. Therefore, when the protective film is made thin, the corrosion resistance and the wear resistance (CSS) cannot be satisfied. That is, when a thin diamond-like carbon film is formed on the surface of the silicon buffer layer formed by the sputtering method, a chemical bond between silicon is not formed, and the silicon intermediate layer lacks denseness and has a fine lump. The carbon film simply covers the silicon interlayer. Therefore, when the diamond-like carbon film is thinned, corrosive gas such as moisture easily penetrates and corrodes the silicon intermediate layer, or the diamond-like protective film is easily peeled off. There is also a problem that the metal on the thin-film magnetic head side is corroded or diffused into silicon to change the electric resistance and deteriorate the characteristics of the thin-film magnetic head.

Furthermore, the present inventors have disclosed in JP-A-10-289419 and JP-A-10-275308 a protective film for a thin-film magnetic head having a strong adhesion to the constituent members of the thin-film magnetic head and having excellent corrosion resistance and wear resistance. Offered. That is, for example protective film in Japanese Patent Laid-Open 10-275308 discloses the _{SiC X H Y O Z N W} (X, Y, Z and W represent atomic ratios, X = 3~26, Y = 0.5~13 , Z = 0.5-6, W = 0-0-6) and provided a thin-film magnetic head having excellent durability.

JP-A-4-27667 Japanese Patent No. 2571957 JP-A-10-289419 JP-A-10-275308

Recently, recording media having a capacity of 80 Gpsi have been used on one disc. In such a large-capacity magnetic recording, the space between the head and the recording medium needs to be reduced in order to increase the recording density. However, if a thick protective film is provided on the head, this causes a spacing loss, which is sufficient for high density. Absent.

The protective film disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-275308 has a thickness of about 70 °, and when it is more than this, sufficient corrosion resistance and abrasion resistance can be exhibited. Although the spacing must be reduced as much as possible, it is considered that if the thickness is less than this, Si is contained. However, the corrosion resistance was not satisfactory and the thickness of the protective film could not be further reduced.

The present inventor has pointed out that in the conventional magnetoresistive thin-film magnetic head, the protective film made of the diamond-like thin film alone did not have sufficient durability (corrosion resistance and abrasion resistance) and required the interposition of an intermediate layer. According to the study, in the prior art, a relatively thick film of 70 ° or more was used to increase the corrosion resistance, so that the internal stress was increased, the adhesion was reduced, and therefore, an intermediate layer such as a Si-containing layer had to be interposed. It was clarified that the intended highly durable protective film could not be obtained. Thus, there has been no idea of trying a single diamond-like thin film having a thickness of 70 ° or less.

On the other hand, the present inventor has found that if the thickness of the diamond-like thin film protective film is reduced to 40 mm or less, the adhesion to the thin film magnetic head surface increases, and on the contrary, the corrosion resistance and the abrasion resistance are comparable to those of the prior art I found As described above, the thin-film magnetic head using the diamond-like protective film conventionally required the intermediate layer, but the present invention can omit the intermediate layer and further reduce the film thickness to 40 ° or less, and further to 30 ° or less. The number of steps can be reduced, and the spacing loss can be significantly reduced.

That is, in the present invention is a magnetoresistive effect type thin film magnetic head, wherein CH _a the surface at least by the head contacts the recording medium _{O b N c F d B e} P f
(Where a = 0 to 0.7, b = 0 to 1, c = 0 to 1, d = 0 to 1, e = 0 to 1, and f = 0 to 1 in atomic ratio)
By forming a diamond-like thin film represented by as a protective film, the total film thickness can be reduced from the conventional limit of about 70 ° to 40 °, and further to 30 ° or less while maintaining high corrosion resistance and wear resistance. It is what made possible.

According to the present invention, a single protective film made of an amorphous diamond-like carbon film having a predetermined composition ratio is formed on at least the recording medium facing surface of the thin film magnetic head, that is, the floating surface or the sliding surface. This protective film can be formed by applying a DC bias voltage or a self-bias to the thin-film magnetic head and using a gas-phase film forming method such as a plasma CVD method or an ionized vapor deposition method.

{The protective film thus formed can be formed to have a corrosion resistance and abrasion resistance of about 40, or even 30 ° or less, so that the spacing of the MR thin film magnetic head can be reduced and the recording density can be increased. Despite such thinning, the corrosion-resistant and abrasion-resistant protective film is comparable to the thin-film magnetic head described in JP-A-10-275308 or the like having a thickness of 70 ° or more.

In the conventional protective film with the Si intermediate layer interposed, the penetration of corrosive gas such as moisture cannot be sufficiently prevented for the reason already described, so that it is necessary to make the protective film sufficiently thick. Although the protective film is very thin as compared with the conventional one, it has very good adhesion to the surface to be protected. Therefore, it is considered that permeation to corrosive gas can be sufficiently prevented and corrosion resistance is improved.

Diamond-like carbon film of amorphous used in the protection film formula _{CH a O b N c F d} B e P f
Wherein C is essential, and a = 0 to 0.7, b = 0 to 1, c = 0 to 1, d = 0 to 1, e = 0 to 1 in atomic ratio, and f = 0 to 1.
According to a plasma CVD method using a hydrocarbon as a raw material, an ionization vapor deposition method, or a vapor phase film forming method such as ECR plasma CVD, hydrogen is generally contained in a = 0.05 to 0.7. However, if a diamond-like thin film is formed by a follow cathode method (FCVA), a sputtering method, or the like using a carbon target, it is possible to form a layer containing no hydrogen.

The diamond-like carbon (DLC) film is sometimes called a diamond-like carbon film, an i-carbon film, or the like. The diamond-like carbon film is described in, for example, JP-A Nos. 62-145646 and 62-145647, New Diamond Forum, Vol. 4, No. 4, issued on October 25, 1988, and the like. I have. DLC film, as described in the literature (New Diamond Forum), Raman spectroscopy, have a broad Raman scattering spectra of the mountain 1400～1700Cm ^-1, diamond having a sharp peak at 1333 cm ^-1 And graphite having a sharp peak at 1581 cm ^-1 is a substance having a structure clearly different from that of graphite. In the Raman spectroscopy spectrum of the DLC film, the above-mentioned broad peaks vary considerably from the presence of the above-mentioned elements other than carbon and hydrogen. The DLC film is an amorphous thin film containing carbon and hydrogen as main components, and is formed by randomly existing sp2 and sp3 bonds between carbon atoms.

{In the present invention, the thickness of the DLC film is usually 10 to 40 °, preferably 15 to 30 °. If the thickness is larger than this, the spacing between the MR thin film magnetic head and the recording medium increases, which is not preferable as a thin film magnetic head for high density recording.

Next, the thin film magnetic head of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing a configuration example of a thin-film magnetic head according to the present invention. The thin-film magnetic head of the illustrated example includes a protective layer 1, a protective layer 2, an upper magnetic pole layer 3, a gap 4, a lower magnetic pole layer 5, an insulating layer 6, an upper shield layer 7, an MR element 8, a lower magnetic layer of the present invention. It has a shield layer 9, a base layer 10, a base 11, a conductive coil 12, and an insulating layer 13. The thin film magnetic head of the illustrated example is a so-called MR induction type composite head having an MR head for reproduction and an induction type head for recording. Here, the inductive head for recording is constituted by the upper magnetic pole layer 3 and the lower magnetic pole layer 5, and the gap 4 and the conductive coil 12 sandwiched therebetween. The MR head portion may be constituted by the upper shield layer 7 and the lower shield layer 9, and the insulating layer 13 and the MR element 8 sandwiched between them. In the illustrated example, the induction type head is on the so-called trailing side, and the MR head is on the leading side. Such a configuration is publicly known, and for example, refer to JP-A-10-275308.

Then, at least the running surface or the sliding surface of the thin-film magnetic head element body on which these structures are stacked, that is, the surface facing the magnetic recording medium (magnetic disk) (the surface perpendicular to the left-hand paper surface in the figure). The protective layer 1 of the invention is formed.
Although FIG. 1 shows an example of the MR induction type composite head, a GMR (Giant Magnetoresistive) structure, a TMR (Tunneling Junction Magnetoresistive) structure, and a CPP (Current Perpendicular Plane) structure having higher sensitivity are used instead of the MR element 8. It is also possible to use.

FIG. 2 is an overall view of a magnetic disk drive, in which a plurality of magnetic head devices are supported by a drive unit, and a slider having a thin-film magnetic head is attached to the tip of each arm unit. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a slider having a thin-film magnetic head, and an MR head is provided on the trailing side (air outflow end) of the slider.

This embodiment will be described by exemplifying a magnetic disk drive of a system called a CSS (contact start-stop) operation system. As shown in FIG. 2, the magnetic disk device includes a plurality of magnetic recording media 21 and a plurality of magnetic head devices 22 provided corresponding to respective surfaces of the magnetic recording media 21. The magnetic recording medium 21 is rotated by a spindle motor 24 fixed to a housing 23. The magnetic head device 22 is rotatably mounted on a fixed shaft 25 fixed to a housing 23 via a bearing 26. Here, a plurality of magnetic head devices 22 are mounted on a fixed shaft 25 via a common bearing 26, whereby the plurality of magnetic head devices 22 are integrally rotated. I do. A magnetic head slider 27 is attached to the distal end side of the magnetic head device 22. Further, the magnetic disk device includes a drive unit 28 for positioning the slider 27 on the track of the magnetic recording medium 21 on the other rear end side of the magnetic head device 22. The drive unit 28 rotates the magnetic head device 22 about the fixed shaft 25, so that the slider 27 can move in the radial direction of the magnetic recording medium 21.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the slider 27 shown in FIG. The slider 27 is made of, for example, AlTiC (Al ₂ O ₃ .TiC), and has a substantially hexahedral base 100. The surface facing the magnetic recording medium 21 is the recording medium facing surface or the air bearing surface (ABS: AirBearing Snrface) 29. As shown in FIG. 3, a thin film magnetic head 30 is provided on one side surface of the slider 27 perpendicular to the ABS 29.

Next, the recording / reproducing operation performed by the magnetic disk device configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. In the case of the CSS operation method, when the magnetic disk device is not operating, that is, when the spindle motor 24 is stopped and the magnetic recording medium 21 is not rotating, the ABS 29 of the slider 27 and the magnetic recording medium 21 are separated. Keep in contact. When performing the recording / reproducing operation, the magnetic recording medium 21 is rotated at a high speed by the spindle motor 24. When the magnetic recording medium 21 rotates at a high speed, an air flow is generated, and a lift is generated. The slider 27 is caused to fly above the surface of the magnetic recording medium 21 by the lift, and is moved by the driving unit 28 in the horizontal direction relative to the surface of the magnetic recording medium 21. At this time, recording / reproduction is performed by the thin-film magnetic head 30 formed on one side surface of the slider 27.

Production of Protective Film A diamond-like carbon film (DLC) can be formed by a plasma CVD method, an ionized vapor deposition method, a follow cathode method, an ECR plasma CVD method, or the like, or can be formed by a sputtering method.
When the DLC film is formed by the plasma CVD method, the DLC film can be formed by a method described in, for example, JP-A-4-41672. Plasma in the plasma CVD method may be either direct current or alternating current, but it is preferable to use alternating current. The alternating current can be used from a few hertz to a microwave. In addition, ECR plasma described in diamond thin film technology (published by General Technology Center) can also be used. Further, a bias voltage may be applied.

When a DLC film is formed by a plasma CVD method, it is preferable to use the following compound as a source gas.
Examples of compounds containing C and H include hydrocarbons such as methane, ethane, propane, butane, pentane, hexane, ethylene, and propylene.
Compounds containing C + H + O include CH ₃ OH, C ₂ H ₅ OH, HCHO, CH ₃ COCH _{3 and the} like.
Examples of the compound containing C + H + N include ammonium cyanide, hydrogen cyanide, monomethylamine, dimethylamine, allylamine, aniline, diethylamine, acetonitrile, azoisobutane, diallylamine, ethylamine, MMH, DMH, triallylamine, trimethylamine, triethylamine, triphenylamine and the like. is there.
In addition, the above compounds, O source or ON source, N source, H source, F source, B source, P source and the like may be combined.

O source such as O ₂ , O ₃ , C + O source such as CO and CO ₂ , H source such as H ₂ , H + O source such as H ₂ O, N source N ₂ , N + H source such as NH ₃ , and N + O source Compounds of N and O, such as NO, NO ₂ and N ₂ O, which can be represented by NOx, (CN) ₂ as an N + C source, NH ₄ F as an N + H + F source, and O ₂ + F ₂ as an O + F source may be used. .

流量 The flow rate of the source gas may be appropriately determined according to the type of the source gas. It is preferable that the operating pressure is usually 1 to 70 Pa and the input power is usually about 10 W to 5 KW.

The DLC film may be formed by an ionization vapor deposition method. The ionization vapor deposition method is described in, for example, JP-A-59-174508. However, the present invention is not limited to the methods and apparatuses disclosed therein, and other types of ion vapor deposition techniques may be used as long as the ionized gas for the raw material can be accelerated. As a preferable example of the device in this case, for example, an ion straight type or ion deflection type described in JP-A-59-174508 can be used.

In the ionization deposition method, the inside of the vacuum vessel is set to a high vacuum of about 10 ⁻⁴ Pa. A filament that is heated by an AC power supply to generate thermoelectrons is provided in the vacuum vessel. A counter electrode is arranged around the filament, and a voltage Vd is applied between the filament and the filament. Further, an electromagnetic coil that surrounds the filament and the counter electrode and generates a magnetic field for confining the ionized gas is arranged. The source gas collides with thermoelectrons from the filament to generate positive pyrolysis ions and electrons, and the positive ions are accelerated by the negative potential Va applied to the grid. By adjusting Vd, Va and the magnetic field of the coil, the composition and film quality can be changed. Further, a bias voltage may be applied.

In the case where the DLC film is formed by an ionization vapor deposition method, a material gas similar to that used in the plasma CVD method may be used. The flow rate of the source gas may be appropriately determined according to the type. The operating pressure is usually preferably about 1 to 70 Pa.

The DLC film can also be formed by a sputtering method. In this case, a gas such as O ₂ , N ₂ , NH ₃ , CH ₄ , H _2, etc. is introduced as a reactive gas in addition to a sputtering gas such as Ar, Kr, etc. , N, O, etc., or two or more targets may be used. Further, a polymer can be used as a target. A DLC film is formed by applying any one of high-frequency power, AC power, and DC power using such a target, sputtering the target, and depositing the target on a substrate by sputtering. The high frequency sputtering power is usually about 50 W to 2 KW. Generally, the operating pressure is preferably 10 ^{−3 to} 0.1 Pa.

(4) Using such a target, a high-frequency power is applied, the target is sputtered, and a protective film is formed by sputter deposition on a predetermined surface of the thin-film magnetic head. Also in this case, a negative bias voltage is applied to the bias applied to the substrate or the thin-film magnetic head. The bias voltage is preferably a direct current. Alternatively, a self-bias may be used without applying a bias voltage. The above-mentioned bias voltage is preferably -10 to -2000V, more preferably -50 to -1000V. The high frequency sputtering power is usually about 50 W to 2 KW. The operating pressure is usually preferably from 0.0013 to 0.13 Pa.

Prior to the formation of the diamond-like protective film, it is desirable to purify the surface layer by vapor-phase etching a predetermined surface of the thin-film magnetic head using a gas such as Ar or Kr. By forming fine irregularities on the surface of the thin-film magnetic head by etching, an anchor effect is obtained, and better adhesion can be obtained. For example, in the above-described ionization vapor deposition method, an Ar gas may be introduced before the introduction of the film forming gas to etch a predetermined surface of the thin-film magnetic head.

The method of forming the protective film according to the embodiment The method of forming the DLC is described on the contact surface of the thin film magnetic head with the recording medium (Examples 1 to 3 are etched with Ar, and Example 4 is not etched). DLC1 and DLC2 films were formed by the self-bias RF plasma CVD method under the following conditions.
DLC1
Source gas: C ₂ H ₄ (0.017 Pa · m ³ · s ^-1 )
Power supply: RF
Operating pressure: 66.5 Pa
Input power: 500W
Film formation rate: 100 nm / min
Film composition: CH _0.21
Film thickness: 25mm
DLC2
Source gas: C ₂ H ₄ and N ₂ (0.085 Pa · m ³ · s ^-1 )
Power supply: RF
Operating pressure: 66.5 Pa
Input power: 500W
Film formation rate: 100 nm / min
Film composition: CH _0.25 O _0.03 N _0.08
Film thickness: 15mm

Comparative Examples 1-2 of Protective Film Formation
For comparison, a lower layer was formed by sputtering of Si on the running surface of the thin film magnetic head until a thickness of 15 to 25 ° was obtained.
DLC1 and DLC2 were formed thereon in combinations and thicknesses shown in Table 1.

Comparative Examples 3 to 5
Si (CH ₃ ) ₄ and C ₂ H ₄ were introduced at a flow rate of 8 SCCM and 20 SCCM, respectively, as source gases of the compounds containing Si, C and H of the above-mentioned known examples as other comparative examples. RF 500 W was applied as an alternating current for plasma generation, and an operating pressure of 6.66 Pa was applied to form a film at 30 °, 50 ° and 70 ° on the running surface of the MR thin-film magnetic head with a self-bias of -400 V.

Table 1 shows the results. Here, the CSS is a value obtained by averaging the number of defective readings (per 1,000 readings) after starting / stopping 100 × 10 ⁴ times in 100 tests.
In addition, the corrosion resistance is a value obtained by averaging the number of defective readings (per 1000 pieces) after immersing the sample in pure water heated to 80 ° C. for 48 hours as an accelerated test in 100 tests.

According to the results shown in Table 1, when the lower layer is formed by the Si sputtering in Comparative Examples 1 and 2, the durability and corrosion resistance are not sufficient even if the thickness of the DLC thin film is 25 °. This is presumably because, as described above, Si easily forms a fine lump during sputtering. The need of 70Å as the film thickness in SiC _X H _Y O _Z N _W layer alone corrosion resistance at 50Å are described in is insufficient literature. On the other hand, at 30 °, the durability and corrosion resistance are greatly reduced.
On the other hand, in the embodiment of the present invention, the DLC film alone has sufficiently high durability and corrosion resistance, and can be used as a protective film of the MR head even at a film thickness of 40 mm or even 30 mm or less. It can be seen that the recording medium can be sufficiently used for a recording medium having a very high recording density.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of an MR thin-film magnetic head according to the present invention. 1 is a perspective view showing a magnetic disk drive including a magnetic head device using an MR thin-film magnetic head according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a slider part of FIG. 2.

Explanation of reference numerals

2 Protective layer 3 Upper magnetic pole layer 4 Gap 5 Lower magnetic pole layer 6 Insulating layer 7 Upper shield layer 8 MR element 9 Lower shield layer 10 Underlayer 11 Base 12 Conductive coil 13 Insulating layer 21 Magnetic recording medium 22 Magnetic head device 22A Slider support 22B Arm 22C Slider 23 Housing 24 Spindle Motor 25 Fixed Shaft 26 Bearing 27 Slider 28 Drive 29 Recording Medium Facing Surface 30 Thin Film Magnetic Head 100 Base

Claims (11)

In the thin film magnetic head comprising a head portion including a magnetoresistive element, wherein CH surface facing at least the recording medium of said head portion is expressed by the atomic ratio _{a O b N c F d B} e P f
(Where a = 0 to 0.7, b = 0 to 1, c = 0 to 1, d = 0 to 1, e = 0 to 1, and f = 0 to 1)
And a protective film having a composition represented by the following formula and having a thickness of 40 ° or less. 2. The thin-film magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the protective film is 10-30. 3. The thin-film magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein a = 0.05 to 0.7. Wherein the surface of the thin film magnetic head _{CH a O b N c F d} B e P f
(Where a = 0 to 0.7, b = 0 to 1, c = 0 to 1, d = 0 to 1, e = 0 to 1, and f = 0 to 1)
Using a gaseous raw material prepared so as to form a diamond-like protective film having a composition represented by the formula, the gas is evaporated until the protective film of 40 ° or less is formed on at least the surface of the thin-film magnetic head facing the recording medium. A method for manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head comprising forming a phase film. (5) The method for manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to claim 4, wherein vapor phase etching is performed before forming a diamond-like protective film on the surface of the thin film magnetic head. 6. The method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to claim 4, wherein a negative bias voltage is applied to the thin film magnetic head to perform vapor phase film formation. The method for manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the {thickness of the protective film is 10 to 30}. 8. The method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head according to claim 4, wherein a = 0.05 to 0.7. A magnetic disk drive having at least one slider provided with the thin-film magnetic head according to claim 1. 4. The thin-film magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein the magnetoresistive element is an MR, GMR, TMR, or CPP magnetoresistive element. The method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to any one of claims 4 to 8, wherein the thin film magnetic head includes an MR, GMR, TMR, or CPP type magnetoresistive element as the magnetoresistive element.

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