JP2005038576A - Method for manufacturing thin-film magnetic head - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for manufacturing thin-film magnetic heads capable of stable mass production of the thin-film magnetic heads by controlling the thicknesses of magnetic layers formed, with high accuracy. <P>SOLUTION: A precursor magnetic pole layer for forming a main magnetic pole layer 11 is formed and in succession, an insulating layer 12, stopper layer 32 and insulating layer 33 are so formed as to cover the precursor magnetic pole layer and thereafter the precursor magnetic pole layer is made flat by polishing together with the insulating layers 12 and 33, by which the main magnetic pole layer 11 is formed. The degree of progression of the polishing treatment is controlled by the stopper layer 32 and therefore at the point of the time the polishing is applied up to the stopper layer 32, the polishing hardly progress beyond that point and the thickness T of the main magnetic pole layer is regulated based on the thickness of the precursor magnetic pole layer at the point of the time the polishing is applied up to the stopper layer 32. The thickness T of the main magnetic pole layer 11 is thereby reproduced nearly uniformly in each of manufacturing processes. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a thin film magnetic head including at least an inductive magnetic transducer for recording.

  In recent years, for example, improvement in performance of a thin-film magnetic head has been demanded with improvement in surface recording density of a magnetic recording medium such as a hard disk (hereinafter simply referred to as “recording medium”). As a recording method of this thin film magnetic head, for example, a longitudinal recording method in which the direction of the signal magnetic field is in the in-plane direction (longitudinal direction) of the recording medium, or a perpendicular direction in which the direction of the signal magnetic field is perpendicular to the surface of the recording medium. Recording methods are known. At present, the longitudinal recording method is widely used. However, in consideration of the market trend accompanying the improvement of the surface recording density, it is expected that the perpendicular recording method will be promising instead of the longitudinal recording method in the future. This is because the perpendicular recording method can provide an advantage that a high linear recording density can be secured and a recorded recording medium is hardly affected by thermal fluctuation.

  A perpendicular recording type thin film magnetic head includes a thin film coil that generates a magnetic flux for recording, and a magnetic pole layer that executes a recording process by releasing the magnetic flux generated in the thin film coil toward a recording medium, The recording process by the pole layer is mainly performed at the trailing edge (trailing edge) of the exposed surface exposed to the air bearing surface. Considering this recording principle, it is necessary to form the trailing edge of the pole layer, which is the main execution location of the recording process, as flat as possible. However, for example, when the magnetic pole layer is formed using a plating process, the surface of the magnetic pole layer is likely to have irregularities due to surface roughness or crystal grain size variation characteristic of the plating film. Then, the trailing edge of the pole layer cannot be sufficiently flattened.

As a conventional method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head in consideration of the flatness of the trailing edge of the pole layer, for example, a magnetic layer is formed so as to fill a groove provided in an insulating layer and then polished using a stopper layer. A method of forming a pole layer by polishing and flattening a magnetic layer while controlling the progress of processing is already known (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2). According to this thin film magnetic head manufacturing method, since the progress of the polishing process is controlled using the stopper layer, the pole layer is formed to have a substantially desired thickness while ensuring the flatness of the trailing edge. Can be formed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-092221 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 08-102014

  By the way, in order to stably mass-produce perpendicular recording type thin film magnetic heads, for example, it is necessary to control the formation thickness of the magnetic pole layer responsible for recording processing as accurately as possible. However, in the conventional method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head in which the pole layer is formed by polishing the magnetic layer embedded in the groove, the formation thickness of the pole layer is substantially defined based on the depth of the groove. Even if the progress of the polishing process is sufficiently controlled using the stopper layer, it is difficult to control the formation thickness of the pole layer with high precision unless the groove depth is formed accurately. There was a problem of becoming. Therefore, in order to ensure the stable mass productivity of the perpendicular recording type thin film magnetic head, it is urgently necessary to establish a manufacturing technique capable of forming the magnetic pole layer with the highest possible thickness.

  Further, in the conventional method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head, a used stopper layer used for controlling the progress of the polishing process may remain, and in some cases, an unnecessary stopper layer may remain. Thus, it can be said that a problem, for example, unintended energization of the pole layer through the stopper layer may occur.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head capable of controlling the formation thickness of the pole layer with high accuracy and stably mass-producing the thin film magnetic head. It is to provide.

  A method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a thin film coil that generates a magnetic flux, and a magnetic pole layer having a magnetic pole tip portion that emits the magnetic flux generated in the thin film coil toward a recording medium. A thin film magnetic head is manufactured by a first step of patterning a precursor magnetic pole layer for forming a magnetic pole layer, and a first insulating layer is formed so as to cover the precursor magnetic pole layer and its peripheral region A second step of patterning, a third step of patterning a stopper layer for controlling the progress of the polishing process on the first insulating layer in the peripheral region, and at least the first step until the stopper layer is reached. The fourth step of forming the magnetic pole layer by polishing the insulating layer and the precursor magnetic pole layer and the fifth step of removing the stopper layer are included.

  In the method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to the first aspect of the present invention, since the progress of the polishing process for the precursor magnetic pole layer is controlled using the stopper layer, the formation thickness of the magnetic pole layer is approximately Reproduced uniformly. In addition, since the groove is not used to form the pole layer, the formation thickness of the pole layer is not affected due to the groove formation accuracy. Thereby, the pole layer is formed with high accuracy. Further, since the used stopper layer is removed, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of problems caused by the remaining unnecessary stopper layer.

  A thin film magnetic head manufacturing method according to a second aspect of the present invention uses a thin film magnetic head manufacturing method according to the first aspect of the present invention described above, and a plurality of thin film magnetic heads are arranged in parallel on a substrate. It is made to form.

  In the method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to the second aspect of the present invention, the formation thickness of the plurality of magnetic pole layers is substantially uniformly reproduced at the time of manufacture using the stopper layer, and the plurality of thin film magnetic heads are formed on the substrate. Is formed with high accuracy.

  In the method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to the first aspect of the present invention, after forming the precursor magnetic pole layer in the first step, the precursor magnetic pole layer is etched to reduce the width of the portion corresponding to the magnetic pole tip portion. Is preferred.

  In the method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to the first aspect of the present invention, in the second step, the thickness of the first insulating layer in the peripheral region is made smaller than the thickness of the precursor magnetic pole layer. Specifically, the first insulating layer is preferably formed so that the thickness of the first insulating layer in the peripheral region is the lower limit thickness of the target formation thickness range of the pole layer.

  In the method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to the first aspect of the present invention, in the third step, a material whose polishing rate is slower than that of the first insulating layer and the precursor magnetic pole layer is used. It is preferable to form the stopper layer using tantalum (Ta), chromium (Cr), carbon (C), molybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W) or an alloy thereof.

  In the method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to the first aspect of the present invention, in the fifth step, the pole layer is formed so as to emit a magnetic flux for magnetizing the recording medium in a direction perpendicular to the surface thereof. May be.

  In the method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to the first aspect of the present invention, the second insulating layer is provided so as to cover the stopper layer and the first insulating layer between the third step and the fourth step. In the fourth step, the second insulating layer may be polished together with the first insulating layer and the precursor magnetic pole layer. In this case, it is preferable to form the second insulating layer so that the thickness of the second insulating layer in the peripheral region is larger than the thickness of the precursor magnetic pole layer.

  In the method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to the first aspect of the present invention, in the third step, the distance between the precursor magnetic pole layer and the stopper layer is in the range of 0.05 μm to 100 μm. It is preferable to form a stopper layer.

  According to the method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to the present invention, after forming the first insulating layer and the stopper layer so as to cover the precursor magnetic pole layer, the precursor magnetic pole layer is polished and planarized together with the first insulating layer. Since the magnetic pole layer is thus formed, the progress of the polishing process for the precursor magnetic pole layer is controlled by using the stopper layer, and the formation thickness of the magnetic pole layer is substantially uniformly reproduced at the time of manufacture. In addition, since the pole layer is formed without using the groove, the formation thickness of the pole layer is not affected by the formation accuracy of the groove, and the formation thickness of the pole layer is controlled with high accuracy. Further, since the used stopper layer is removed, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of problems caused by the remaining unnecessary stopper layer. Therefore, the formation thickness of the magnetic pole layer can be controlled with high accuracy, and the thin film magnetic head can be stably mass-produced.

  Further, according to the method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to another aspect of the present invention, a plurality of thin film magnetic heads are formed in parallel on a substrate using the method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head described above. The formation thickness of the plurality of pole layers is controlled with high accuracy. Therefore, the thickness of the plurality of magnetic pole layers is almost uniformly reproduced at the time of manufacture by using the stopper layer, and a plurality of thin film magnetic heads are formed with high precision on the substrate. This can contribute to the mass production stability of the head.

  In addition to the above, in the method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to the present invention, if the width of the portion corresponding to the tip portion of the magnetic pole is reduced by etching the precursor magnetic pole layer, the pattern accuracy of the photolithography process can be realized. The pole tip portion of the pole layer can be formed to have an extremely narrow width that cannot be obtained.

  In the method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to the present invention, when forming the first insulating layer, the thickness of the first insulating layer in the peripheral region of the precursor magnetic pole layer is within the target formation thickness range of the magnetic pole layer. If the lower limit thickness is set, the lower limit thickness of the pole layer is secured based on the thickness of the first insulating layer, which also contributes to high-precision control of the formation thickness of the pole layer from this viewpoint. be able to.

  In the method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to the present invention, when the second insulating layer is formed, the thickness of the second insulating layer in the peripheral region of the precursor magnetic pole layer is larger than the thickness of the precursor magnetic pole layer. By doing so, the precursor magnetic pole layer is polished together with the first and second insulating layers, and the entire polished surface (flat surface) constituted by the precursor magnetic pole layer and the first and second insulating layers is supported as the support surface. As the polishing process proceeds, the flat workability during the polishing process is stabilized. Therefore, this aspect can also contribute to high-precision control of the formation thickness of the pole layer.

  In the method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to the present invention, if the stopper layer is formed so that the distance between the precursor magnetic pole layer and the stopper layer is in the range of 0.05 μm to 100 μm, the recording magnetic field strength can be increased. The gap between the precursor magnetic pole layer and the stopper layer is optimized in terms of both securing and suppressing the variation in the formation thickness of the magnetic pole layer, so that the variation in the formation thickness of the magnetic pole layer is ensured while ensuring the recording magnetic field strength. Can be suppressed.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  First, the configuration of a thin film magnetic head manufactured by the method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B show a cross-sectional configuration of a thin film magnetic head. FIG. 1A shows a cross section parallel to the air bearing surface, and FIG. 1B shows a cross section perpendicular to the air bearing surface. FIG. 2 shows a plan configuration of the main part of the thin film magnetic head shown in FIG. An arrow M shown in FIG. 1 represents a direction (medium traveling direction) in which a recording medium (not shown) travels relative to the thin film magnetic head.

  In the following description, the distance in the X axis direction shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is expressed as “width”, the distance in the Y axis direction is expressed as “length”, and the distance in the Z axis direction is expressed as “thickness”. Further, the side near the air bearing surface in the Y-axis direction is referred to as “front”, and the opposite side is referred to as “rear”. These notation contents are the same also in FIG.

This thin film magnetic head is, for example, a composite head capable of performing both recording and reproduction functions, and is made of a ceramic material such as AlTiC (Al ₂ O ₃ .TiC) as shown in FIG. An insulating layer 2 made of a nonmagnetic insulating material such as aluminum oxide (Al ₂ O ₃ ; hereinafter simply referred to as “alumina”), and a magnetoresistive effect (MR) are formed on the substrate 1. ), A separation head 7 made of a non-magnetic insulating material such as alumina, and a single-pole type recording head unit 100B that performs a perpendicular recording method. And an overcoat layer 17 made of a nonmagnetic insulating material such as alumina is laminated in this order.

  The reproducing head unit 100A has, for example, a configuration in which a lower read shield layer 3, a shield gap film 4, and an upper read shield layer 5 are stacked in this order. An MR element 6 as a reproducing element is embedded in the shield gap film 4 so that one end face is exposed on a recording medium facing surface (air bearing surface) 40 facing the recording medium.

  The lower read shield layer 3 and the upper read shield layer 5 magnetically isolate the MR element 6 from the surroundings. For example, a nickel iron alloy (NiFe (for example, Ni: 80 wt%, Fe: 20 wt%)); Hereinafter, it is simply made of a magnetic material such as “Permalloy (trade name)”, and the thickness thereof is about 1.0 μm to 2.0 μm.

  The shield gap film 4 electrically isolates the MR element 6 from the surroundings, and is made of a nonmagnetic insulating material such as alumina.

  The MR element 6 performs a reproducing process using, for example, a giant magnetoresistive effect (GMR; Giant Magneto-resistive) or a tunnel magnetoresistive effect (TMR; Tunneling Magneto-resistive).

  The recording head unit 100B includes, for example, a magnetic pole layer 20 embedded in the periphery with insulating layers 9 and 12, a gap layer 13 provided with a connection opening (back gap 13BG), and a thin film embedded with an insulating layer 16. The coil 14 and the write shield layer 15 are stacked in this order. 2 shows only the magnetic pole layer 20, the thin film coil 14, and the write shield layer 15 in the recording head portion 100B.

  The pole layer 20 accommodates the magnetic flux generated in the thin film coil 14 and emits the magnetic flux toward the recording medium, and extends rearward from the air bearing surface 40. In particular, the pole layer 20 has a configuration in which, for example, the auxiliary pole layer 8, the seed layer 10, and the main pole layer 11 are stacked. The insulating layers 9 and 12 electrically separate the magnetic pole layer 20 from the surroundings, and are made of a nonmagnetic insulating material such as alumina.

  The auxiliary magnetic pole layer 8 functions as an auxiliary magnetic flux accommodating portion for securing the magnetic volume (magnetic flux accommodation amount) of the main magnetic pole layer 11, and is more than the air bearing surface 40 on the leading side of the main magnetic pole layer 11. Also, it extends rearward from the retracted position, and is connected to the main magnetic pole layer 11 via the seed layer 10. The auxiliary magnetic pole layer 8 is made of, for example, the same magnetic material as that of the main magnetic pole layer 11, and has a rectangular planar shape having a width W2, as shown in FIG. The term “coupled” as used in the present invention means not only physical contact but also a state in which magnetic conduction is possible after physical contact.

  The seed layer 10 is used for performing a plating process in a manufacturing process of a thin film magnetic head described later, and is made of, for example, the same magnetic material as that of the main magnetic pole layer 11.

  The main magnetic pole layer 11 functions as a main magnetic flux emitting part, and extends rearward from the air bearing surface 40. For example, permalloy or iron cobalt alloy (for example, iron cobalt alloy (FeCo) or iron) Cobalt nickel alloy (FeCoNi) or the like). For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the main magnetic pole layer 11 has a constant width W1 (for example, W1 = about 0.15 μm) that defines the recording track width in order from the side closer to the air bearing surface 40, and is a thin film 11 A of front-end | tip parts which discharge | release the magnetic flux which generate | occur | produced in the coil 14 toward a recording medium, and the rear-end part connected with back of this front-end | tip part 11A, and has width W2 (W2> W1) larger than the width W1 of 11 A of front-end | tip parts. 11B. For example, the width of the rear end portion 11B is constant (W2) at the rear and gradually narrows toward the front end portion 11A at the front. The position where the width of the main magnetic pole layer 11 extends from the front end portion 11A (width W1) to the rear end portion 11B (width W2) is called “flare point FP”.

  The gap layer 13 forms a gap for magnetically separating the pole layer 20 and the write shield layer 15 and is made of, for example, a nonmagnetic insulating material such as alumina, and has a thickness of about 0.2 mm. 2 μm or less.

  The thin film coil 14 generates a magnetic flux for recording, and has, for example, a winding structure wound in a spiral shape around the back gap 13BG, and is made of a highly conductive material such as copper (Cu). ing. In FIGS. 1 and 2, only a part of the plurality of windings constituting the thin film coil 14 is shown.

  The insulating layer 16 covers the thin film coil 14 and is electrically separated from the surroundings, and is disposed on the gap layer 13 so as not to block the back gap 13BG. The insulating layer 16 is made of, for example, a photoresist (photosensitive resin) or spin-on-glass (SOG) that exhibits fluidity when heated, and has a rounded inclined surface near the edge. is doing. The position of the foremost end of the insulating layer 16 is a “throat height zero position TP” which is one of important factors that determine the recording performance of the thin film magnetic head. The distance between the throat height zero position TP and the air bearing surface 40 is “throat height TH”, which is about 0.3 μm or less. 1 and 2 show a case where, for example, the throat height zero position TP coincides with the flare point FP.

  The write shield layer 15 takes in the spreading component of the magnetic flux emitted from the pole layer 20 and prevents the spreading of the magnetic flux. The write shield layer 15 extends rearward from the air bearing surface 40 on the trailing side of the magnetic pole layer 20, and is separated from the magnetic pole layer 20 by the gap layer 13 on the side close to the air bearing surface 40, and the air bearing surface. On the side far from 40, the pole layer 20 is connected through the back gap 13BG. In particular, the write shield layer 15 functions as two constituent elements that are separate from each other, that is, a TH defining layer 15A that functions as a main magnetic flux intake port, and a flow path of magnetic flux that is captured from the TH defining layer 15A. And a yoke layer 15B.

  The TH defining layer 15A is adjacent to the gap layer 13, and is located between the air bearing surface 40 and the air bearing surface 40 and the back gap 13BG (more specifically, between the air bearing surface 40 and the thin film coil 14). Extended to position). The TH defining layer 15A is made of, for example, a magnetic material such as permalloy or an iron-cobalt alloy. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the width W3 (W3> W2) larger than the width W2 of the pole layer 20 is formed. ) Having a rectangular planar shape. The TH defining layer 15A is adjacent to the insulating layer 16 in which the thin film coil 14 is embedded. That is, the TH defining layer 15A defines the foremost position (throat height zero position TP) of the insulating layer 16, and more specifically. In particular, it plays the role of defining the throat height TH.

  The yoke layer 15B extends from the air bearing surface 40 to the back gap 13BG so as to cover the insulating layer 16. The yoke layer 15B rides on and is connected to the TH defining layer 15A at the front, and the pole layer through the back gap 13BG at the rear. 20 is connected. The yoke layer 15B is made of, for example, the same magnetic material as the TH defining layer 15A, and has a rectangular planar shape having a width W3 as in the TH defining layer 15A, as shown in FIG. ing.

  The “trailing side” refers to a flow out side when the moving state of the recording medium traveling in the medium traveling direction M shown in FIG. 1 is regarded as one flow. The upper side in the thickness direction (Z-axis direction). On the other hand, the side into which the flow flows is called the “leading side” and here refers to the lower side in the thickness direction.

  Next, the operation of the thin film magnetic head will be described with reference to FIGS.

  In this thin film magnetic head, when information is recorded, if a current flows through the thin film coil 14 of the recording head unit 100B through an external circuit (not shown), a magnetic flux is generated in the thin film coil 14. The magnetic flux generated at this time is accommodated in the auxiliary magnetic pole layer 8 and the main magnetic pole layer 11 constituting the magnetic pole layer 20, and then mainly flows in the main magnetic pole layer 11 from the rear end portion 11B to the front end portion 11A. At this time, the magnetic flux flowing in the main magnetic pole layer 11 is concentrated at the flare point FP as the width of the main magnetic pole layer 11 decreases, and therefore concentrates in the vicinity of the trailing edge TE in the tip portion 11A. . When the magnetic flux concentrated in the vicinity of the trailing edge TE is emitted to the outside from the tip portion 11A, a recording magnetic field is generated in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the recording medium, and the recording medium is magnetized in the vertical direction by the recording magnetic field. Therefore, information is magnetically recorded on the recording medium. In recording information, since the spread component of the magnetic flux emitted from the tip 11A is taken into the write shield layer 15, the spread of the magnetic flux is prevented. The magnetic flux taken into the write shield layer 15 is circulated to the pole layer 20 through the back gap 13BG.

  On the other hand, at the time of reproduction, when a sense current flows through the MR element 6 of the reproducing head unit 100A, the resistance value of the MR element 6 changes according to the reproduction signal magnetic field from the recording medium. Since this resistance change is detected as a change in the sense current, information recorded on the recording medium is magnetically read out.

  Next, a method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head used for manufacturing the thin film magnetic head shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 13 are for explaining the manufacturing process of the thin film magnetic head, and all show the cross-sectional structure corresponding to FIG. FIG. 14 shows a planar configuration of the main part of the thin film magnetic head in the middle of manufacture, and corresponds to FIG. FIG. 15 is for explaining the mass production process of the thin film magnetic head.

  In the following, first, the outline of the manufacturing process of the entire thin film magnetic head will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 15, and then the main part (recording head unit 100B) of the thin film magnetic head will be described with reference to FIGS. The formation process will be described in detail. Note that descriptions of materials, dimensions, structural features, and the like of a series of constituent elements of the thin film magnetic head will be omitted from time to time.

  This thin-film magnetic head mainly uses an existing thin-film process including a film forming technique such as plating and sputtering, a patterning technique such as photolithography, and an etching technique such as dry etching. Manufactured by sequentially forming and laminating. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, first, after forming the insulating layer 2 on the substrate 1, the lower read shield layer 3 and the shield gap film 4 in which the MR element 6 is embedded on the insulating layer 2, The read head portion 100A is formed by laminating the upper read shield layer 5 in this order. Subsequently, after forming the separation layer 7 on the reproducing head portion 100A, the magnetic pole layer 20 (auxiliary magnetic pole layer 8, seed layer 10 and main magnetic pole layer) is embedded on the separation layer 7 by insulating layers 9 and 12. Layer 11), a gap layer 13 having a back gap 13BG, an insulating layer 16 in which a thin film coil 14 is embedded, and a write shield layer 15 (TH defining layer 15A, yoke layer 15B) are laminated in this order, thereby recording. The head portion 100B is formed. Finally, after the overcoat layer 17 is formed on the recording head portion 100B, the air bearing surface 40 is formed using machining or polishing, thereby completing the thin film magnetic head.

  A plurality of thin film magnetic heads are manufactured in parallel on a wafer as a support. Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 15, the above-described series of thin film magnetic head manufacturing processes are performed in parallel for each of the plurality of formation regions R provided on the wafer 201. A plurality of thin film magnetic heads 202 are manufactured collectively. In FIG. 15, the configuration of the thin film magnetic head 202 is schematically shown.

  When forming the recording head portion 100B, first, as shown in FIG. 3, the auxiliary magnetic pole layer 8 is patterned on the separation layer 7 and then the auxiliary magnetic pole layer 8 and its peripheral region are covered so as to cover the insulating layer. After forming 9, the insulating layer 9 is polished and planarized at least until the auxiliary magnetic pole layer 8 is exposed by using a CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing) method, for example, so that the insulating layer 9 is formed around the auxiliary magnetic pole layer 8. Embed.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 3, a seed layer 10 for performing a plating process is formed on the flat surface after polishing using, for example, sputtering.

  Subsequently, after applying a photoresist on the seed layer 10 to form a photoresist film (not shown), and subsequently forming a photoresist pattern by patterning the photoresist film using a photolithography process, By using the seed layer 10 together with the photoresist pattern to grow a plating film, as shown in FIG. 3, a precursor magnetic pole as a preparatory layer for forming the main magnetic pole layer 11 on the seed layer 10 Layer 111 is patterned. When the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 is formed, for example, it has a planar shape corresponding to the main magnetic pole layer 11, and specifically, the front end portion 11A and the rear end portion 11B (see FIG. 1 and FIG. 2), respectively, so that the front end 111A has a width W0 (W0> W1) larger than the width W1 of the front end 11A.

  Subsequently, by etching the seed layer 10 using, for example, ion milling, the seed layer 10 is etched mainly using the etching action in the vertical direction (thickness direction) as shown in FIG. Then, unnecessary portions other than the portion corresponding to the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 in the seed layer 10 are selectively removed, and the insulating layer 9 is exposed. When performing this etching process, for example, the seed layer 10 is etched and the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 is also etched, and the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 is mainly etched using the etching action in the width direction. Is reduced from W0 to W1.

Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the insulating layer 12 (first insulating layer) is formed so as to cover the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 and its peripheral region S by using, for example, sputtering. As a material for forming the insulating layer 12, for example, a nonmagnetic insulating material such as aluminum oxide (Al ₂ O ₃ ; alumina), silicon oxide (SiO ₂ ), or aluminum nitride (AlN) is used. When the insulating layer 12 is formed, for example, the thickness T2 of the portion corresponding to the peripheral region S of the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 is smaller than the thickness T1 of the precursor magnetic pole layer 111. The surface position of the portion corresponding to the region S is made lower than the surface position of the precursor magnetic pole layer 111, and the thickness T2 is the lower limit thickness of the target formation thickness range of the main magnetic pole layer 11 (for example, about 0). .25 μm). For example, the insulating layer 12 may be a single layer, or may be a stacked layer or mixed layer containing different materials.

  The above-mentioned “thickness T1” means that the seed layer 10 is substantially treated as a part of the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 after being used in the plating process (after the main magnetic pole layer 11 is formed, the main magnetic pole layer 11 is substantially formed). Strictly, it is represented by the sum of the thickness of the seed layer 10 and the thickness of the precursor magnetic pole layer 111. Further, the above-mentioned “lower limit thickness of the target formation thickness range of the main magnetic pole layer 11” means that the formation thickness T of the main magnetic pole layer 11 (see FIG. 10 described later) is finally set to a predetermined range (target formation thickness). Range; for example, the lower limit value of the range when it is intended to be within a range of about 0.25 μm to 0.28 μm.

  Subsequently, after forming a photoresist film (not shown) on the insulating layer 12, the photoresist film is patterned to thereby form the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 on the insulating layer 12 as shown in FIG. 6. A lift-off photoresist pattern 31 is formed in a region including the region corresponding to. When the photoresist pattern 31 is formed, for example, the photoresist pattern 31 has a planar shape corresponding to the precursor magnetic pole layer 111. Specifically, since the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 of the insulating layer 12 is covered, Cover the area that is higher than the area.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 6, the stopper layer 32 is patterned so as to cover the photoresist pattern 31 and its peripheral region by using, for example, sputtering. This stopper layer 32 is used for controlling the progress of the polishing process in a subsequent process. As a material for forming the stopper layer 32, for example, a material whose polishing rate is slower than that of the insulating layer 33 (see FIG. 8) described later together with the insulating layer 12 and the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 is used. ), Chromium (Cr), carbon (C), molybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W), or an alloy thereof. Here, for example, tantalum is used to represent the series of materials described above. When the stopper layer 32 is formed, for example, the thickness TS is set to about 0.03 μm (about 30.0 nm). For example, the stopper layer 32 may be a single layer, or may be a laminated or mixed layer containing different materials. When the stopper layer 32 is formed, as shown in FIG. 6, a part of the stopper layer 32 is disposed on the photoresist pattern 31 and the rest is a precursor of the insulating layer 12. The pole layer 111 is disposed on a portion corresponding to the peripheral region S.

  Subsequently, the photoresist pattern 31 is removed by lift-off. As a result of this lift-off, the photoresist pattern 31 and a portion of the stopper layer 32 disposed thereon are removed, so that the peripheral region S of the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 in the insulating layer 12 is removed as shown in FIG. The stopper layer 32 remains only on the portion corresponding to. The planar shapes and positional relationships of the stopper layer 32 and the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 in this case are as shown in FIG. 14, for example. In particular, when the stopper layer 32 is formed, for example, the distance S1 between the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 and the stopper layer 32 is about 0.05 μm or more (S1 ≧ 0.05 μm), preferably about 0.20 μm or more ( S1 ≧ 0.20 μm), and the interval S2 between the portions of the stopper layer 32 sandwiching the tip 111A is about 200 μm or less (S2 ≦ 200 μm), preferably about 150 μm or less (S2 ≦ 150 μm). To. In this case, in consideration of both ranges of the above-described distances S1 and S2, it is preferable that the distance S1 is within a range of about 0.05 μm to 100 μm (0.05 μm ≦ S1 ≦ 100 μm). Further, it is more preferable that the distance be in the range of about 0.20 μm to 75 μm (0.20 μm ≦ S1 ≦ 75 μm).

Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 8, the insulating layer 33 (second insulating layer) is formed so as to cover the stopper layer 32 and the insulating layer 12 by using, for example, sputtering. As a material for forming the insulating layer 33, for example, similarly to the material for forming the insulating layer 12, nonmagnetic insulation such as aluminum oxide (Al ₂ O ₃ ; alumina), silicon oxide (SiO ₂ ), or aluminum nitride (AlN) is used. Use materials. When the insulating layer 33 is formed, for example, the thickness T3 of the portion corresponding to the peripheral region S of the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 is larger than the thickness T1 of the precursor magnetic pole layer 111. The surface position of the portion corresponding to the region S is made higher than the surface position of the precursor magnetic pole layer 111. For example, the insulating layer 33 may be a single layer, or may be a stacked layer or a mixed layer containing different materials.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 9, the entire surface is subjected to polishing using, for example, a CMP method. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 10, the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 is polished and planarized together with the insulating layers 12 and 33 until reaching the stopper layer 32, that is, until the stopper layer 32 is exposed. In this polishing process, the polishing process polishes the insulating layers 12, 33 and the precursor magnetic pole layer 111, and then reaches the stopper layer 32. When the thickness of the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 reaches T, the insulating layers 12, 33 and the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 are reached. The difference in polishing rate (selection ratio) between the layer 111 and the stopper layer 32 is used to suppress the progress of the polishing process, and the polishing process does not proceed any further. By this polishing process, the trailing edge TE is defined based on the polished surface, and the main magnetic pole layer 11 includes a front end portion 11A (magnetic pole front end portion) having a width W1 and a rear end portion 11B connected to the front end portion 11A. As a result, the magnetic pole layer 20 in which the auxiliary magnetic pole layer 8, the seed layer 10, and the main magnetic pole layer 11 are laminated is formed. In the above polishing process, after the polishing process reaches the stopper layer 32, the stopper layer 32 may be polished in some cases, but the amount of polishing of the stopper layer 32 in this case is very small, and the amount of polishing is It is suppressed within the thickness of the stopper layer 32 (within about 0.03 μm).

  As a method for detecting that the polishing process has reached the stopper layer 32, that is, the end point of the polishing process, there are several specific examples. For example, using the difference in light reflection characteristics between the insulating layers 12 and 33 made of alumina and the stopper layer 32 made of tantalum (the reflected light intensity of the insulating layers 12 and 33 <the reflected light intensity of the stopper layer 32), The end point of the polishing process may be detected based on the change in the reflected light intensity. Further, for example, an end point of the polishing process may be detected based on a change in the ion concentration of the stopper layer 32 generated during polishing using an ion detector, or a color tone caused by ions of the stopper layer 32. The end point of the polishing process may be detected based on the change in.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 10, a photoresist pattern 34 is formed on the flat surface after polishing using a photolithography process. When the photoresist pattern 34 is formed, for example, it has a planar shape corresponding to the main magnetic pole layer 11, and specifically covers the region surrounded by the stopper layer 32.

  Subsequently, for example, ion milling or RIE (Reactive Ion Etching) is used to etch the entire surface using the photoresist pattern 34 as a mask. By this etching process, the stopper layer 32 and the insulating layer 33 remaining on the insulating layer 12 are removed, and the insulating layer 12 is exposed as shown in FIG. FIG. 11 shows a state where the used photoresist pattern 34 is removed.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 12, the gap layer 13 is formed to have a thickness of about 0.2 μm or less by using sputtering, for example. When the gap layer 13 is formed, for example, the back gap 13BG is not covered.

  Subsequently, for example, using a plating process, the TH defining layer 15 </ b> A is pattern-formed on the gap layer 13 in a region ahead of a region where the thin film coil 14 is to be formed in a later step. When the TH defining layer 15A is formed, for example, the formation position is set in consideration of the fact that the throat height is determined based on the rear end position of the TH defining layer 15A.

  Subsequently, for example, after forming the thin film coil 14 on the gap layer 13 between the TH defining layer 15A and the back gap 13BG using a plating process, the photolithography process is used to form the thin film coil 14. A photoresist film 16F is patterned so as to cover between and around the windings. When the photoresist film 16F is formed, for example, the front portion is adjacent to the TH defining layer 15A. It is not always necessary to form the thin film coil 14 after forming the TH defining layer 15A. For example, the TH defining layer 15A may be formed after the thin film coil 14 is formed.

  Subsequently, the insulating film 16 is formed by baking the photoresist film 16F as shown in FIG. As a result of the flow of the photoresist film 16F by this baking, the insulating layer 16 is formed so that the rear portion is rounded and inclined while the front portion is adjacent to the TH defining layer 15A.

  Finally, the yoke layer 15B is patterned so as to cover the insulating layer 16 and its periphery by using, for example, plating or sputtering. When the yoke layer 15B is formed, the yoke layer 15B is connected to the TH defining layer 15A on the front side and connected to the pole layer 20 through the back gap 13BG on the rear side. Thereby, the return yoke layer 15 including the TH defining layer 15A and the yoke layer 15B is formed, and the recording head portion 100B is completed.

  In the method of manufacturing the thin film magnetic head according to the present embodiment, the insulating layer 12, the stopper layer 32, and the insulating layer 33 are formed so as to cover the precursor magnetic pole layer 111, and then the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 together with these insulating layers 12 and 33. Since the main magnetic pole layer 11 is formed by polishing and flattening, the formation thickness T of the main magnetic pole layer 11 is controlled with high accuracy and the thin film magnetic head is stabilized for the following three reasons. Can be mass-produced.

  That is, first, in the present embodiment, the progress of the polishing process for the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 is controlled using the stopper layer 32, so that the formation thickness T of the main magnetic pole layer 11 is almost equal to that at the time of manufacture. Reproduced uniformly. More specifically, during the polishing process, when the polishing process reaches the stopper layer 32, it becomes difficult to proceed further. Based on the thickness of the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 when the polishing process reaches the stopper layer 32, Since the formation thickness T of the pole layer 11 is defined, unless the polishing process is performed for an extremely long time (unless the polishing process is excessively performed until the stopper layer 32 disappears), it is related to the processing time. Accordingly, the degree of progress of the polishing process is appropriately controlled, and high reproducibility can be obtained with respect to the formation thickness T of the main magnetic pole layer 11.

  Secondly, in the present embodiment, unlike the conventional method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head using the grooves described in the section “Background Art”, the main magnetic pole layer 11 is formed without using the grooves. Therefore, the formation thickness T of the main magnetic pole layer 11 is not affected by the groove formation accuracy. More specifically, in the present embodiment, the lower limit thickness T2 of the target formation thickness range for defining the formation thickness T of the main magnetic pole layer 11 is the sputtering thickness used for forming the insulating layer 12. The accuracy of the formation thickness of this sputtering is higher than the accuracy of the formation depth of the etching used for forming the groove, so that the conventional case using the groove In contrast, the lower limit thickness T2 of the main magnetic pole layer 11 is secured, and the formation thickness T of the main magnetic pole layer 11 is controlled with high accuracy.

  Thirdly, in this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the used stopper layer 32 is removed, so that the stopper layer is formed on the completed thin film magnetic head as shown in FIG. 32 does not remain. In this case, unlike the conventional method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head in which the stopper layer remains, there is a problem caused by the unnecessary stopper layer 32 remaining, for example, the intention of the main magnetic pole layer 11 via the stopper layer 32. The occurrence of energization that does not occur is prevented.

  Based on the three reasons described above, in the present embodiment, the formation thickness T of the main magnetic pole layer 11 is controlled with high accuracy, and the occurrence of unintended problems due to the stopper layer 32 is also prevented. This makes it possible to stably mass-produce thin film magnetic heads. In particular, the formation accuracy T of the main magnetic pole layer 11 will be specifically described. The formation thickness T of the main magnetic pole layer 11 is within a target formation thickness range determined based on the lower limit thickness T2, that is, not less than the lower limit thickness T2. And the lower limit thickness T2 + the thickness TS of the stopper layer 32 or less (T2 ≦ T ≦ T2 + TS). Accordingly, an error formation thickness within the thickness TS of the stopper layer 32 with respect to the lower limit thickness T2. The main magnetic pole layer 1 is formed so as to be T. More specifically, when the lower limit thickness T2 of the target formation thickness range is about 0.25 μm and the thickness TS is about 0.03 μm, the final formation thickness T of the main magnetic pole layer 11 is about 0. Within the range of 25 μm to 0.28 μm.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, as described above, the formation thickness T of the main magnetic pole layer 11 is substantially uniformly reproduced at the time of manufacture regardless of the processing time, and the processing time of the polishing process is strictly managed. Since it becomes unnecessary, the thin film magnetic head can be manufactured easily and with high accuracy. In this case, in particular, as described above, the thin film magnetic head can be made easier by detecting the end point of the polishing process based on, for example, a change in reflected light intensity, a change in ion concentration, or a change in color tone caused by ions. And it can manufacture with high precision.

  In particular, in the present embodiment, by using the above-described thin film magnetic head manufacturing method, a plurality of thin film magnetic heads 202 are provided in a plurality of formation regions R provided on a wafer 201 as shown in FIG. When forming in parallel, the effect | action regarding the manufacturing method of an above-mentioned thin film magnetic head is obtained for every formation area | region R. FIG. Therefore, since the formation thickness T of the plurality of main magnetic pole layers 11 is reproduced almost uniformly at the time of manufacture using the stopper layer 32, and the plurality of thin film magnetic heads 202 are formed on the substrate 201 with high accuracy. From this viewpoint, it is possible to contribute to the mass production stability of the thin film magnetic head.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, when the insulating layer 33 is formed so as to cover the insulating layer 12 and the stopper layer 32, the thickness of the portion corresponding to the peripheral region S of the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 is increased. Since the thickness T3 is larger than the thickness T1 of the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 (T3> T1), the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 is polished together with the insulating layers 12 and 33 as shown in FIG. The flat surface constituted by 111 and the insulating layers 12 and 33 is gradually polished. In this case, when the thickness T3 is smaller than the thickness T1 (T3 <T1), that is, as shown in FIG. 16, the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 is polished together with only the insulating layer 12, and the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 and the insulating magnetic pole layer 111 are insulated. Unlike the case where the protruding structure portion constituted by the layer 12 is gradually polished, the polishing process proceeds with the entire polishing surface (flat surface) as the support surface, and thus the flat workability during the polishing process is stabilized. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the flatness of the trailing edge TE is further improved, and this aspect can also contribute to high-precision control of the formation thickness T of the main magnetic pole layer 11.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, after the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 is formed, the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 is etched to reduce the width of the tip 111A from W0 to W1. Therefore, based on the precursor magnetic pole layer 111, the tip end portion 11A of the main magnetic pole layer 11 is formed so as to have an extremely narrow width W1 (for example, W1 = about 0.15 μm) that cannot be realized by pattern accuracy of photolithography processing. can do. This narrowing of the width of the tip 111A is a unique effect obtained in the present embodiment, and an effect that cannot be obtained by the conventional method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head using the groove described in the section of “Background Art”. Therefore, the method of manufacturing the thin film magnetic head according to the present embodiment has an advantage from this viewpoint.

  Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the stopper layer 32 is formed so that the distance S1 between the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 and the stopper layer 32 is in the range of 0.05 μm or more and 100 μm or less. Therefore, the interval S1 is optimized in terms of both ensuring the recording magnetic field strength and suppressing variation in the formation thickness of the pole layer. Specifically, when the interval S1 is set to 0.05 μm or more, the return yoke layer 15 (TH defining layer 15A, yoke layer 15B) is formed on the insulating layer 12 as shown in FIG. In the vicinity of the step, the return yoke layer 15 is located at least a distance S1 away from the main magnetic pole layer 11 in the width direction (X-axis direction), that is, the return yoke layer 15 is not too close to the main magnetic pole layer 11. The recording magnetic flux emitted from the main magnetic pole layer 11 is concentrated in the vicinity of the trailing edge TE of the main magnetic pole layer 11 to ensure the recording magnetic field strength. On the other hand, when the interval S1 is set to 100 μm or less, as shown in FIG. 15, when a plurality of thin film magnetic heads 202 are formed in parallel on the wafer 201, for example, as shown in FIGS. When the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 is polished together with the insulating layers 12 and 33 until the stopper layer 32 is exposed, even if the insulating layer 12 and the precursor magnetic pole layer 111 are excessively polished under the influence of the polishing process, a plurality of thin films Since the amount of excess polishing is less likely to vary between the magnetic heads 202, variations in the formation thickness T of the main magnetic pole layer 11 between the thin film magnetic heads 202 can be suppressed. Therefore, by forming the stopper layer 32 so that the interval S1 is in the range of 0.05 μm or more and 100 μm or less, the variation in the formation thickness T of the main magnetic pole layer 11 is suppressed while ensuring the recording magnetic field strength. Can do.

  Next, examples relating to the present invention will be described.

  When the characteristics of the thin film magnetic head manufactured using the method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head described in the above embodiment were examined, the following results were obtained.

  First, when the correlation between the interval S1 shown in FIGS. 7 and 13 and the recording magnetic field strength was examined, the result shown in FIG. 17 was obtained. FIG. 17 shows the interval dependency of the recording magnetic field strength, where the “horizontal axis” indicates the interval S1 (μm), and the “vertical axis” indicates the recording magnetic field strength ratio H. The “recording magnetic field strength ratio H” means the recording magnetic field strength H1 that is expected to be obtained when the interval S1 is increased to a level that does not contribute to the recording magnetic field strength (the value of the recording magnetic field strength does not change), and the thin film magnetic field. This is the ratio to the recording magnetic field strength H2 obtained when the interval S1 is changed within the range that can actually be set in the head manufacturing process, that is, the ratio of the recording magnetic field strength H2 to the recording magnetic field strength H1 (H = H2). / H1). As a manufacturing condition of the thin film magnetic head, the width of the tip portion of the main magnetic pole layer was set to 0.25 μm.

  As can be seen from the results shown in FIG. 17, the recording magnetic field strength ratio H changed according to the change in the interval S1. Specifically, the recording magnetic field strength ratio H was constant (= 1.0) when the interval S1 was 0.20 μm or more, but gradually decreased when the interval S1 became smaller than 0.20 μm. Therefore, the recording magnetic field strength ratio H does not decrease in the range where the distance S1 is 0.20 μm or more. Therefore, if the appropriate range of the distance S1 is defined from the viewpoint of ensuring the recording magnetic field strength, the distance S1 is 0.20 μm or more. It was confirmed that the recording magnetic field strength could be secured in the range. Even if the recording magnetic field strength ratio H is less than 1.0, it is assumed that if the recording magnetic field strength ratio H is 0.7 or more, a sufficient recording magnetic field strength can be obtained in actual use of the thin film magnetic head. It was confirmed that a sufficient recording magnetic field strength was obtained when the distance S1 was 0.05 μm or more.

  Subsequently, when the correlation between the interval S2 shown in FIG. 7 and the variation in the formation thickness of the main magnetic pole layer was examined, the result shown in FIG. 18 was obtained. FIG. 18 shows the interval dependence of the variation in the formation thickness of the main magnetic pole layer. The “horizontal axis” indicates the interval S2 (μm), and the “ordinate” indicates the variation D in the formation thickness of the main magnetic pole layer. Show. This “variation D in the formation thickness of the main magnetic pole layer” means that a plurality of thin film magnetic heads are arranged in parallel on the wafer as described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 10 and FIG. In the case of forming, when the precursor magnetic pole layer is polished together with the insulating layer until the stopper layer is exposed, the precursor magnetic pole layer is excessively polished due to the influence of the polishing treatment, and between each thin film magnetic head. This is a variation in the formed thickness of the main magnetic pole layer, specifically, the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the formed thickness of the main magnetic pole layer. As a manufacturing condition of the thin film magnetic head, the width of the tip portion of the main magnetic pole layer was set to 0.25 μm as in the case of FIG.

  As can be seen from the results shown in FIG. 18, the variation D in the formation thickness of the main magnetic pole layer changed in accordance with the change in the interval S2. Specifically, the variation D gradually increased as the interval S2 increased, and in particular, the change gradient of the variation D significantly increased with the interval S2 = 200 μm as a boundary. From this, since the change gradient of the variation D becomes gentle in the range where the interval S2 is 200 μm or less, the appropriate range of the interval S2 from the viewpoint of suppressing the variation D in the formation thickness of the main magnetic pole layer by reducing the variation D. It was confirmed that variation in the formation thickness of the main magnetic pole layer can be suppressed in the range where the interval S2 is 200 μm or less. Here, when the appropriate range (200 μm or less) of the interval S2 described above is converted into the interval S1, the appropriate range of the interval S1 is equal to the interval S2 unless the width of the very small main magnetic pole layer (= 0.25 μm) is taken into consideration. It was derived that it was half the aptitude range, ie 100 μm or less. When it is desired to form the main magnetic pole layer with extremely high accuracy, if the variation D needs to be 13 nm or less in order to ensure the formation accuracy of the main magnetic pole layer, the interval S2 is sufficient in the range of 150 μm or less. It was confirmed that formation accuracy was obtained. Even in this case, when the appropriate range of the interval S2 (150 μm or less) is converted into the interval S1 as described above, it is derived that the appropriate range of the interval S1 is half the appropriate range of the interval S2, that is, 75 μm or less. It was.

  In consideration of the results of FIG. 17 and FIG. 18 described above, when the appropriate range of the spacing S1 is defined from the viewpoint of securing the recording magnetic field strength and suppressing the variation in the formation thickness of the main magnetic pole layer, the spacing S1 is 0.05 μm. The main magnetic pole layer is formed while ensuring the recording magnetic field strength within the range of 100 μm or less (0.05 μm ≦ S1 ≦ 100 μm), preferably 0.20 μm or more and 75 μm or less (0.20 μm ≦ S2 ≦ 75 μm). It was confirmed that variation in thickness could be suppressed.

  While the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made. Specifically, for example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a method of manufacturing a single pole type head has been described. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this, and is applied to a method of manufacturing a ring type head. May be. In the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the method of manufacturing a composite thin film magnetic head has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a recording having an inductive magnetic transducer for writing. The present invention can also be applied to a method for manufacturing a dedicated thin film magnetic head and a method for manufacturing a thin film magnetic head having an inductive magnetic transducer for both recording and reproduction. Of course, the present invention can also be applied to a method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head having a structure in which the stacking order of the writing element and the reading element is reversed.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a method for manufacturing a perpendicular recording type thin film magnetic head has been described. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this, and the present invention is not limited to a longitudinal recording type thin film magnetic head. It is also possible to apply to a manufacturing method.

  The method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to the present invention can be applied to a method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head that magnetically records information on a magnetic recording medium such as a hard disk.

It is sectional drawing showing the cross-sectional structure of the thin film magnetic head manufactured by the manufacturing method of the thin film magnetic head which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating a planar configuration of a main part of the thin film magnetic head illustrated in FIG. 1. It is sectional drawing for demonstrating one process in the manufacturing process of the thin film magnetic head which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a step following the step in FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a step following the step in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a step following the step in FIG. 5. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a step following the step in FIG. 6. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a step following the step in FIG. 7. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a step following the step in FIG. 8. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a step following the step in FIG. 9. It is sectional drawing for demonstrating the process following FIG. FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a process following the process in FIG. 11. It is sectional drawing for demonstrating the process following FIG. It is a top view showing the plane structure of the principal part of the thin film magnetic head in the middle of manufacture. It is a top view for demonstrating the mass production process of a thin film magnetic head. It is sectional drawing for demonstrating the malfunction in the manufacturing process of a thin film magnetic head. It is a figure showing the space | interval dependence of recording magnetic field strength. It is a figure showing the space | interval dependence of the dispersion | variation in the formation thickness of a main magnetic pole layer.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Substrate, 2, 9, 12, 16, 33 ... Insulating layer, 3 ... Lower lead shield layer, 4 ... Shield gap film, 5 ... Upper lead shield layer, 6 ... MR element, 7 ... Separation layer, 8 ... Auxiliary Pole layer, 10 ... seed layer, 11 ... main pole layer, 11A, 111A ... tip, 11B, 111B ... back end, 13 ... gap layer, 13BG ... back gap, 14 ... thin film coil, 15 ... write shield layer, 15A ... TH defining layer, 15B ... Yoke layer, 16F ... Photoresist film, 17 ... Overcoat layer, 20 ... Pole layer, 31,34 ... Photoresist pattern, 32 ... Stopper layer, 40 ... Air bearing surface, 100A ... Reproduction Head part, 100B ... Recording head part, 111 ... Precursor pole layer, 201 ... Wafer, 202 ... Thin film magnetic head, FP ... Flare point, M ... Media traveling direction, R ... Shape Regions, S1, S2 ... gap, TH ... throat height, TP ... zero throat height position.

Claims (13)

A method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head comprising: a thin film coil that generates a magnetic flux; and a magnetic pole layer having a magnetic pole tip portion that emits the magnetic flux generated in the thin film coil toward a recording medium,
A first step of patterning a precursor magnetic pole layer for forming the magnetic pole layer;
A second step of forming a first insulating layer so as to cover the precursor magnetic pole layer and its peripheral region;
A third step of patterning a stopper layer for controlling the progress of a polishing process on the first insulating layer in the peripheral region;
A fourth step of forming the pole layer by polishing at least the first insulating layer and the precursor pole layer until reaching the stopper layer;
And a fifth step of removing the stopper layer. A method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head, comprising: 2. The thin film magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein in the first step, after forming the precursor magnetic pole layer, the precursor magnetic pole layer is etched to reduce a width of a portion corresponding to the magnetic pole tip portion. Production method. The first insulating layer is formed in the second step so that a thickness of the first insulating layer in the peripheral region is smaller than a thickness of the precursor magnetic pole layer. A method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to claim 1. The first insulating layer is formed so that the thickness of the first insulating layer in the peripheral region is a lower limit thickness of a target thickness range of the pole layer. Manufacturing method of thin film magnetic head. In the second step, the first insulating layer is formed as a single layer, a stacked layer, or a mixed layer using aluminum oxide (Al ₂ O ₃ ), silicon oxide (SiO ₂ ), or aluminum nitride (AlN). The method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein a layer is formed. 6. The stopper layer is formed using a material whose polishing rate is slower than that of the first insulating layer and the precursor magnetic pole layer in the third step. 2. A method for manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to claim 1. Using tantalum (Ta), chromium (Cr), carbon (C), molybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W) or an alloy thereof, the stopper layer is formed to be a single layer or a stacked layer. The method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to claim 6. 8. The magnetic pole layer is formed in the fourth step so as to emit a magnetic flux for magnetizing the recording medium in a direction perpendicular to the surface thereof. 8. 2. A method for manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to item 1. And a sixth step of forming a second insulating layer so as to cover the stopper layer and the first insulating layer between the third step and the fourth step,
The thin film magnetic according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein, in the fourth step, the second insulating layer is polished together with the first insulating layer and the precursor magnetic pole layer. Manufacturing method of the head. The second insulating layer is formed in the sixth step so that the thickness of the second insulating layer in the peripheral region is larger than the thickness of the precursor magnetic pole layer. 9. A method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to 9. In the sixth step, the second insulation is formed to be a single layer, a stacked layer, or a mixed layer by using aluminum oxide (Al ₂ O ₃ ), silicon oxide (SiO ₂ ), or aluminum nitride (AlN). The method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to claim 9 or 10, wherein a layer is formed. The stopper layer is formed in the third step so that an interval between the precursor magnetic pole layer and the stopper layer is in a range of 0.05 μm or more and 100 μm or less. The method for manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to claim 11. A method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein a plurality of thin film magnetic heads are formed in parallel on a substrate. Method.

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