JP2007250118A - Manufacturing method of magnetic head for performing chamfering by surface plate - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a manufacturing method of a magnetic head for controlling the dispersion of the size of a chamfered part on a medium facing surface even in an extremely small slider when performing chamfering work using a rotary type surface plate. <P>SOLUTION: One slider is fixed to the surface plate for performing polishing by being rotated such that the rotary axis of the surface plate passes through the medium facing surface of the one slider, the surface plate is rotated while applying loads to the one slider, and the chamfering work of the one slider is performed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a magnetic head that chamfers a predetermined portion of a medium facing surface using a rotating surface plate. In particular, the present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a contact-type thin film magnetic head that performs writing and reading while contacting a recording medium.

  Typical examples of the conventional contact type magnetic head include a metal-in-gap (MIG) type magnetic head for writing and reading on a flexible disk, and a magnetic head for tape for writing and reading on a magnetic tape. Furthermore, recently, development of a method of writing and reading by bringing a thin film magnetic head for a hard disk device suitable for high recording density into contact with a flexible medium has been promoted with the aim of downsizing a large capacity. .

  A major problem with such a contact-type magnetic head is the realization of good sliding characteristics with a small dynamic frictional force. At this time, how to chamfer the contact portion of the magnetic head with the recording medium is a very important point. In particular, if the size of the chamfered portion is not appropriate, the dynamic friction force between the recording medium and the recording medium increases, which may adversely affect the recording medium and the magnetic head, or increase the driving load of the recording medium. There may be situations where power saving is hindered.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, a plurality of chamfered portions having different inclinations are provided on the medium facing surface of the slider to reduce the dynamic frictional force as a conventional technique related to the chamfered portion that plays a very important role as described above. . Further, Patent Document 2 discloses a head slider having chamfered corners of an air bearing surface (ABS). Further, Patent Document 3 discloses a method of performing extremely small chamfering with high accuracy using a diamond polishing film.

  Here, in particular, Patent Document 1 discloses a step of chamfering by pressing a fixed slider against an abrasive grain portion while applying a load using a rotatable surface plate. This chamfering method performs chamfering more appropriately and efficiently than the conventional method of polishing by pressing the slider diagonally against the polishing tape and the method of pressing the slider against the rotating grindstone. Make it possible.

JP-A-8-171711 JP 2000-306226 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-234048

  However, when chamfering is performed using a rotating surface plate, the size of the chamfered portion of the contact surface on the medium facing surface varies greatly depending on the area of the contact surface, and there is a problem that the variation cannot be controlled sufficiently. Was.

  When the area of the contact surface with the medium facing surface is smaller than that of the other contact surface, the load pressure applied to the contact surface is larger than that of the other portions. As a result, the size of the chamfered portion of the contact surface tends to become larger. Here, since the size of the chamfered portion has a great influence on the sliding characteristics as described above, it must be set within an appropriate range. However, if the size of the chamfer varies depending on the area of the contact surface, such setting becomes difficult and there is a possibility that the sliding characteristics such as an increase in dynamic friction force may be deteriorated.

Furthermore, in order to cope with the recent higher recording density, the size of the slider is further reduced, but the chamfering in a very small slider having a medium facing surface with an area of the order of 1 mm ² or less. In the processing, the variation in the size of the chamfered portion tends to be very large.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic head that can control the variation in the size of the chamfered portion on the medium facing surface even with a very small slider when chamfering is performed using a rotary surface plate. It is to provide a manufacturing method.

  Before describing the present invention, terms used in the specification will be defined. In the laminated structure of each component formed on the element formation surface of the slider substrate, the component on the substrate side with respect to the reference layer is assumed to be “below” or “below” the reference layer, and the reference It is assumed that the component on the side in the stacking direction from the layer to be is “above” or “above” the reference layer. For example, the “closure part provided on the coating layer” means that the closure part is on the side of the stacking direction with respect to the coating layer.

  According to the present invention, one slider is fixed to a surface plate that rotates and polishes so that the rotation axis of the surface plate penetrates the medium facing surface of the one slider, and a load is applied to the one slider. A method of manufacturing a magnetic head for chamfering the one slider by rotating the surface plate while applying is provided.

  By fixing each slider to be chamfered to the surface plate according to the rotation axis as described above, and chamfering, the size variation of the chamfered part can be controlled even with a very small slider. It becomes.

  Here, it is preferable that one slider is fixed so that the rotation axis passes through a position shifted by a predetermined distance in a predetermined direction from the center of the medium facing surface. At this time, it is preferable that the predetermined direction and the predetermined distance are set so that a portion where the size of the chamfered portion is to be reduced is closer to the rotation axis.

  When one slider is fixed to the surface plate under such a predetermined direction and a predetermined distance, the size of the chamfered portion closer to the rotation axis is relatively reduced, and the variation in the size of the chamfered portion is controlled. It becomes possible. That is, by appropriately selecting the predetermined direction and the predetermined distance, the variation in the size of the chamfered portion on the medium facing surface can be controlled within a desired value or range. This makes it possible to manufacture a magnetic head having good sliding characteristics with a small dynamic friction force.

  It is also preferable to fix one slider on the first cushioning material attached to the fixing jig of the surface plate. Furthermore, it is also preferable to fix a film for preventing electrostatic discharge on a first buffer material attached to a fixing jig of a surface plate, and fix one slider on this film. At this time, it is also preferable that the first buffer material is an adhesive rubber.

  Furthermore, it is also preferable to apply a load by pressing the abrasive grain portion fixed on the second cushioning material attached to the load jig of the surface plate against the medium facing surface of one slider. At this time, it is also preferable that the second buffer material is an adhesive rubber.

  According to the magnetic head manufacturing method of the present invention, when chamfering is performed using a rotary surface plate, the variation in the size of the chamfered portion on the medium facing surface can be controlled even with a very small slider. it can. This makes it possible to manufacture a magnetic head having good sliding characteristics with a small dynamic friction force.

  EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Below, the form for implementing this invention is demonstrated in detail, referring an accompanying drawing. In the drawings, the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals. In addition, the dimensional ratios in the components in the drawings and between the components are arbitrary for easy viewing of the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a flowchart schematically showing a method of manufacturing a contact-type thin film magnetic head having a pad as an embodiment of a method of manufacturing a magnetic head according to the present invention.

According to FIG. 1, first, an MR effect element for reading data is formed on the element formation surface of a wafer substrate for a slider made of Altic (Al ₂ O ₃ —TiC) or the like (step S1), and then A backing coil portion is formed (step S2). Here, the backing coil portion is a constituent element of a thin film magnetic head for perpendicular magnetic recording, and is omitted in the case of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head for longitudinal magnetic recording. Thereafter, an electromagnetic coil element for writing data is formed (step S3), and a coating layer and a signal terminal electrode are further formed (step S4). Thus, the wafer thin film process for forming the magnetic head element including the MR effect element and the electromagnetic coil element on the wafer substrate is completed.

  A number of magnetic head element patterns are formed in a matrix on the element forming surface of a thin film magnetic head wafer, which is a wafer substrate on which the wafer thin film process has been completed. The magnetic head element pattern is a portion mainly serving as a magnetic head element and a signal terminal electrode in each slider formed through a machining process described later.

  Next, a block with a closure is formed from this thin film magnetic head wafer as a part of forming a closure portion excellent in contact resistance with a recording medium (step 5). This step will be described later in detail with reference to FIG. In the manufacturing method of another contact-type thin film magnetic head not provided with a closure portion, the block forming step (step 5) is omitted.

  Next, the formed block with closure or thin film magnetic head wafer is cut by adhering to a cutting / separating jig using a resin or the like, thereby cutting out a processing bar in which a plurality of magnetic head element patterns are arranged in a line (step S6). ). Next, the processing bar is bonded to a polishing jig using a resin or the like, and polishing as MR height processing is performed on the end surface on the medium facing surface side of the processing bar (step 7). This MR height processing is performed until the magnetic head element is exposed at the end face of the head and the MR multilayer of the MR effect element reaches a predetermined MR height. Thereafter, a protective film made of, for example, diamond-like carbon (DLC) or the like is formed on the polished end face of the head (step 8), and then the processing bar after the protective film is formed is used for pad formation using a resin or the like. Bonding to a jig and performing a process of forming an element contact pad and a contact pad on the medium facing surface by using a photolithography method, an ion beam etching method, or the like (step 9). In a magnetic head having a rail on the medium facing surface, the rail is formed in this step. Further, this process is omitted in a head having neither a pad nor a rail. Thereafter, this processing bar is bonded to a cutting jig using a resin or the like, and after grooving processing, cutting processing is performed to separate the processing bars into individual sliders (step 10). Next, the separated sliders are fixed one by one on a rotating surface plate that rotates and polishes, and element contact pads formed on the medium facing surface and contact pad chamfering are performed (step 11). In a magnetic head having a rail on the medium facing surface, the rail is chamfered in this step. Further, in a head having neither a pad nor a rail, chamfering of the edge of the medium facing surface is performed in this step. Thus, the machining process for forming the slider is completed, and the manufacturing process of the thin film magnetic head (slider) is completed.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing a process until just before chamfering in the machining process of FIG.

  According to FIG. 2A, the thin film magnetic head wafer 20 is cut by adhering to a cutting and separating jig using a resin or the like, and a block 21 in which a plurality of magnetic head elements are arranged in a plurality of rows is formed. To separate. Next, as shown in FIG. 2B, a closure member 22 made of Altic or the like is joined to the surface of the block 21 where the elements are formed. The closure member 22 has a joint surface in which a plurality of horizontally long convex portions are arranged side by side, and is a region excluding the terminal electrode and its periphery on the surface on which the elements of the block 21 are formed. It is joined to the region including just above. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 2 (C), the joined body of the block 21 and the closure member 22 is bonded to a polishing jig using a resin or the like and polished from the closure member 22 side, whereby a block with a closure is provided. 23 is formed.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 2D, the block with closure 23 is cut to separate the processing bar 24. Thereafter, the MR height processing is performed by polishing to obtain a desired MR height. Further, by using an ion milling method or a reactive ion etching method, predetermined element contact pads and contact pads are formed by ions 26 or the like, and the medium facing surface 25 is completed. Here, the depth of these pads formed (the length in the direction perpendicular to the medium facing surface) is about 2 to about 15 μm. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 2E, the processing bar 24 is cut and separated into individual sliders 27 each having an element contact pad 28 and a contact pad 29.

  FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram for explaining a chamfering process in the machining process of FIG. FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram for explaining a conventional chamfering process.

  According to FIG. 3 (A), an adhesive rubber 11 made of, for example, nitrile rubber as a first buffer material is attached to the fixing jig 101 in the rotary surface plate 10, and this adhesive rubber is further provided. On 11, an electrostatic discharge (ESD) countermeasure film 12 is fixed by rubber adhesive force. Here, the surface plate 10 may use a general polishing lapping machine. Also, the adhesive rubber 11 is preferably a rubber for ESD countermeasures. On the ESD countermeasure film 12, one separated slider 27 shown in FIG. 2E is fixed by the adhesive force of the ESD countermeasure film 12. As described above, by using an adhesive force of a film or the like as a method for fixing the slider, even a very small slider, for example, about 1 mm × 1.235 mm × 0.3 mm thick is fixed securely. As another fixing method of the slider, vacuum suction may be used. However, in the case of a very small slider, it may be difficult to fix with a sufficient force. Moreover, although it may fix using an adhesive agent, a sufficient washing | cleaning process later is required in this case, and a problem may arise in workability | operativity. Moreover, although the magnitude | size of the fixing jig | tool 101 and the load jig | tool 102 mentioned later is arbitrary, For example, a diameter is about 10 to about 30 mm.

Here, as the fixing position of the slider 27, the rotating shaft 103 of the surface plate 10 is fixed so as to penetrate the medium facing surface 270 of the slider 27 vertically. Furthermore, the position of the rotary shaft 103 penetrates from the center 27a of the bearing surface 270, offset by a predetermined distance _{D OFF} in a predetermined direction _{O OFF} (offset) is located. At this time, the direction O _OFF and the distance D _OFF from the center 27 a of the shifted position are set so that the contact portion where the size of the chamfered portion is to be reduced is closer to the rotating shaft 103.

  The setting of the position of the rotation shaft 103 will be described using, for example, a case where the contact pad 29 and the element contact pad 28 having a smaller contact surface area than the contact pad 29 are provided on the medium facing surface 270. .

  First, with respect to such an element contact pad 28 and contact pad 29, for example, as in the conventional example shown in FIG. A case where chamfering is performed using the above will be described. In this case, a cushioning material 91 and a polishing sheet 92 are attached to the rotary surface plate 90, and a plurality of sliders 94 are fixed to the plate 93. While rotating the surface plate 90 and the plate 93 together, a load is applied. Is applied to perform chamfering. In such a conventional example, generally, the load pressure applied to the element contact pad 28 is larger than the other portions by the smaller area of the contact surface. As a result, the size of the chamfered portion of the element contact pad 28 tends to be larger. Thus, if the size of the chamfered portion varies depending on the area of the pad, the sliding characteristics may deteriorate, for example, the dynamic frictional force increases.

On the other hand, the direction O _OFF is the direction from the center 27a of the medium facing surface 270 toward the element contact pad 28, and the distance D _OFF is necessary to keep the variation in the size of the chamfered portion within an appropriate range. Is set to a value within the range obtained from the experiment. Thereby, the element contact pad 28 is closer to the rotation shaft 103, and the contact pad 27 is further away from the rotation shaft 103. In the case where one slider is fixed to a rotary surface plate, the inventors of the present application reduce the size of the chamfered portion of the element contact pad 28 closer to the rotating shaft 103 by such setting, and the chamfered portion It has been found that the variation in the size of can be controlled. That is, by setting the direction O _OFF and the distance D _OFF in this way, the variation in the size of the chamfered portion on the medium facing surface can be controlled within a desired value or range. This makes it possible to manufacture a magnetic head having good sliding characteristics with a small dynamic friction force.

  Further, according to FIG. 3A, an adhesive rubber 13 made of, for example, nitrile rubber as a second buffer material is attached to the load jig 102 of the surface plate 10. Further, a polishing film 14 as an abrasive part is fixed by the adhesive force of the adhesive rubber 13. Here, as the polishing film 14, a base film having a thickness of about 4 to about 12 μm coated with abrasive grains having a particle size of about 0.1 to about 1.0 μm is used. Further, the adhesive rubber 13 and the polishing film 14 are also preferably for ESD countermeasures.

  The fixed polishing film 14 is pressed against the medium facing surface 270 of the fixed slider 27 and the surface plate 10 is rotated while applying the load W, so that the element contact pad 28 and the contact pad 29 of the slider 27 are rotated. Chamfering. Here, the load W is about 20 to about 80 g, and the rotation of the surface plate 10 is about 5 to about 30 rpm, and the rotation time (chamfering time) is about 20 to about 180 seconds. is there. At this time, it is also preferable to reverse the rotation direction every 15 seconds or every appropriate time to achieve a better finish.

  Through the chamfering process described above, an element contact pad having a chamfered portion controlled within a sufficiently small size variation and a thin film magnetic head including the contact pad can be obtained. Note that in a magnetic head having a rail on the medium facing surface, a rail having a chamfered portion that is controlled within a sufficiently small range in size can be obtained. Further, in a head having neither a pad nor a rail, a medium facing surface having a chamfered portion whose size variation is controlled at the end side can be obtained.

Further, in the manufacturing method according to the present invention described above, the variation in size is controlled even in the chamfering process in a very small slider having a medium facing surface with an area of 1 mm ² or less. A chamfer is realized. On the other hand, in the conventional method as described above, when such chamfering of a very small slider is performed, the variation in the size of the chamfered portion becomes difficult to control and generally becomes very large.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view schematically showing one embodiment of a thin film magnetic head manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present invention.

  According to FIG. 4, the thin film magnetic head 30 manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present invention includes a slider substrate 31 having a pad forming surface 310 and an element forming surface 311 perpendicular to the pad forming surface 310, and a magnetic formed on the element forming surface 311. The head element 32, a covering layer 330 formed on the element forming surface 311 so as to cover the magnetic head element 32, and a covering layer 330 provided on the covering layer 330, leaving a part of the upper surface 331 of the covering layer. A closure 34 bonded to the layer 330; an element contact pad 36 formed on the medium facing surface 300 of the thin film magnetic head 30; and one end 320 of the magnetic head element reaching the contact surface 360; and the slider substrate 31. The contact pad 37 formed on the pad forming surface 310 and the upper surface 331 of the covering layer 33 and not exposed to the closure portion 34 and exposed. And a four signal electrodes 35 for the magnetic head element 32 formed.

  The element contact pad 36 has a rectangular contact surface 360, and is formed on the line symmetry axis 38 in the medium forming surface 300. Here, the element contact pad 36 may be provided at a position away from the line symmetry axis 38 as shown in FIG. Moreover, you may have the contact surface 360 of circular shape or ellipse shape. The contact surface 360 includes a part of the pad forming surface 310 of the slider substrate 31, a part of the end surface 330 of the covering layer 33, and a part of the end surface 340 of the closure portion 34. One end 320 of the magnetic head element 32 reaches a part of the end surface 330 of the coating layer 33 among them. Further, the shape of the contact surface of the contact pad 37 is also rectangular in this embodiment, but it may be circular or elliptical.

  Thus, by providing the element contact pad 36 and the contact pad 37, the total contact area of the thin film magnetic head 30 with the recording medium is suppressed as much as possible during the write or read operation, and the temporal reliability of the head is ensured. The

  Here, chamfered portions 3600 and 3700 are provided on the outer peripheral portions of the contact surfaces of the element contact pad 36 and the contact pad 37, respectively. As described above, the chamfered portions 3600 and 3700 are very important for improving the sliding characteristics of the head. The sizes of the chamfered portions 3600 and 3700 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The four signal terminal electrodes 35 are formed on the upper surface 331 of the covering layer 33 and are exposed without being joined to the closure portion 34. In general, in the manufacturing process of a thin film magnetic head, when a closure portion is further provided on the coating layer, it is difficult to secure a surface from which a signal terminal electrode for the magnetic head element is drawn. However, by using the upper surface portion of the covering layer 33 as the installation location of the signal terminal electrode, it is possible to form a highly reliable signal terminal electrode without a large process burden.

  FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 4 showing the configuration of the main part of the magnetic head element 32 shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, the magnetic head element 32 and the signal terminal electrode 35 appear in the same cross section. However, for convenience of explanation by the drawing, for example, the signal terminal electrode 35 is provided at a position where it does not appear in this cross section. It may be done.

  According to FIG. 5A, the magnetic head element 32 includes a read MR effect element 321 and a write electromagnetic coil element 322. Here, the four signal terminal electrodes 35 (only one appears in the figure) are connected to the MR effect element 321 and the electromagnetic coil element 322 two by two, respectively.

  In the MR effect element 321 and the electromagnetic coil element 322, one end of the element reaches the contact surface 360 of the element contact pad 36. During the write or read operation, the thin film magnetic head 30 contacts the rotating recording medium at the contact surface 360. In this state, the MR effect element 321 senses the signal magnetic field and performs reading, and the electromagnetic coil element 322 applies the signal magnetic field and performs writing.

  The MR effect element 321 includes an MR multilayer 321b, and a lower shield layer 321a and an upper shield layer 321c disposed at positions sandwiching the multilayer. The upper and lower shield layers 321c and 321a prevent the MR multilayer 321b from receiving an external magnetic field that causes noise. The lower shield layer 321a is formed by frame plating, for example, and is made of, for example, NiFe, CoFeNi, CoFe, FeN, FeZrN, or a multilayer film of these materials, and has a thickness of about 0.5 to 3 μm. The upper shield layer 321c is similarly formed by frame plating or the like, and is made of, for example, NiFe, CoFeNi, CoFe, FeN, or FeZrN, or a multilayer film of these materials, and has a thickness of about 0.5 to 3 μm.

  The MR multilayer 321b is preferably a TMR multilayer that is a magnetically sensitive portion utilizing the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) effect. The temperature coefficient of the resistance change rate due to increase / decrease of the tunnel current is generally negative, and the absolute value thereof is smaller by one digit or more than other MR effects. Therefore, when the TMR laminate is used, an abnormal signal (thermal asperity) due to frictional heat between the head and the recording medium is hardly generated. However, if the thermal asperity is within an allowable range, the MR multilayer 321b is naturally an in-plane energization type (CIP (Current In Plain)) giant magnetoresistive (GMR (Giant Magneto Resistive)) laminate, or a vertical energization type ( It may be a CPP (Current Perpendicular to Plain) GMR laminate. In any case, the signal magnetic field from the magnetic disk is sensed with very high sensitivity.

The electromagnetic coil element 322 is formed by, for example, a frame plating method, for example, NiFe, CoFeNi, CoFe, FeN, FeZrN or the like, or a lower magnetic pole layer 322a having a thickness of about 0.5 to 3 μm made of a multilayer film of these materials, For example, a write gap layer 322b having a thickness of about 0.01 to 0.05 μm made of an insulating material such as Al ₂ O ₃ , SiO ₂ , AlN, or DLC is formed by a sputtering method, a CVD method, or the like, and a frame, for example A coil layer 322c made of, for example, Cu and having a thickness of about 1 to 5 μm, and a novolac system formed by, for example, photolithography so as to cover the coil layer 322c, for example, heated and cured. Coil insulating layer 3 having a thickness of about 0.5 to 7 μm and made of a resist such as 2d and an upper magnetic pole layer 322e having a thickness of about 0.5 to 3 μm formed of, for example, NiFe, CoFeNi, CoFe, FeN, FeZrN or the like or a multilayer film of these materials. Yes.

  The lower magnetic pole layer 322a and the upper magnetic pole layer 322e serve as a magnetic path for magnetic flux induced by the coil layer 322c, and the end portion of the write gap layer 322b is sandwiched between the end portions thereof. Writing is performed by a leakage magnetic field from the end position where the write gap layer 322b is sandwiched. The coil layer 322c is one layer in the figure, but may be two or more layers or a helical coil. Further, the upper shield layer 321c and the lower magnetic pole layer 322a may be shared by one magnetic layer.

  The signal terminal electrode 35 is formed on and electrically connected to the extraction electrode 350. Here, the extraction electrode 350 is extracted by being electrically connected to the MR multilayer 321 b of the MR effect element 321 or the coil layer 322 c of the electromagnetic coil element 322. An electrode film member 351 having conductivity is formed on the lead electrode 350. Further, an bump 352 extending upward is formed on the electrode film member 351 by electroplating using the electrode film member 351 as an electrode. Is provided. The electrode film member 351 and the bump 352 are made of a conductive material such as Cu. The thickness of the electrode film member 351 is about 10 to about 200 nm, and the thickness of the bump 352 is about 5 to about 30 μm.

  The upper end of the bump 352 is exposed from the coating layer 33, and a pad 353 is provided on this upper end. The signal terminal electrode 35 is configured by the above components, and a current is supplied to the magnetic head element 32 via the four signal terminal electrodes 35.

  FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view for defining the size of the chamfered portion on the medium facing surface. In the drawing, the size of the chamfered portion 3600 that appears in the cross section of the element contact pad 36 is shown, but the definition of the size of the chamfered portion 3700 is also the same as that in the drawing.

According to FIG. 5B, the width W _CH of the chamfered portion 3600 is defined as the length of the chamfered portion 3600 in the track direction. Further, the depth D _CH of the chamfered portion 3600 is defined as a length (height) in a direction perpendicular to the contact surface 360 of the chamfered portion 3600. In the thin film magnetic head 80 manufactured by the manufacturing method according to the present invention, the variation in size of the chamfered portions 3600 and 3700 obtained by combining the width W _CH and the depth D _CH is controlled within a sufficiently small range. Yes. As a result, the head has good sliding characteristics with small dynamic friction force.

  FIG. 6 is a perspective view schematically showing one embodiment of a magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus using the thin film magnetic head 30 of FIG.

  In FIG. 6, reference numeral 60 denotes a flexible recording medium having a hub 62 which is housed in a cartridge 61 and is connected to a spindle motor at the center, and 63 denotes two thin film magnetic heads (sliders) 30 which are flexible. An assembly carriage device for positioning on the tracks on the front and back surfaces of the recording medium 60, 68 is a recording / reproducing circuit for controlling writing and reading operations of the thin film magnetic head 30, and 69 is a cartridge 61 inserted into the device. Each of the insertion openings is shown. Although not shown, the cartridge 61 includes a window and a shutter. Here, when the cartridge 11 is inserted into the apparatus through the insertion port 69, the shutter is opened and the flexible recording medium 60 is exposed from the window. Through this window, the thin film magnetic head 30 performs writing and reading on the flexible recording medium 60.

  The assembly carriage device 63 is provided with two drive arms 64. These drive arms 64 can be angularly swung about a pivot bearing shaft 66 by a voice coil motor (VCM) 65, and are stacked in a direction along the shaft 66. An HGA 67 is attached to the tip of each drive arm 64. Each HGA 67 is provided with a thin film magnetic head (slider) 30 so as to sandwich the flexible recording medium 60. At the time of writing and reading, a part of the medium facing surface of each thin film magnetic head 30 is in contact with the front and back surfaces of the flexible recording medium 60. Further, one of the thin film magnetic heads 30 may be a dummy head for stabilizing the contact state between the other thin film magnetic head and the flexible recording medium 60.

  FIG. 7 is a perspective view schematically showing another embodiment of the thin film magnetic head manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present invention.

  The thin film magnetic heads 70 and 71 shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B are both contact type, but do not have a closure portion. The thin film magnetic head 70 includes an element contact pad 71 and a contact pad 72 having a contact surface larger than the element contact pad 71. The thin film magnetic head 71 includes an element contact pad 75 and an element contact. A contact pad 76 having a contact surface having the same area as that of the pad 75 and a contact pad 77 having a contact surface having a larger area than the element contact pad 75 and the contact pad 76 are provided.

Further, according to FIG. 7A, in the thin film magnetic head 70, the end of the magnetic head element 73 formed on the element forming surface 700 including the side surface of the element contact pad 71 is the contact surface 710 of the element contact pad 71. Has reached. Even in such a head, by using the manufacturing method according to the present invention, the size, that is, the variation of the width W _CH and the depth D _CH defined in FIG. 5B can be controlled within a sufficiently small range. The element contact pad 71 and the contact pad 72 having the chamfered portions 7100 and 7200 are realized.

7B, in the thin film magnetic head 74, the end of the magnetic head element 78 formed on the element forming surface 740 including the side surface of the element contact pad 75 is the contact surface 750 of the element contact pad 75. Has reached. Even in such a head, by using the manufacturing method according to the present invention, the size, that is, the variation of the width W _CH and the depth D _CH defined in FIG. 5B can be controlled within a sufficiently small range. Element contact pads 75 having contact chamfered portions 7500, 7600, and 7700, and contact pads 76 and 77 are realized.

  The effects of the method of manufacturing a magnetic head according to the present invention will be described below using examples and conventional examples.

Example 1
FIG. 8 is a plan view showing the configuration of the magnetic head used as Example 1 on the medium facing surface before chamfering.

According to FIG. 8, the slider 80 before chamfering process used as Example 1 is a contact-type thin film magnetic head not provided with a closure part, and a rectangular element is formed on a medium facing surface 800 (1000 μm × 1235 μm). The contact pad 81, the rectangular contact pad 82 having the same contact surface area (0.05 mm ² ) as the element contact pad 81, and the contact surface area one digit larger than the element contact pad 81 and the contact pad 82 ( And a rectangular contact pad 83 having 0.5 mm ² ).

  Here, in Example 1, the slider 80 was fixed to the rotary type surface plate shown in FIG. 3A, and the element contact pad 81, the contact pad 82, and the contact pad 83 were chamfered. At this time, in the rotary surface plate used, the diameters of the fixing jig and the load jig were 25 mm. Nitrile rubber, which is an adhesive rubber for ESD countermeasures, was attached to the fixing jig by adhesive force, an ESD countermeasure film was fixed thereon, and the slider 80 was fixed on the film by adhesive force. Furthermore, a nitrile rubber, which is an adhesive rubber for ESD countermeasures, was attached to the load jig, and a polishing film 14 for ESD countermeasures was fixed to the nitrile rubber by adhesive force. As this polishing film, a base film having a thickness of 6 μm coated with abrasive grains having a particle size of 0.25 μm was used.

Further, the position 84 where the rotation axis of the surface plate penetrates the medium facing surface 800 is a point shifted (offset) by a distance D _OFF from the center 80a of the medium facing surface 800 on the line symmetry axis 801 of the medium facing surface. . Specifically, the direction on the element contact pad 81 and the contact pad 82 side is positive, the direction on the contact pad 83 side is negative, and the distance D _OFF is −600 μm, −300 μm, 0 μm, 300 μm, and 600 μm. Chamfering was performed. The number of samples was 10 (total 50 samples) for each distance D _OFF .

  Furthermore, the load when the polishing film is pressed against the medium facing surface 800 of the slider 80 is 30 g, the rotation speed of the surface plate 10 is 15 rpm, and the rotation time (chamfering time) is 60 seconds. It was. At this time, the direction of rotation was reversed every 15 seconds.

Table 1 shows the result of measuring the width W _CH of the chamfered portion formed in the thin film magnetic head chamfered by Example 1, and Table 2 shows the depth D _CH. It is. Here, the width W _CH and the depth D _CH are the amounts defined in FIG. 5B, and are in contact with the two corners C _A and C _B (FIG. 8) of the element contact pad 81 for one sample. It was measured at a total of four points with two corners C _C and C _D (FIG. 8) of the pad 83. A non-contact laser surface shape measuring device was used for this measurement. Each value in the table is an average value of 10 samples.

FIG. 9A is a graph of the width W _CH of the chamfered portion in Example 1 shown in Table 1. FIG. 9B is a graph of the chamfered portion depth D _CH in Example 1 shown in Table 2.

According to FIG. 9 (A), as the distance D _OFF increases from −600 μm, goes through the offset zero and reaches +600 μm, the width W _{CH at} the angles C _A and C _B monotonously decreases, and the angles C _C and C The width W _{CH at D} increases monotonously. That is, it can be seen that the width W _CH at the angles C _A and C _B at which the rotation axis approaches is decreased, and the width W _CH at the angles C _C and C _D at which the rotation axis moves away increases.

Also, according to the figure, it can be understood that the variation in the width W _CH depending on the measurement positions (C _{A to} C _D ) can be controlled by adjusting the distance D _OFF . Here, when representing the variation of the ratio between the maximum value and the minimum value, for _example, by a + 300 [mu] m to _{D OFF,} the variation can be suppressed to 15.6 / 10.1 = 1.54. Further, in this _D OFF = + 300 [mu] m, the width _{W CH} at corner _{C A} and _{C B} of the smaller element contact pads 81 of the area, the width W of the corner _{C D} and _{C C} of larger contact pads 83 of the area It is possible to substantially match _CH with each other. That is, the size of the chamfered portion can be selected regardless of the area of the contact surface of the pad.

According to FIG. 9B, as the distance D _OFF increases from −600 μm, goes through zero offset and reaches +600 μm, the depth D _CH at the angles C _A and C _B monotonously decreases, and the angle C _C and the depth _D of the C _{D CH} increases monotonically. That is, it can be seen that the depth D _CH at the angles C _A and C _B where the rotation axis approaches is decreased, and the depth D _CH at the angles C _C and C _D where the rotation axis moves away increases.

Further, according to the figure, variation in the measurement position _(C A _{~C D)} according to the depth _{D CH} is understood to be controllable by'll adjust the distance _{D OFF.} Here, when the variation is expressed by a ratio between the maximum value and the minimum value, for example, by setting D _OFF to +300 μm, the variation can be suppressed to 11.1 / 4.2 = 2.64. Further, in this _D OFF = + 300 [mu] m, the depth _{D CH} of the corner _{C A} and _{C B} of the smaller element contact pads 81 of the area, depth of the corner _{C D} and _{C C} of larger contact pads 83 of the area It is possible to substantially match the _DCH with each other. That is, the size of the chamfered portion can be selected regardless of the area of the contact surface of the pad.

(Example 2)
FIG. 10 is a plan view showing the configuration of the medium facing surface before chamfering of the magnetic head used as the second embodiment.

  According to FIG. 10, the slider 90 before chamfering process used as Example 2 is a contact-type thin film magnetic head that does not include a closure portion, and does not include a pad on the medium facing surface 900 (1000 μm × 1235 μm). Of the type.

  Here, in Example 2, the slider 90 was fixed to the rotary type surface plate shown in FIG. 3A, and the edge chamfering of the medium facing surface 900 was performed. At this time, in the rotary surface plate used, the diameters of the fixing jig and the load jig were 25 mm. Nitrile rubber, which is an ESD countermeasure adhesive rubber, was attached to the fixing jig by adhesive force, and an ESD countermeasure film was fixed thereon, and the slider 90 was fixed on the film by adhesive force. Furthermore, a nitrile rubber, which is an adhesive rubber for ESD countermeasures, was attached to the load jig, and a polishing film 14 for ESD countermeasures was fixed to the nitrile rubber by adhesive force. As this polishing film, a base film having a thickness of 6 μm coated with abrasive grains having a particle size of 0.25 μm was used.

Further, a position 91 where the rotation axis of the surface plate penetrates the medium facing surface 900 is a point shifted (offset) by a distance D _OFF from the center 90a of the medium facing surface 900 on the line symmetry axis 901 of the medium facing surface. . Specifically, the angular _{C E} and _{C F} side orientation as a positive, the angular _{C G} and _{C H} side orientation as a negative distance _{D OFF} is a -600μm, -300μm, 0μm, 300μm and 600 .mu.m 5 Various types of chamfering were performed. The number of samples was 10 (total 50 samples) for each distance D _OFF .

  Furthermore, the load when the polishing film is pressed against the medium facing surface 900 of the slider 90 is 30 g, the rotation speed of the surface plate 10 is 15 rpm, and the rotation time (chamfering processing time) is 60 seconds. It was. The direction of rotation was reversed every 15 seconds.

Table 3 shows the result of measuring the width W _CH of the formed chamfered portion in the thin film magnetic head chamfered according to Example 2, and Table 4 shows the depth D _CH. It is. Here, the width W _CH and the depth D _CH are the amounts defined in FIG. 5B, and the four angles C _E , C _F , C _G, and C _H of the medium facing surface 900 per sample. Measurement was made at a total of four locations (FIG. 10). A non-contact laser surface shape measuring device was used for this measurement. Each value in the table is an average value of 10 samples.

FIG. 11A is a graph of the width W _CH of the chamfered portion in Example 2 shown in Table 3. FIG. 11B is a graph of the chamfered portion depth D _CH in Example 2 shown in Table 4.

According to FIG. 11 (A), the distance _{D OFF} is increased from -600Myuemu, through the offset zero, as becomes + 600 .mu.m, the width _{W CH} at the corners _{C E} and _{C F} decreases monotonically, corners _{C G} and C The width W _{CH at H} increases monotonously. That is, the width _{W CH} at corner _{C E} and _{C F} of the rotary shaft approaches decreases, the width _{W CH} at corner _{C G} and _{C H} of the rotary shaft moves away is seen to increase.

Further, according to the figure, it is understood that the variation of the width W _CH depending on the measurement positions (C _{E to} C _H ) can be controlled by adjusting the distance D _OFF . Here, when the variation is represented by the ratio between the maximum value and the minimum value, for example, by setting the distance D _OFF to zero, the variation can be suppressed to 14.7 / 12.6 = 1.17. .

According in FIG. 11 (B), the distance _{D OFF} is increased from -600Myuemu, through the offset zero, + as becomes 600 .mu.m, the depth _{D CH} at the corner _{C E} and _{C F} decreases monotonically, corners _{C G} and The depth D _CH at C _H increases monotonously. That is, it can be seen that the depth D _CH at the angles _CE and C _F at which the rotation axis approaches decreases and the depth D _CH at the angles C _G and C _H at which the rotation axis moves away increases.

Further, according to the figure, it can be understood that the variation in the depth D _CH depending on the measurement position (C _{E to} C _H ) can be controlled by adjusting the distance D _OFF . Here, when the variation is expressed by a ratio between the maximum value and the minimum value, for example, by setting the distance D _OFF to zero, the variation can be suppressed to 7.2 / 6.3 = 1.14. .

In an actual production site, for example, when it is desired to suppress give priority to variations in the width W _CH on the trailing side in the end side of each pad or bearing surface, of the chamfered portion of the trailing side and the leading side size There may be various design demands when it is desired to set to a different value. At this time, according to the present invention, a desired chamfer is obtained by adjusting the distance D _OFF according to the required condition and selecting the distribution of the width W _CH and the depth D _CH of the chamfered portion in the medium facing surface. Can be realized.

  In addition, the direction of shifting the rotation axis of the surface plate can be selected as described above, and the direction of shifting the rotation axis of the surface plate is also adjusted according to the required conditions to more appropriately suppress variations in required positions. can do.

(Conventional example)
Hereinafter, a conventional example in which chamfering is performed using the same slider as in Example 1 will be shown, and the effect of the present invention will be confirmed.

The slider before chamfering used as a conventional example is a contact-type thin film magnetic head shown in FIG.
Here, as a conventional example, the rotary element plate 90 shown in FIG. 3B was used to chamfer the element contact pad and the contact pad of this slider. At this time, the diameters of the surface plate 90 and the plate 93 were 380 mm and 100 mm, respectively, and chamfering was performed by aligning the rotation axis of the surface plate 90 with the rotation axis of the plate 93. The number of sliders attached to the plate 93 was 50, and the load when these sliders were pressed against the surface plate was 1500 g.

Table 5 shows the results of measuring the width W _CH and the depth D _CH of the formed chamfered portion in the thin film magnetic head that has been chamfered according to the conventional example. Here, the width W _CH and the depth D _CH are the amounts defined in FIG. 5B, and the two corners C _A and C _B (FIG. 8) of the element contact pad and the contact pad per sample. Were measured at a total of four locations with two corners C _C and C _D (FIG. 8). A non-contact laser surface shape measuring device was used for this measurement. Each value in the table is an average value of 50 samples.

According to Table 5, the variation of the width W _CH depending on the measurement position (C _{A to} C _D ) in the conventional example is 32.8 / 15.1 = 2.17 as the ratio between the maximum value and the minimum value. Therefore, it is considerably larger than the same ratio adjusted in Examples 1 and 2 (1.54 and 1.17, respectively). The depth _{D CH} is 3.2μm at the corners _{C A} at the largest value, the angular _{C B} and _{C C} corresponds to the inside corner of the pad, has stopped at a small value of 1μm stand. Actually, such a value is not sufficient as the size of the chamfered portion. That is, in the conventional example, the depth D _CH of the chamfered portion cannot be sufficiently set according to the width W _CH .

Further, according to Table 5, the width W _CH at the corners C _A and C _B of the smaller area contact pads is larger than the width W _CH at the corners C _D and C _C of the larger area contact pads, respectively. It is much larger. That is, in the conventional example, the size of the chamfered portion depends on the area of the contact surface of the pad.

In contrast to the conventional examples shown in Table 5, in the present invention, as shown in the first and second embodiments, the distance D _OFF is adjusted to suppress the variation in the size of the chamfered portion. In addition, the depth D _CH of the chamfered portion can be sufficiently taken in accordance with the width W _CH , and further, by adjusting the distance D _OFF , regardless of the area of the contact surface of the pad, The size of the chamfered portion can be selected.

  Further, all of the embodiments described above are merely illustrative of the present invention and are not intended to be limiting, and the present invention can be implemented in various other variations and modifications. Therefore, the scope of the present invention is defined only by the claims and their equivalents.

5 is a flowchart schematically showing a method of manufacturing a contact-type thin film magnetic head having a pad as an embodiment of a method of manufacturing a magnetic head according to the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows schematically the process until just before chamfering among the machining processes of FIG. It is the schematic for demonstrating the chamfering process in the machining process of FIG. 1, and the conventional. It is a perspective view which shows roughly one form of the thin film magnetic head manufactured by the manufacturing method of this invention. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 4 showing the configuration of the main part of the magnetic head element shown in FIG. 4 and a cross-sectional view for defining the size of the chamfered portion on the medium facing surface. FIG. 5 is a perspective view schematically showing one embodiment of a magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus using the thin film magnetic head of FIG. 4. It is a perspective view which shows schematically the other form of the thin film magnetic head manufactured by the manufacturing method of this invention. 3 is a plan view showing a configuration of a medium facing surface before chamfering of a magnetic head used as Example 1. FIG. It is a graph of width W _CH and depth D _CH of the chamfered part in Example 1. 6 is a plan view showing a configuration of a medium facing surface before chamfering of a magnetic head used as Example 2. FIG. It is a graph of width W _CH and depth D _CH of the chamfered part in Example 2.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Surface plate 101 Fixing jig 102 Load jig 103 Rotating shaft 11 First buffer material 12 Film for ESD countermeasure 13 Second buffer material 14 Polishing film 20 Wafer 21 Block 22 Closure member 23 Block with closure 24 Processing bar 25, 270, 300, 800, 900 Media facing surface 26 Ion 27, 80, 90 Slider 27a, 80a Center 28, 36, 71, 75, 81 Element contact pad 29, 37, 72, 76, 77, 82, 83 Contact pad 30 , 70, 74 Thin film magnetic head 31 Slider substrate 310 Pad forming surface 311 Element forming surface 32, 73, 78 Magnetic head element 320 One end of magnetic head element 321 MR effect element 321a Lower shield layer 321b MR stack 321c Upper shield layer 322 Electromagnetic Coil element 32 a Lower magnetic pole layer 332b Write gap layer 332c Coil layer 332d Coil insulating layer 332e Upper magnetic pole layer 33 Covering layer 330 End surface of the covering layer 331 Upper surface of the covering layer 34 Closure portion 340 End surface of the closing portion 35 Signal terminal electrode 350 Lead electrode 351 Electrode film Member 352 Bump 353 Pad 360, 710, 750 Contact surface 3600, 3700, 7100, 7200, 7500, 7600, 7700 Chamfer 38, 801, 901 Axisymmetric axis 60 Flexible disk 61 Cartridge 62 Hub 63 Assembly carriage device 64 Drive arm 65 Voice coil motor (VCM)
66 Pivot bearing shaft 67 HGA
68 Recording / Reproducing Circuit 69 Insertion Port 84 Penetration Position 90 Surface Plate 91 Buffer Material 92 Polishing Sheet 93 Plate 94 Multiple Sliders

Claims (8)

  One surface plate is fixed to a surface plate that rotates for polishing so that the rotation axis of the surface plate penetrates the medium facing surface of the one slider, and the surface plate is applied while applying a load to the one slider. A method of manufacturing a magnetic head, wherein the one slider is chamfered by rotating the head.   2. The manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein the one slider is fixed so that the rotation shaft passes through a position shifted by a predetermined distance in a predetermined direction from a center of the medium facing surface.   The manufacturing method according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined direction and the predetermined distance are set so that a portion where the size of the chamfered portion is to be reduced is closer to the rotation shaft.   The manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the one slider is fixed on a first buffer material attached to a fixing jig of the surface plate.   2. A film for preventing electrostatic discharge is fixed on a first cushioning material attached to a fixing jig of the surface plate, and the one slider is fixed on the film. 4. The production method according to any one of 3 above.   The manufacturing method according to claim 4, wherein the first buffer material is an adhesive rubber.   2. A load is applied by pressing an abrasive grain portion fixed on a second cushioning material attached to a load jig of the surface plate against a medium facing surface of the one slider. 7. The production method according to any one of items 1 to 6.   The manufacturing method according to claim 7, wherein the second buffer material is an adhesive rubber.

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