JP2008130133A - Slider working method of thin film magnetic head - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a slider working method of a thin film magnetic head which can be adhered and fixed to a carrier with correct attitude without tilting. <P>SOLUTION: The slider working method of the thin film magnetic head in which a head element stack where plural rows of thin film magnetic head elements are stacked is adhered and fixed to the carrier to be attached and detached to a movable support of a grinder, and a medium opposite surface of the thin film magnetic head element row is ground by moving the movable supporting mount relatively for the grinding platen. First, a reference adhesion tool having a carrier support plane in contact with a reference plane of the carrier and a head support plane being parallel to the carrier support plane is prepared. Next, the reference plane of the carrier is abutted to the carrier support plane of the reference adhesion tool and placed. And the reference plane of the head element stack is abutted to the head support plane of the reference adhesion tool and placed, and the head element stack is adhered and fixed to the carrier on the carrier support plane of the reference adhesion tool. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a slider processing method for a thin film magnetic head used in a magnetic disk device.

  A thin film magnetic head used in a magnetic disk device applies a recording magnetic field to a reproducing element and a recording medium, which are formed in a thin film on a trailing end face of a slider and read magnetic recording information from a recording medium using a magnetoresistive effect. It has a head element including a recording element that performs a recording operation. In a conventional thin-film magnetic head manufacturing method, a large number of head elements are formed in a row on a slider, which is a substrate, and then the slider is cut into rows, and the slider end surface that is the surface facing the recording medium (medium facing surface) Is polished to form a bar-shaped thin film magnetic head in which a plurality of head elements are arranged in a row or a chip-shaped thin film magnetic head in which one head element is formed.

  In slider processing for polishing the slider end surface serving as the medium facing surface, the height of the head element is defined. The height of the head element is specifically the MR height of the reproducing element, the gap length of the magnetic gap layer of the recording element in the case of the longitudinal recording method, and the neck height of the main magnetic pole layer of the recording element in the case of the perpendicular recording method. Therefore, since it is an important factor that contributes to reproduction characteristics and recording characteristics, it is desirable to define it accurately. Particularly in the perpendicular recording magnetic head, the dimensional accuracy of the neck height is strictly required.

A conventional slider processing method is performed in units of bar-shaped thin film magnetic heads as described in Patent Document 2, for example. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8A, a bar-shaped thin film magnetic head 100 is bonded and fixed to a carrier (holding member) 104 that is attached to and detached from a movable support base of a polishing machine. By moving relative to the polishing surface plate 2, the slider end surface 100c, which is the medium facing surface of the thin film magnetic head 100, is polished until a desired height length is obtained.
JP 11-328642 A JP 2000-158335 A JP 2000-298810 A

  However, in the conventional method, the thin film magnetic head may be tilted with respect to the carrier when the thin film magnetic head and the carrier are bonded and fixed. As shown in FIG. 8B, when the slider end surface 100c of the thin film magnetic head 100 is polished while being tilted, the polishing amount varies between the reproducing element R side and the recording element W side. The height length and the height length of the recording element W cannot be accurately defined at the same time.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a slider processing method for a thin film magnetic head capable of bonding and fixing the thin film magnetic head in a correct posture without inclination with respect to the carrier.

  In the present invention, when the reference surface of the thin film magnetic head and the reference surface of the carrier are held in parallel with each other, the thin film magnetic head is bonded and fixed without being inclined with respect to the carrier, and the carrier is attached. Focusing on the fact that the perpendicularity of the head reference surface of the thin film magnetic head and the polishing surface plate is ensured when the movable support is moved relative to the polishing surface plate, and the slider end surface perpendicular to the head reference surface can be uniformly polished. It has been made.

  That is, the present invention provides a head element stack having a plurality of thin film magnetic head element rows arranged in rows in a stacked state, and is bonded and fixed to a carrier that is attached to and detached from a movable support base of a polishing machine, and the movable support base Is a slider processing method for a thin film magnetic head that polishes the medium facing surface of the thin film magnetic head element array by moving it relative to the polishing surface plate, the carrier supporting surface contacting the reference surface of the carrier, and the carrier supporting surface A step of preparing an adhesion reference jig having a head support surface parallel to the surface, a step of placing the reference surface of the carrier in contact with the carrier support surface of the adhesion reference jig, and an adhesion reference jig A step of placing the reference surface of the head element stack in contact with the head support surface of the head and bonding and fixing the head element stack to the carrier on the carrier support surface of the adhesion reference jig It is characterized by having a.

  According to the above aspect, the carrier reference surface and the reference surface of the head element stack are held in parallel by the carrier support surface and the head support surface of the adhesion reference jig, and are bonded and fixed in this holding state. Sometimes the head element stack does not tilt from the carrier. In addition, by using a head element stack having a plurality of thin film magnetic head element rows arranged in a row in a stacked state, a sufficient contact area between the reference surface of the head element stack and the head support surface is ensured, and the head support It becomes easy to hold the head element stack in parallel with the carrier support surface and the reference surface of the carrier via the surface.

  The reference plane of the head element stack is practically the leading end face of the thin film magnetic head element array.

  The carrier is preferably coated with an adhesive for adhering and fixing the head element stack before being placed on the carrier support surface of the adhesion reference jig. According to this aspect, the thin film magnetic head and the carrier can be bonded and fixed by placing the reference surface of the head element stack on the head support surface.

  According to the slider processing method of the present invention, the head element stack and the carrier are bonded and fixed using an adhesion reference jig having a carrier support surface and a head support surface that are parallel to each other, so that the head element stack is inclined with respect to the carrier. It is bonded and fixed in the correct posture without any problems. As a result, when the movable support base to which the carrier is attached moves relative to the polishing surface plate, a perpendicularity between the slider end surface of the thin film magnetic head and the polishing surface plate is secured, and the slider end surface can be uniformly polished. it can.

  An embodiment of a slider processing method for a thin film magnetic head to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the main configuration of a polishing machine used in the present slider processing method. The polishing machine includes a disc-shaped polishing surface plate 2 that is horizontally and rotatably installed on a table, a rotation drive mechanism 3 that rotationally drives the polishing surface plate 2, and a carrier 4 that adheres and fixes an object to be polished. And a movable support base 5 that detachably supports the carrier 4 and a relative drive mechanism 6 that relatively moves the movable support base 5 in the vertical and horizontal directions with respect to the polishing surface plate 2. The carrier 4 has a carrier reference surface 4a that serves as a reference for bonding and fixing an object to be polished, and is movable so that the carrier reference surface 4a is perpendicular to the surface (the upper surface in the drawing) of the polishing surface plate 2. Mounted on the support 5.

  A polishing object to be bonded and fixed to the carrier 4 is a head element stack (stacked thin film magnetic head) 10 having a plurality of thin film magnetic head element rows arranged in a row in a stacked state. As shown in FIG. 2, the head element stack 10 is formed by forming a large number of head elements H in a thin film form on the trailing end face 11a of the slider 11, and cutting out the slider 11 for each of a plurality of thin film magnetic head element arrays. It is obtained by. The head element stack 10 of this embodiment has 15 thin film magnetic head element arrays, and each thin film magnetic head element array is composed of 80 head elements H. The number of thin film magnetic head element arrays and head elements H is arbitrary. The head element H includes a reproducing element R that reads out magnetic recording information from a recording medium using a magnetoresistive effect, and a recording element W that records recording information by applying a recording magnetic field to the recording medium.

  In this embodiment, in the plurality of element rows constituting the head element stack 10, the side where the slider end surface 11c serving as the medium facing surface is exposed is the lowermost element row Hx, and the slider end surface opposite to the slider end surface 11c. The side where 11d is exposed is defined as the uppermost element row H1.

  In this slider processing method, first, the head element stack 10 to be polished and the carrier 4 are bonded and fixed.

  This adhesion fixing step is performed using an adhesion reference jig 20 (FIGS. 3 to 5) provided with a head support surface 21 and a carrier support surface 24 which are parallel to each other. The bonding reference jig 20 has a concave portion 20a for accommodating the carrier 4 in a substantially central portion, a carrier support surface 24 is formed by a pair of protrusions 20b provided on the bottom surface of the concave portion, and the upper surface along the concave portion 20a defines the head. A support surface 21 is formed.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the carrier 4 is coated with an adhesive 30 on a part of one end face (carrier end face) 4b, and the adhesive reference jig 20 is oriented so that the adhesive 30 is exposed to the head support surface 21 side. The carrier reference surface 4a is brought into contact with the carrier support surface 24 and placed. In this mounted state, the carrier reference surface 4a and the carrier support surface 24 of the adhesion reference jig 20 coincide (become parallel), and the carrier end surface 4b and the head support surface 21 are in a positional relationship. As the adhesive 30, for example, a thermoplastic resin adhesive is used.

  When the carrier 4 is set on the bonding reference jig 20, as shown in FIG. 4, the head end surface (bottom surface) 11b of the head element stack 10 is brought into contact with the head support surface 21 of the bonding reference jig 20 and placed. To do. The leading end surface 11 b is a reference surface (head reference surface) 10 a of the head element stack 10. As shown in FIG. 5, the head element stack 10 on the head support surface 21 has a head reference surface 10a held in parallel with the carrier 4, the carrier reference surface 4a, and the carrier support surface 24. The slider end face (polishing surface) 11c is exposed on the right side in the figure, and the slider end face 11d of the uppermost element row located on the opposite side of the slider end face 11c contacts the carrier end face 4b. Since the adhesive 30 is applied to the carrier end surface 4b, the head element stack 10 on the head support surface 21 and the carrier 4 on the carrier support surface 24 are bonded and fixed by the adhesive 30. A space 29 formed between the head support surface 21 of the adhesion reference jig 20 and the carrier end surface 4 b is an escape portion of the adhesive 30. FIG. 6 shows the carrier 4 and the head element stack 10 bonded and fixed.

  If the bonding reference jig 20 is used in this way, the head reference surface 10a and the carrier reference surface 4a can be held in a strictly parallel state via the head support surface 21 and the carrier support surface 24, and in this holding state, the head element stack 10 and the carrier 4 can be bonded and fixed. It has been confirmed that the perpendicularity of the head element stack 10 with respect to the carrier 4 is within a range of ± 0.15 deg. The head element stack 10 has a plurality of thin film magnetic head element rows stacked, so that a large head reference surface 10a is secured, that is, a large contact area between the head reference surface 10a and the head support surface 21 is secured. Can do. Thereby, the head reference surface 10a can be easily and stably parallel to the carrier reference surface 4a and the carrier support surface 24.

  After the adhesive fixing, the carrier 4 integrated with the head element stack 10 is attached to the movable support 5 of the polishing machine shown in FIG. Thus, the head element stack 10 is held above the polishing surface plate 2 via the carrier 4 and the movable support 5, and the slider end surface 11 c of the lowermost element row faces the polishing surface plate 2. Since the carrier 4 is mounted with the carrier reference surface 4a perpendicular to the polishing surface plate 2, the head reference surface 10a parallel to the carrier reference surface 4a is similarly held perpendicular to the polishing surface plate 2.

  Next, the polishing surface plate 2 is rotationally driven by the rotational drive mechanism 3, and the movable support base 5 is lowered via the relative drive mechanism 6, and on the polishing surface plate 2 being rotationally driven, as shown in FIG. The head element stack 10 is placed. Subsequently, the movable support 5 is moved relative to the polishing surface plate 2 via the relative drive mechanism 6, whereby the slider end surface 11 c of the lowermost element row of the head element stack 10 is polished. During the polishing process, the head reference surface 10a is supported perpendicularly to the polishing surface plate 2 via the carrier 4 and the movable support base 5, so that the slider end surface 11c is uniformly polished. If the slider end surface 11c is evenly polished in this way, there is no polishing variation between the reproducing element R side and the recording element W side in each head element H of the lowermost thin film magnetic head element array, and the height length of the reproducing element R is increased. And the height of the recording element W can be defined simultaneously and accurately.

  After the polishing process, the carrier 4 is detached from the movable support 5 and the lowermost element row that has been subjected to the polishing process is cut from the head element stack 10 that is adhered and fixed to the carrier 4, and a new element row is formed on the lowermost stage. Element array. That is, the slider end surface 11c of the new element row is exposed and used as the next polished surface.

  Then, the above-described step of attaching the carrier 4 integrated with the head element stack 10 to the movable support 5, the step of polishing the slider end surface 11 c of the lowermost element row, and the carrier 4 are removed, and the polished element row is removed. The cutting process is repeated a number of times corresponding to the number of element rows in the head element stack 10. When the polishing of the last element row (the uppermost element row) is completed, the carrier 4 is removed from the movable support base 5, and then the adhesion portion between the carrier 4 and the slider end surface 11d of the uppermost element row is peeled off. To do. Thereby, slider processing of the head element stack 10 is completed.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the head reference surface 10a of the head element stack 10 and the carrier reference surface 4a of the carrier 4 are strictly aligned using the adhesion reference jig 20 having the head support surface 21 and the carrier support surface 24 that are parallel to each other. Since the head element stack 10 and the carrier 4 are bonded and fixed while maintaining the parallel state on the bonding reference jig 20, the head element stack 10 is bonded and fixed to the carrier 4 in a correct posture without inclination. can do. As a result, when the movable support base 5 on which the carrier 4 is mounted moves relative to the polishing surface plate 2, a perpendicularity between the head reference surface 10a of the head element stack 10 and the polishing surface plate 2 is secured, and the slider end surface 11c. Can be polished uniformly, and both the reproducing element R of each head element H and the height length of the recording element W can be simultaneously defined with high accuracy.

  In the present embodiment, since the head element stack 10 having a plurality of thin film magnetic head element arrays arranged in a row in a stacked state is used as an object to be polished, the contact area between the head reference surface 10a and the head support surface 21 is small. Sufficiently secured, it is easy to hold the head reference surface 10a parallel to the carrier support surface 24 and the carrier reference surface 4a via the head support surface 21. Further, after the head element stack 10 is bonded and fixed to the carrier 4, a new element row is exposed and polished at the bottom, so that the thin film magnetic head element row is bonded and fixed to the carrier 4 for each row and polished. This saves labor and time compared to the case, and simplifies slider processing.

  In this embodiment, the carrier support surface 24 is formed by a pair of protrusions 20b provided on the bottom surface of the concave portion of the adhesion reference jig 20, but the carrier support surface 24 is simply formed on the bottom surface of the concave portion 20a. Also good.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a main configuration of a polishing machine used in a slider processing method of a thin film magnetic head according to the present invention. It is a top view which shows the head element stack (thin-film thin film magnetic head) which is a grinding process object. It is sectional drawing explaining 1 process of the slider method of the same thin film magnetic head. It is sectional drawing explaining the next process of FIG. It is sectional drawing explaining the next process of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the carrier and head element stack which were adhere | attached and fixed. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which mounted the head element stack | stuck adhere | attached and fixed to the carrier on the polishing surface plate. (A) It is sectional drawing explaining the grinding | polishing processing process when a thin film magnetic head and a carrier are normally adhere | attached and fixed by the conventional method. (B) It is sectional drawing explaining the grinding | polishing process when the adhesion fixation of a thin film magnetic head and a carrier has shifted | deviated by the conventional method.

Explanation of symbols

2 Polishing surface plate 3 Rotation drive mechanism 4 Carrier 4a Carrier reference surface 4b Carrier end surface 5 Movable support base 6 Relative drive mechanism 10 Head element stack (stacked thin film magnetic head)
10a Head reference surface 11 Slider 11a Trailing end surface 11b Leading end surface 11c Slider end surface (polishing surface for medium facing)
11d Slider end surface (surface opposite to the medium facing surface)
20 Adhesive reference jig 20a Recess 20b Protrusion 21 Head support surface 24 Carrier support surface 29 Space (escape portion)
30 Adhesive H Head element R Reproducing element W Recording element

Claims (3)

A head element stack having a plurality of thin film magnetic head element arrays arranged in a row in a stacked state is bonded and fixed to a carrier that is attached to and detached from a movable support base of a polishing machine, and the movable support base is attached to a polishing surface plate. A thin film magnetic head slider processing method for polishing the medium facing surface of the thin film magnetic head element array by relatively moving
Preparing an adhesion reference jig having a carrier support surface in contact with a reference surface of the carrier and a head support surface parallel to the carrier support surface;
Placing the carrier reference surface in contact with the carrier support surface of the bonding reference jig; and
Placing the reference surface of the head element stack in contact with the head support surface of the adhesion reference jig, and bonding and fixing the head element stack to the carrier on the carrier support surface of the adhesion reference jig;
A method of processing a slider of a thin film magnetic head, comprising: 2. A method of processing a slider of a thin film magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein the reference surface of the head element stack is a leading end surface of the thin film magnetic head element array. 3. The slider processing method for a thin film magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein an adhesive for bonding and fixing the head element stack is mounted on the carrier before being placed on a carrier support surface of the bonding reference jig. A method for processing a slider of a thin-film magnetic head that coats with

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