JPH02240812A - Formation of metallic film pattern - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obviate the sticking of metallic films to unnecessary parts by forming a 1st resist mask exclusive of pattern forming regions on a base, forming the metallic film and a 2nd resist film thereon, and removing the other metallic film exclusive of the metallic film under the resist film, then removing the 1st and 2nd resist masks. CONSTITUTION:The 1st resist mask 8 is formed exclusive of the pattern forming regions P3 on the base 7 and the metallic film 9 is formed on this mask 8 and the apertures P3. The metallic film is then formed on the metallic films 9 on the regions P3 to the pattern to obtain the 2nd resist mask 10. This mask 10 is formed smaller than the regions P3, like P4. The other metallic film 9 is removed leaving the metallic film 9 part under the mask 10. Even if there is dust A or the like at this time, the metallic film B under the same is removed as well by using a lift-off method. The sticking and remaining of the metallic film to and on the unnecessary parts are eliminated if the resist films 8, 10 are removed. The method for forming the metallic film patterns adequate for forming the film of gold on the surface of out-put electrodes, etc., is thus obtd.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention is mainly concerned with forming a metal film pattern containing gold as a main component on a lead-out electrode for connecting an external conductor according to the pattern in the manufacturing process of a thin-film magnetic head. Preferably, the method for forming a metal film pattern includes forming a first resist mask on a support, leaving a pattern formation area, and depositing a metal film on the first resist mask and the pattern formation area. and on the metal film in the pattern formation area,
Form a second resist mask with the pattern to be obtained, leave the metal film under the second resist mask, remove other metal films, and then remove the first and second resist masks. This makes it possible to easily remove the metal film and resist in unnecessary parts, and also to prevent the metal film from adhering to or remaining in unnecessary parts.

<Prior Art> Various techniques are conventionally known as methods for forming metal film patterns. Representative examples are shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

First, in the conventional example shown in FIG.
is formed by plating, sputtering, etc. (Fig. 6(a)) I. After that, the necessary metal film pattern P is formed.
1, a resist mask 3 is formed on the metal film 2 (sixth
(b)), the resist mask 3 is formed as a high-precision pattern by photolithography.
As shown in C), the metal film 2 other than the portion covered by the resist mask 3 is removed by dry etching such as ion milling or ordinary chemical etching. Thereafter, when the resist mask 3 is removed, a metal film pattern 2 having a desired pattern is obtained.

Next, the method shown in FIG. 7 is usually called the lift-off method, in which a negative pattern P2 is formed using photoresist 4 or the like on the support 1 (see FIG. 7(a)), and then A metal film 5 is formed on the entire surface from above by means such as vapor deposition (
The photoresist 4 and the metal film 5 are removed at the same time by immersing the metal film 5 in the zero-order resist removal solution shown in FIG. Remove it (Figure 7(C)).

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, the above-mentioned conventional technology has the following problems.

First, in the case of the metal film pattern forming method shown in FIG. 6, substances A other than the photoresist 3 necessary for pattern formation may adhere to the metal film 2 during the photolithography process or other processes. This substance A serves as a mask in the dry etching process, and the metal film B may remain in areas that are not originally required. In a thin film magnetic head, if such a metal film B remains in the vicinity of the extraction electrode, it will greatly affect the reliability and result in a defective product.

Next, in the case of the lift-off method shown in FIG. 7, if the metal film 5 becomes thick or if the area of the unnecessary pattern becomes larger than the required pattern P, the resist mask 4 and the metal film 5 may not be able to be peeled off. There's a problem.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, to easily remove the metal film and resist in unnecessary parts, and to eliminate adhesion and remaining of the metal film in unnecessary parts. An object of the present invention is to provide a metal film pattern forming method that can be used.

Means for Solving the Problems> In order to solve the above problems, the metal film pattern forming method according to the present invention provides a method for forming a pattern on a support by leaving a pattern formation area on the support.
a step of forming a first resist mask, a step of forming a metal film on the first resist mask and the pattern formation region, and a step of forming a metal film to be obtained on the metal film in the pattern formation region. forming a second resist mask with a pattern, and removing the other metal film leaving the metal film under the second resist mask; and then forming the first resist mask and the second resist mask. It is characterized by including the step of removing.

<Operation> FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the steps of the metal film pattern forming method according to the present invention. In the step shown in FIG. 1(a), a first resist mask 8 is formed on the support, leaving a pattern formation area PI.

In the step shown in FIG. 1(b), a metal WA9 is formed on the first resist mask 8 and the opening ps.

In the step of FIG. 1(C), the pattern forming area P is formed.

A second resist mask 10 is formed on the metal film 9 in the desired metal film pattern. The second resist mask 10 is formed to have a dimension P4 smaller than the pattern formation area P3 of the first resist mask 8.

In the step shown in FIG. 1(d), the metal film 9 under the second resist mask 10 is left, and the other metal film 9 is removed.

When this process is normal chemical etching, in addition to the originally necessary resist mask 10, substances such as dust etc.
serves as a mask and the metal film B remains under it, but when the lift-off method described above is applied, the substance A such as dust is removed together with the metal @9. When using the lift and off method,
The second resist mask 10 is similar to the first resist mask 8.
The pattern formation area P is smaller than the dimensional area P.
4, the edge cuts better during lift and off.

Next, in the step of FIG. 1(6), the first resist mask 8 and the second resist mask 10 are removed. In this step, the metal film 9 has already been removed leaving the necessary pattern, so the first resist mask 8 and the second resist mask 10 can be easily peeled off. Moreover, along with the peeling off of the first resist mask 8, the substance A remaining on the resist mask 8 until the previous process and the metal ll[
B is also removed.

<Example> Next, an example in the manufacturing process of a thin-film magnetic head will be shown. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the main part of a conventionally well-known thin-film magnetic head, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the main part. FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the extraction electrode portion. In these figures, 11 is a base made of ceramic, 12 is a lower magnetic film, 13 is a gap film made of alumina, etc., 14 is an upper magnetic film, 15 is a conductive coil film, and 16 is an organic resin such as novolac resin. The constructed insulating film, 17 and 18 are lead conductors, 19 and 20 are lead-out electrodes, and 21 is a protective film such as alumina that covers each part. Although FIG. 2 only shows one thin film magnetic head element. The thin film magnetic head manufacturing process is normally carried out with a large number of thin film magnetic head elements shown in FIG. 2 arranged in a row using the substrate 11 as a wafer.

The base 11 has a base portion 111 made of AhO3・τtC, etc.
It has a structure in which an insulating film 112 made of ^1203 or the like is deposited thereon.

The tips of the lower magnetic film 12 and the upper magnetic film 14 have a minute gap lI! Pole parts 12 facing each other across 13
1,141), and reading and writing are performed at the pole portions 121 and 141.

122.142 is the yoke part, and the pole part 121.1
41 is connected at the opposite end.

The insulating film 16 is composed of a plurality of layers of insulating films 161 to 163, and a conductive coil 1115 is formed on the insulating film 161 and 162 so as to spiral around the joint of the yoke parts 122 and 142. It is. The conductor coil film 15 usually has a two-layer structure of a base film and Cu11. The same goes for lead conductors 17,18.

The extraction electrodes 19 and 20 are referred to as bumps by those skilled in the art, and are later connected to external conductors such as lead wires. This extraction electrode 19.20 is made of copper plating.
Formed on lead conductors 17 and 18. Take-out electrode 19.
Reference numeral 20 is exposed on the surface of the protective film 21, and metal films 22 and 23 containing gold as a main component are deposited on the exposed surface.

FIG. 5 shows the steps when the present invention is applied to pattern formation of the metal films 22, 23. To simplify the explanation, a case will be described in which a pattern of the metal film 22 is formed on the extraction electrode 19, but the pattern formation of the metal film 23 on the extraction electrode 20 is also similar.

First, in the step of FIG. 5(a), on the surface of the protective film 21,
Leaving at least the pattern P3 of the extraction electrode 19, the first
A resist mask 24 is formed.

! 41 resist mask 24 is formed by photolithography.

In the step shown in FIG. 5(b), a metal film 22 containing gold as a main component is formed on the first resist mask 24 and the extraction electrode 19. The metal film 22 is formed by plating, sputtering, or the like.

In the step of FIG. 5(C), the metal film 22 on the extraction electrode 19
A second resist mask 25 is formed thereon with an extraction electrode pattern. The second resist mask 25 is formed inside the pattern P by photolithography so as to be smaller than the pattern P formed by the first resist mask 24 .

In the step of FIG. 5(d), the metal film 22 under the second resist mask 25 is left and the other metal films are removed.

This process is a dry etching process such as ion ring or a chemical etching process. Here, the lift
When applying the OFF method, the second resist mask 25 is
Since the pattern P is formed inside the first resist mask 24 so as to be smaller than the pattern P, the edges can be easily cut during lift and off.

In the step of FIG. 5(e), the first resist mask 24 and the second resist mask 25 are removed.

Since the metal @Z2Lt has already been removed leaving the necessary pattern, the first resist mask 24 and the second resist mask 25 can be easily peeled off. Further, even if an unnecessary metal film remains on the resist mask 24, it is removed when the first resist mask 24 is peeled off. Therefore, no metal film adheres or remains on the protective film 21.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, in the metal film pattern forming method according to the present invention, the first resist mask is formed on the support while leaving the pattern formation area, and the first resist mask and the pattern are removed. A metal film is formed on the pattern formation area, and a second resist mask is formed in the pattern to be obtained on the metal film in the pattern formation area, leaving the metal film under the second resist mask. Since the first and second resist masks are removed after other metal films are removed, unnecessary parts of the metal film and resist can be easily removed, and the metal film does not adhere to unnecessary parts. It is possible to eliminate residual metal film and provide a metal film pattern forming method suitable for forming a gold film on the surface of an extraction electrode in the manufacturing process of a thin film magnetic head.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the steps of a metal film pattern forming method according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of a thin film magnetic head to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the main part. ,
Figure 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the extraction electrode portion, and Figure 5
The figure shows the process when the present invention is applied in forming a metal film pattern mainly composed of gold on the extraction electrode in the thin film magnetic head shown in FIGS. 2 to 4. A diagram showing the steps of a conventional metal film pattern forming method, '! J
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the steps of a metal film pattern forming method in another conventional example. 7...Support 8...First resist mask 9...Metal film 10...Second resist mask Fig. 1 Fig. 5 Fig. 5 Fig. 6 (b)

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) forming a first resist mask on a support, leaving a pattern formation area; forming a metal film on the first resist mask and the pattern formation area; and the pattern forming a second resist mask with a desired metal film pattern on the metal film in the formation region; leaving the metal film under the second resist mask;
A method for forming a metal film pattern, comprising the step of removing the first resist mask and the second resist mask after removing another metal film. (2) a magnetic head element having a magnetic circuit made up of a magnetic film and a conductor coil film, a lead conductor electrically connected to the conductor coil film, and an extraction electrode for connecting an external conductor formed on the lead conductor; A step of forming a metal film pattern according to the pattern on the surface of the extraction electrode exposed on a part of the protective film after covering with a protective film, the step of forming a metal film pattern according to the pattern on the surface of the extraction electrode exposed on a part of the protective film, forming a first resist mask while leaving a pattern of the metal on the extraction electrode; forming a metal film containing gold as a main component on the first resist mask and the extraction electrode; forming a second resist mask on the film with a pattern of the extraction electrode; leaving a metal film under the second resist mask;
A method for forming a metal film pattern, comprising the step of removing the first resist mask and the second resist mask after removing another metal film. (3) In the method for forming a metal film pattern according to claim 1 or 2, the second resist mask is formed to be smaller than the pattern forming area of the first resist mask. A metal film pattern forming method characterized by: