JPH03154210A - Thin-film magnetic head and production thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the thin-film magnetic head with which the sectional area at the neck of a perpendicular core is not smaller than the sectional area at the front end and the process for producing this head by forming the end part of the 1st upper core provided pendent with the perpendicular core to the width smaller than the width of the part to be joined to the lower core. CONSTITUTION:The lower core 10 formed of the slider surface side of the magnetic head facing a recording medium is formed thereon with coil conductors 13 in parallel with the lower core 10. The 1st upper core 30 which is joined at one end to the lower core 10, is narrower in the width at the other end than the width of the part joined to the lower core 10 and is provided pendent with the perpendicular core 20 is provided. The 2nd upper core 31 joined at one end to the lower core 10 is provided and the other end of the 2nd upper core 31 is coupled via a gap layer 11 to the perpendicular core 20 of the 1st upper core 30. The magnetic fluxes at the time of recording are liable to pass the root of the perpendicular core and the magnetic fluxes at the front end of the perpendicular core 20 are prevented from weakening if the magnetic head is formed in such a manner.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION "Field of Industrial Application" The present invention relates to a thin film magnetic head applied to fixed magnetic disk drives and the like, and a method for manufacturing the same.

"Prior Art" FIG. 9 is a plan view of a conventional thin film magnetic head element 2.
FIG. 1θ is a sectional view of the thin film magnetic head element 2 taken along the dashed line Y-Yl shown in FIG. In these figures, l is a substrate made of a nonmagnetic material such as alumina titanium carbide. A lower core lO made of Ni-Fe alloy material is formed on this substrate 1, and the lower core 10 is formed on this substrate 1.
A gap layer 11 made of 5i01 and a lower insulating layer 12 formed by thermosetting a resist film are successively formed thereon.

A coil conductor 13 made of spiral copper is formed on the lower insulating layer 12, and an upper core 15 is formed on the coil conductor 13 with an upper insulating layer 14 in between.

As shown in FIG. 11, a large number of such thin film magnetic head elements 2 are formed on a substrate l in the vertical and horizontal directions, and as shown in FIG. 12, the thin film magnetic head elements 2 are aligned in the horizontal direction.
are grouped into board blocks I A, l B in each horizontal row.
, I C, ... binding, this board block IA, IB,
The gap plane A of each thin film magnetic head 2 of each cut substrate block IA, IB, IC,... is shown by an arrow.

B, C, . . . are polished so that the gap depth of each thin film magnetic head element 2 becomes a predetermined depth.

Next, the substrate blocks IA, IB, IC, . . . , whose gap surfaces A 1 , B 2 , C, .

By the way, when manufacturing the thin film magnetic head element 2 described above, in order to make the gap depth L (shown in FIG. 1θ) a specified dimension, the substrate block I A shown in FIG. 12 is used.
, l B, I C, . . . , the gap surfaces A, B, C, . There is a problem in that the polishing work requires a huge amount of man-hours.

Therefore, the present inventor developed a thin film magnetic head element Ma shown in FIG. 13 to solve the above-mentioned problems.

That is, in FIG. 13, a columnar vertical core 20 is formed on the upper surface of the right end of the lower core IO, a gap layer 11 is formed on one vertical surface of this vertical core 20, and along this gap layer 11, the upper The ends of the core 15 are joined at an angle, and furthermore, all the layers including those layers are connected to the protective layer 21.
The upper surface of this protective layer 21 is polished into a flat surface.

By this polishing, the depth L of the gap between the tip E of the upper insulating layer 14 and the polished upper surface (slider surface) Sl of the protective layer 21 is set to a specified depth, and the planar shape is polished. The upper end of the vertical core 20 with the gap G in between (slider surface Sl) and the upper core! The upper end of 5 is exposed.

The upper end of the vertical core 20 is a trailing ball T.
Therefore, the upper end of the upper core 15 is the leading ball R
Therefore, magnetic flux passes between these balls T and R.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a large number of the above-mentioned thin film magnetic heads Ma formed on the substrate 1 at predetermined intervals in the vertical and horizontal directions.

The wafer shown in this figure is made into individual magnetic heads in the next process.

First, as shown in FIG. 15, a plurality of grooves K are formed at predetermined positions on the substrate l, and then vertical lines Ll and horizontal lines L
2 and cut along the vertical line L1 and the horizontal line L2 to obtain the l-chip thin film magnetic head M shown in FIG.

According to such a manufacturing method, the depth L of the gap of each thin-film magnetic head element Ma can be set to an appropriate depth by simply polishing the wafer once on which a large number of thin-film magnetic head elements Ma are formed. Can be done.

"Problems to be Solved by the Invention" By the way, when forming the vertical core 20 of the thin film magnetic head element Ma mentioned above, as shown in FIG.
4 is applied thickly, and then the resist 24 at the location where the vertical core 20 is to be formed is removed by photolithography. However, in this case, since the upper part is exposed to a large amount of light, the removed part molecule a becomes tapered as shown in the figure. When a vertical core 20 is formed on this tapered partial molecule a, as shown in FIG.
The cross-sectional area of a is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the tip 20b,
A problem arises in that the magnetic flux during recording tends to be saturated at the root 20a, and only a weak magnetic flux is guided to the tip (ball).

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a thin film magnetic head in which the cross-sectional area of the root of the vertical core is not smaller than the cross-sectional area of the tip, and a method for manufacturing the same. There is.

"Means for Solving the Problem" In order to solve such a problem, in the invention according to claim 1, a magnetic head is provided on the lower core formed on the slider surface of the magnetic head facing the recording medium, parallel to the lower core. forming a coil conductor, one end of which is joined to the lower core, the width of the other end is narrower than the width of the part joined to the lower core, and a vertical core is provided vertically at the end. a first upper core having a first upper core, and a second upper core having one end joined to the lower core, the other end of the second upper core being joined to the vertical core of the first upper core via a gap layer. In the invention according to claim 2, a coil conductor is formed parallel to the lower core on the lower core formed on the slider surface of the magnetic head facing the recording medium, and one end thereof is connected to the lower core. A thin film magnetic head comprising first and second upper cores coupled to the core and having the other end coupled via a gap layer,
In the invention according to claim 3, the connecting portion of the first and second upper cores is formed by laminating and molding so that the area becomes smaller as they are stacked. forming a lower core on a substrate, forming a lower insulating layer on the lower core, forming a coil conductor on the lower insulating layer, forming an upper insulating layer on the coil conductor, and forming a lower insulating layer on the upper insulating layer. forming a first upper core that covers the predetermined portion above, has one end joined to the lower core, and has a width of the other end narrower than the width of the portion joined to the lower core; A vertical core is vertically disposed at a narrow end portion on the first upper core, a gap layer is formed on the vertical surface of the vertical core, and a gap layer is formed to cover a predetermined portion of the upper insulating layer, and one end portion is placed below the first upper core. forming a second upper core that is coupled to the core and whose other end is coupled to the end of the vertical core via the gap layer, and covering the upper part of the substrate with a protective film;
In the invention according to claim 4, wherein the surface polishing is performed from above the protective film, a lower core is formed on the substrate of the slider surface of the magnetic head facing the recording medium, and a lower insulating layer is formed on the lower core. forming a coil conductor on the lower insulating layer, forming an upper insulating layer on the coil conductor, covering a predetermined portion on the upper insulating layer, and having one end connected to the lower core; A first upper core is formed by stacking the other ends so that the area becomes smaller as the other ends are stacked, a gap layer is formed on the end surface of the first upper core, and a gap layer is formed in the defined area of the upper insulating layer. a first upper core that covers the first upper core and has one end connected to the lower core, and the other end is stacked so that the area becomes smaller as the edges overlap, and the second end is connected to the first upper core through the gap layer. A second upper core is formed, the upper part of the substrate is covered with a protective film, and surface polishing is performed from above the protective film.

"Operation" According to the present invention, the width of the end of the first upper core on which the vertical core is vertically disposed is narrower than the width of the part joined to the lower core, or 2. Since the joining parts of the upper cores are laminated so that the area becomes smaller as they are stacked, the cross-sectional area of the root of the first upper core that joins the lower core is changed to the cross-sectional area of the vertical core where leakage magnetic flux is generated. It can be made smaller than the area.

This makes it easier for magnetic flux to pass through the base of the base.

"Embodiment" Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a thin film magnetic head M! according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. In this figure, parts corresponding to those in FIG. 13 are given the same reference numerals.

In FIG. 1, ■ is a substrate, and IO is a lower core formed on the substrate I. In FIG. 12 is a lower insulating layer formed on the lower core IO,! 3 is a coil conductor formed in a spiral shape on the lower insulating layer 12, and 14 is an upper insulating layer formed covering the coil conductor I3. A first upper core 30 is joined to the right end of the lower core 10 and is formed by covering a predetermined upper surface portion of the upper insulating layer 14 . 20 is the first
This is a vertical core that is vertically disposed at the end above the upper core 30. This vertical core 20 is formed to have a thickness thinner than that of the first upper core 30, and a width narrower than the width of the portion of the first upper core 30 where the vertical core 20 is suspended. It is formed.

11 is a gap layer formed on the vertical surface of the vertical core 20. A second upper core 3I is joined to the left end of the lower core 0 and is formed by covering a predetermined portion of the upper insulating layer 14. The right end portion of this second upper core 31 is
It is bonded to the upper part of the vertical core 20 via the gap layer 11, and the thickness and width of the bonded portion are the same as those of the vertical core 20.
It is formed to have approximately the same thickness and width as 0. 2
Reference numeral 1 denotes a protective layer that covers each of the above-mentioned layers, and its upper surface is polished into a flat surface to form a slider surface St. The ends of the upper core 31 and the vertical core 20 are exposed on this planar slider surface St with a gap G in between, and these ends are used as a leading ball R and a tray for magnetic reading and writing, respectively. It forms a ring ball T.

Next, the method for manufacturing the thin-film magnetic head Ml described above is carried out in a second manner.
This will be explained with reference to FIGS.

First, as shown in FIG. 2(a), a metal base film 10a made of a Ni--Fe alloy material is formed by sputtering on a plate-shaped substrate l made of a magnetic material such as alumina titanium carbide.

Next, as shown in the same figure (b), a metal base film! .

The lower core IO1 lower insulating layer 12, coil conductor 13, and upper insulating layer 14 are sequentially formed on the lea.

That is, first, a Ni-Fe alloy material is plated on the metal base film 10a to form the lower core IO, and this lower core IO
A positive resist film or a polyimide-based photosensitive resin film is formed on top, and the formed film is heat-treated at 200°C or higher for a predetermined period of time to harden it, making it an insoluble and infusible organic insulating film. Form layer 12. Next, a coil conductor 13 formed by plating copper in a spiral shape is formed on the lower insulating layer 12 by a mask plating method. Next, the upper insulating layer 14 covering the coil conductor 13 is formed in the same manner as the lower insulating layer 12.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3C, a metal base film 40 made of a Ni--Fe alloy material is formed on the upper insulating layer 14 and the lower core lθ by sputtering. (Hereafter, illustrations of this metal base film 40 will be omitted.) Next, as shown in FIG. 3(A), the metal base film 40 is covered with a resist 41, and as shown in FIG. 3(B), Patterning is performed to form the first upper core 30. Further, a plan view of the resist 41 subjected to this patterning is shown in FIG.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4D, the Ni-Fe alloy material 42 is
to mark.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4(A), the resist 41 is removed to expose the first upper core 30. This exposed first
As shown in the figure, the upper core 30 is joined to the right end of the lower core IO, and as shown in FIG. It has a trapezoidal shape with the width becoming narrower.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3C, a pattern for forming the vertical core 20 is formed using a resist 43, and a NiFe alloy material 44 is plated according to the formed pattern. A plan view of this figure (c) is shown in the same figure (d).

Next, as shown in FIG. 4E, the resist 43 is removed to expose the vertical core 20. This exposed vertical core 2
0 is provided vertically at the upper end of the first upper core 30, and its thickness al is narrower than the thickness a2 of the first upper core 30, as shown in FIG. As such, its width bi is narrower than the narrowest width b2 of the first upper core 30. Further, the upper end portion of this vertical core 20 becomes a trailing ball T.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5(a), a gap layer 11 is formed on the vertical surface of the vertical core 20. Then, as shown in FIG. This gap layer 11 is a film made of a nonmagnetic material such as chromium, copper, or silver, formed by a plating method.

Next, as shown in the same figure (b), N
A second upper core 31 made of i-Fe aggregation material is formed.

The left end of this second upper core 31 is connected to the lower core l through a hole.
The other end is joined along the gap layer 11, and the upper end becomes the leading ball R.

In addition, the planar shape of the second upper core 31 is shown in FIG.
As shown in , it has a trapezoidal shape whose width gradually becomes narrower as it goes toward the vertical core 20 from the joint part with the lower core 10, and the vertical core 20
The thickness a3 and width b3 of the portion joined to the vertical core 20 are approximately the same as the thickness al and width bt of the vertical core 20.

Next, as shown in FIG.
form. This protective layer 21 is made of AI by sputtering.
, O, film (alumina film) or 5iO1 film (silicon oxide film), etc., is formed to be thicker.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 1, the surface of the protective layer 2I is polished flat so that the upper surfaces of the leading ball R and trailing ball T and the gap G between the upper surfaces of the two balls are exposed. Make it. Also, at this time, the depth L of the gap between the upper surface E of the upper insulating layer 14 and the slider surface Sl is set to a specified depth.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6, grooves K are formed between the thin film magnetic head elements formed in large numbers at predetermined intervals in the vertical and horizontal directions on the substrate 1 through the process described above. Next, on the top surface of the substrate wafer, vertical lines Ll and horizontal lines L2 for cutting the thin film magnetic head of the summer chip are marked, and the chips are cut along the vertical lines L1 and horizontal line L2 to separate into l chips. . FIG. 7 shows the thin film magnetic head M1 cut into l chips.

According to the embodiment described above, the thickness a of the vertical core is
l is formed narrower than the thickness a2 of the first upper core 30, and the width bl of the vertical core 20 is formed narrower than the narrowest width b2 of the first upper core 30. The cross-sectional area of the root portion of the upper core 30 can be made smaller than the cross-sectional area of the vertical core 20 where leakage magnetic flux is generated.

Next, a modification of the present invention will be described with reference to a sectional view of the thin film magnetic head M2 shown in FIG. In this figure, parts corresponding to those in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In this figure, the feature of this embodiment is that the first upper core 3
0 and the other end of the second upper core 31 connected to the vertical core 20 via the gap layer 11 are formed in layers such that the area becomes smaller as they are stacked. It is in.

Next, a method of manufacturing the thin film magnetic head M2 mentioned above will be explained. First, the lower core 10, lower insulating layer 12, coil conductor 13, upper insulating layer 14 and metal base film 40 are sequentially formed on the substrate l according to the steps shown in FIGS. 2(A) to 2(A). Form.

Next, the top of the metal base film 40 is covered with a resist 41, and the first
Patterning is performed to form the upper core 30 and the second upper core 31, and the first upper core 30 shown in FIG.
A second upper core 3I is formed.

Then, on the first upper core 30 and the second upper core 31, the areas become smaller as they are stacked.
By repeating resist patterning and plating, the first upper core joint 30a1, the first upper core joint 30b, the second upper core joint 31a, and the second upper core joint 3 are formed.
1b is formed.

This first upper core joint portion 30b is coupled to the second upper core joint portion 31b via the gap layer ll.

Thereafter, the protective layer 21 is formed in the same manner as in the above-mentioned embodiment, and then the head M2 is separated into individual thin film embodiment heads M2 through a process such as polishing.

According to the above-described modification, after forming the first upper core 30 and the second upper core 31, the first upper core 30 and the second upper core 31 are formed.
0 and the right end of the second upper core 31, the first upper core joint parts 30a, 30b and the second upper core joint part 31a,
31b, the lower part is thicker than the upper part, and the cross-sectional area of the root can be made larger than the cross-sectional area of the tip.

"Effects of the Invention" As explained above, according to the inventions recited in claims 1 and 3, the lower core is formed on the substrate of the slider surface of the magnetic head facing the recording medium, and the lower core is placed on the lower core. forming an insulating layer, forming a coil conductor on the lower insulating layer, forming an upper insulating layer on the coil conductor, covering a predetermined portion of the upper tie layer, and having one end joined to the lower core; ,
A first upper core whose other end has a width narrower than the width of the part joining the lower core is formed, and a vertical core is vertically disposed on the other end of the first upper core, and a vertical core is provided on the vertical surface of the vertical core. Since a gap layer is formed and the two cores are connected via this gap layer, the cross-sectional area of the root of the first upper core that is joined to the lower core is made smaller than the cross-sectional area of the vertical core where leakage magnetic flux occurs. There is an effect that can be done.

Further, according to the inventions described in claims 2 and 4, the other end portions of the first upper core and the second upper core, which are connected via the gap layer, are laminated so that the area becomes smaller as they are stacked. , the cross-sectional area of the joint can be gradually reduced toward the tip.

This allows the magnetic flux during recording to easily pass through the base of the vertical core, and the magnetic flux at the tip of the vertical core does not weaken.

FIG. 1 shows a thin film magnetic head Ml according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 to 7 are diagrams for explaining the manufacturing method of the thin film magnetic head M1 according to the same embodiment, and FIG. 8 shows the construction of a thin film magnetic head M2 according to a modification of the present invention. 9 is a plan view of a conventional thin film magnetic head element 2, and FIG. 1O is a sectional view of the thin film magnetic head element 2 shown in FIG. The figure is a perspective view of a case where a large number of conventional thin film magnetic head elements 2 are formed on a substrate, and FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a large number of thin film magnetic head elements 2 formed on a substrate shown in FIG. FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a thin-film magnetic head element Ma developed to compensate for the drawbacks of the thin-film magnetic head element 2 shown in FIG.
FIG. 15 is a plan view when a large number of thin film magnetic head elements Ma shown in the figure are formed on a substrate 1, and FIG.
16 is a perspective view of the vertical thin film magnetic head M shown in FIG. 15, and FIGS. 14 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a method of manufacturing the vertical core 20 of the thin-film magnetic head element Ma shown in FIG. 13. FIG.

I... Board, Summer 0... Lower core, ■2
...Lower insulating layer, 13... Coil conductor, 14... Upper insulating layer, 30... First
Upper core, 3! ...Second upper core, 20...
...Vertical core, 11...Gap layer, T...
... Leading ball, R ... Trailing ball, G ... Gap, 21 ...
- Protective layer, St...Slider surface.

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A coil conductor is formed parallel to the lower core on the lower core formed on the slider surface of the magnetic head facing the recording medium, and one end is joined to the lower core and the width of the other end is a first upper core having a width narrower than the width of a portion joined to the lower core and having a vertical core hanging down at an end thereof; and a second upper core having one end joined to the lower core; A thin film magnetic head characterized in that the other end of the second upper core is coupled to the vertical core of the first upper core via a gap layer. (2) A coil conductor is formed parallel to the lower core on the lower core formed on the slider surface of the magnetic head facing the recording medium, and one end is connected to the lower core and the other end is connected to the gap layer. A thin film magnetic head comprising first and second upper cores coupled via a thin film magnetic head, characterized in that the coupling portions of the first and second upper cores are laminated and molded so that the area becomes smaller as they are stacked. Thin film magnetic head. (3) forming a lower core on a substrate on the slider surface of the magnetic head facing the recording medium; forming a lower insulating layer on the lower core; forming a coil conductor on the lower insulating layer; and forming a coil conductor on the lower insulating layer. forming an upper insulating layer thereon, covering a predetermined portion of the upper insulating layer, one end being joined to the lower core, and the width of the other end being wider than the width of the part joining to the lower core; a first upper core having a narrow width; a vertical core is vertically disposed at an end of the narrow width on the first upper core; a gap layer is formed on a vertical surface of the vertical core; forming a second upper core covering a predetermined portion and having one end coupled to the lower core and the other end coupled to the end of the vertical core via the gap layer; A method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head, comprising: covering the head with a protective film, and performing surface polishing from above the protective film. (4) forming a lower core on the substrate of the slider surface of the magnetic head facing the recording medium; forming a lower insulating layer on the lower core; forming a coil conductor on the lower insulating layer; and forming the coil conductor on the lower insulating layer. An upper insulating layer is formed thereon, a predetermined portion of the upper insulating layer is covered, one end is joined to the lower core, and the other end is laminated so that the area becomes smaller as the other end is stacked. forming a first upper core, forming a gap layer on an end surface of the first upper core, covering a predetermined portion of the upper insulating layer, and bonding one end to a lower core, and stacking the other end; a second upper core coupled to the first upper core via the gap layer; a protective film covers the upper part of the substrate; and a flat surface is formed from above the protective film. A method for manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head, the method comprising polishing.