JPH03286412A - Thin-film magnetic head and production thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To lessen the decrease in the sectional area of a coil and to prevent an increase in electric resistance as well as to eliminate the possibility of disconnection, etc., so as to have improved reliability by forming the coil on a flattened insulating layer. CONSTITUTION:A lower magnetic layer 12, a gap layer 13 and the insulating layer 14 are formed on a substrate 11. The insulating layer 14 formed on the lower magnetic film 12 is so milled that the film thickness thereof remains at about 1mum. The insulating layer 14 flattened in the surface is formed on the gap layer 13 in this way. The step by the lower magnetic film 12 is eliminated by flattening the surface of the insulating layer 14 in such a manner and, therefore, the coil 15 is formed at the specified thickness on the flattened insulating layer 14. The increase in the electric resistance by the decrease in the cross- section of the coil 15 is prevented in this way and the possibility of the disconnection, etc., is eliminated. The reliability is thus improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a thin film magnetic head and a method for manufacturing the same, and more particularly to use in a magnetic disk device and the like.

In conventional thin film magnetic heads, fired photoresists have often been used as an insulating film for conductor coils.

However, recently, with the improvement in recording density, soft magnetic films with a high B11 (saturation magnetic flux density) higher than permalloy magnetic poles, such as Co-based amorphous materials, have been used as the magnetic poles of thin-film magnetic heads. Since the maximum temperature at which the material can maintain its soft magnetic properties is 6 points lower than the above-mentioned firing temperature of photoresist (200°C or higher),
Insulating films other than photoresist are increasingly being used. Among these, an SiO□ film that can be formed by sputtering is often used as the insulating film of the coil.

FIGS. 2(a) to 2(cl) are cross-sectional views schematically showing the steps of forming an insulating film and a coil of a conventional thin-film magnetic head. As shown in a), a lower magnetic film 12 is formed on the substrate ll.
Then, a gap layer 13 is formed on the lower magnetic film 12. Furthermore, a 3102 film as an insulating layer 14 is laminated on the gap layer 13 by sputtering (FIG. 2(b)). Then, on the insulating film 14 formed in this manner, for example, CI is laminated and punctured using a plating method or a sputtering method to form a coil 15 made of Cu (FIG. 2(C)).

However, when the insulating film 14 is formed by the method described above, the lower magnetic lI! 12, a step is created in the insulating film 14 at a portion corresponding to the end of the lower magnetic film 12, and when the coil 15 is formed on this insulating film 14, the step shown by arrow A in FIG. A problem has arisen in that the film thickness of the coil 15 becomes thinner at some points, and the cross-sectional area of the coil 15 decreases. When the cross-sectional area of the coil 15 decreases, the electrical resistance increases 7 and the coil 15 becomes more likely to break, which is one of the reasons for reducing the reliability of the thin film magnetic helad. .

Furthermore, the above-described method also has a manufacturing problem in that it is difficult to expose the stepped portion.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a thin film magnetic head that is easy to manufacture and has improved reliability, and a method for manufacturing the same.

In order to achieve the above object, a thin film magnetic head according to the present invention is a thin film magnetic head in which a lower magnetic film, a gap layer, an insulating layer and a coil are sequentially laminated on a substrate.
A coil is formed on the flattened insulating layer, and the method for manufacturing the thin 1111if1 head is characterized in that a photoresist is flattened on the insulating layer, and then a coil is formed on the flattened insulating layer. The method is characterized in that the ion milling operation conditions are set so that the etching rates of the insulating layer and the photoresist are equal, and the photoresist and the insulating layer are subjected to ion milling, and then the coil is formed.

According to the thin film magnetic head described by Sho et al., since the coil is formed on the flattened insulating layer, thinning of the coil at the stepped portion is prevented. Therefore, there is no reduction in the cross-sectional area of the coil, an increase in electrical resistance is prevented, and wire breakage is also prevented, improving reliability.

Furthermore, according to the method for manufacturing a thin film head described above,
The photoresist is removed by ion milling,
The insulating layer is planarized. As a result, the step caused by the lower magnetic film is eliminated, and the coil can be easily formed on the insulating layer with a constant film thickness. Therefore, wire thinning and disconnection of the coil are prevented, and a thin film magnetic head with improved reliability can be easily manufactured.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a thin film magnetic head and a method of manufacturing the same according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that components having the same functions as those of the conventional example are given the same reference numerals.

FIGS. 1A to 1E are cross-sectional views schematically showing an example of the process of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to the present invention. When manufacturing a thin film 6N magnetic head, first the substrate 11 is
For example, a Co amorphous film is formed thereon by sputtering and etched into a desired pattern by ion milling to form the lower 6n pole layer 12. Next, the lower magnetic pole layer 1
120.2 by sputtering method. The gap layer 13 is formed by laminating insulating films such as those shown in FIG. (Figure 1 (bll.

Then, a photoresist 16 is coated on the insulating layer 14 by spin coating to a thickness (for example, 3 m) that can cover the level difference (for example, about 1 to 2 m) caused by the thickness of the lower magnetic film 12.
um). At this time, the photoresist 16
is formed with a flattened surface. Next, conditions such as the output of the ion milling device and the milling angle are set so that the etching rates of the insulating layer 14 and the photoresist 16 are equal, and the photoresist 16 and the insulating layer 14 are etched at a 60° angle using Ar ions, for example. Mill at an angle (Fig. 1(C)). Here, the ion milling is performed on the lower magnetic film 1.
Milling is performed so that the thickness of the insulating layer 14 formed on the lower magnetic film 12 remains at least about Itim. As a result, the photoresist 16 is completely milled and removed, and the insulating layer 14 whose surface is planarized is formed on the gap layer 13 (FIG. 1(d)).Finally, the planarization For example, Cu is laminated on this insulating layer 14 and patterned to form a coil 15 (
Figure 1(e)).

In the thin film magnetic head of the above embodiment, the level difference caused by the lower magnetic film 12 can be eliminated by flattening the surface of the insulating layer 14. Therefore, since the coil 15 is formed with a constant thickness on the flattened insulating layer 14, an increase in electrical resistance due to a decrease in the cross-sectional area of the coil 15 can be prevented, and there is no risk of wire breakage, etc., resulting in a thin film with improved reliability. A magnetic head can be easily obtained.

As is clear from the above explanation, the thin film magnetic head according to the present invention has a lower magnetic film, a gap layer, a
In a thin film magnetic head in which an insulating layer and a coil are sequentially laminated, since the coil is formed on the flattened insulating layer, the cross-sectional area of the coil can be prevented from decreasing, and the electrical resistance can be reduced. This can prevent the wire from increasing, and also eliminates the risk of wire breakage. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a thin film magnetic head with improved reliability.

Further, according to the method for manufacturing a thin film magnetic head described above, a photoresist is applied flatly on an insulating layer, and then ion milling operating conditions are set so that the etching rates of the insulating layer and the photoresist are equal. Since the photoresist and the insulating layer are subjected to ion milling and then the coil is formed, the insulating layer can be easily flattened and the step caused by the lower magnetic film can be eliminated. Therefore, the coil can be easily formed on this insulating layer without reducing the cross-sectional area, and a highly reliable magnetic head can be manufactured with high yield by eliminating the risk of wire breakage.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of the manufacturing process of a thin-film magnetic head according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of the manufacturing process of a conventional thin-film magnetic head, and FIG. FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a conventional thin film magnetic head. 11... Substrate 12... Lower magnetic film 13... Gap layer 14... Insulating layer 15... Coil
16...Photoresist patent Applicant: Sumitomo Metal Industries Co., Ltd. Agent: Patent attorney Ryuji Bennai Figure 1 Figure 2

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A thin film magnetic head in which a lower magnetic film, a gap layer, an insulating layer, and a coil are sequentially laminated on a substrate, characterized in that the coil is formed on the flattened insulating layer. magnetic head. (2) A photoresist is applied flatly on the insulating layer, and then ion milling conditions are set so that the etching rates of the insulating layer and the photoresist are equal, and ions are applied to the photoresist and the insulating layer. 2. The method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein the coil is formed after milling.