JPH04285711A - Production of thin-film head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form the front ends of magnetic poles of a very small width of the thin-film head for magnetic recording and reproducing with high accuracy. CONSTITUTION:A lower magnetic layer 2A, gap layer 4 and upper magnetic layer 3A formed by a vacuum film forming method on a substrate 1 are simultaneously formed with the front end 2a of the lower magnetic pole 2 and the front end 3a of the upper magnetic pole 3 by integral ion etching using a mask 8 having the shape at the front ends of the magnetic poles. A thin-film coil 5 and an insulating layer 6 are then formed and the rear part 3b of the upper magnetic pole 3 is formed.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a thin film head for magnetic recording and reproduction. With the increase in the capacity of magnetic recording and reproducing devices such as magnetic disk devices, the recording density of magnetic recording media such as magnetic disks has been increased, and as a result, magnetic recording media with high coercive force have come to be used. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the recording magnetic field generated by the head. In addition, with the trend toward higher density recording, it is necessary to increase the processing precision of the magnetic poles of heads, and for this purpose, thin film heads using thin film technology have been developed, and improvements in their characteristics are desired.

0002

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION As mentioned above, with the increasing recording density of magnetic recording media such as magnetic disks, Co, which has a saturation magnetic flux density of 1.5 to 2 T (Tesla), is used as a magnetic pole material for heads.
Amorphous materials (CoZrNb, CoZrTa, etc.)
and Fe-based materials (FeN, FeC, FeSi, FeAl
Si, etc.) are being studied. Such a material having a high saturation magnetic flux density is generally formed into a film by a vacuum film forming method using an evaporation method or a sputtering method, and patterned by an ion etching method.

[0003] Vacuum film forming methods using vapor deposition or sputtering have the advantage of not being limited by materials, so thin films of different materials can be successively formed using a continuous film forming apparatus. A conventional method for manufacturing a thin film head using such a vacuum film forming method includes, for example, the steps shown in (A) to (D) in FIG.
・Al2O on a conductive substrate 40 such as TiC
An insulating layer 41 such as No. 3 is formed by sputtering, a lower magnetic layer 42 of amorphous CoZr or the like is formed by sputtering, and then a lower magnetic pole pattern is formed by ion etching using a photoresist as a mask. A cross section of is shown.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4(B), A is applied to the entire surface.
A gap layer 43 of l2O3 or the like is formed by sputtering, a pattern is formed to magnetically connect the rear parts of the lower magnetic pole and the upper magnetic pole to each other, an insulating layer 44 of photoresist or the like is formed, and then, for example, A thin film coil 45 of several tens of turns is formed by a Cu frame plating method or the like, and an insulating layer 46 of photoresist or the like is formed to insulate this thin film coil 45.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4C, an upper magnetic layer 47 is formed on the entire surface, and a mask 48 made of photoresist or the like having a pattern of the upper magnetic pole is formed. This mask 48
The upper magnetic pole is formed by ion etching. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4D, a magnetic gap 53 is provided on the substrate 40 between the tip of the lower magnetic pole 51 and the tip of the upper magnetic pole 52, and the rear and upper portions of the lower magnetic pole 51 and the upper A magnetic pole is formed in direct contact with the rear part of the magnetic pole 52,
Further, a thin film coil 45 is installed between the lower magnetic pole 51 and the upper magnetic pole 52.
is formed. The thickness of the lower magnetic pole 51 and the upper magnetic pole 52 is, for example, 2 to 3 μm, the thickness of the magnetic gap 53 is, for example, 0.3 to 0.5 μm, and the width is, for example, 3 to 3 μm.
The thickness of the insulating layer 46 is, for example, 15 to 20 μm.
It is m. Since a plurality of such thin film heads are formed on the substrate 40 at the same time, the substrate 40 is cut to separate each thin film head, and the substrate 40 is processed into a slider shape, for example, as shown in FIG. By polishing along the X-Y line in D), one thin film head is constructed.

[0006]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The tip of the magnetic pole of a thin film head faces a magnetic recording medium such as a magnetic disk to perform magnetic recording or reproduction. width. In that case, Figure 4
According to the conventional manufacturing method shown in FIG. 1, it is not possible to improve the accuracy of the tip of the magnetic pole having a minute width. for example,
If 71 in FIG. 5(a) is a magnetic pole, and 72 is a thin film coil and an insulating layer, the cross section of the tip of the magnetic pole 71 along line A-A is as shown in FIG. 5(b) or (c). There is. In addition, (d) shows the cross section along the line B-B, 73 is the substrate, 74a, 74a' are the tips of the lower magnetic poles, 74b is the rear part of the lower magnetic poles, 75, 75' are the magnetic gaps, 76a, 7
6a' is the tip of the upper magnetic pole, 76b is the rear part of the upper magnetic pole,
77 is a thin film coil, and 78 is an insulating layer.

FIG. 5B shows that the magnetic gap 7 is formed after the tip 74a of the lower magnetic pole is formed by ion etching.
When forming the tip 76a of the upper magnetic pole on it through 5 by ion etching, the width of the tip 76a of the upper magnetic pole was made narrower than the width of the tip 74a of the lower magnetic pole, taking into account misalignment of the mask. In this case, even if the magnetic gap 75 between the tip 74a of the lower magnetic pole and the tip 76a of the upper magnetic pole is set to a predetermined size, the tip 7 of the lower magnetic pole
Since the width of 4a is wide, it will affect adjacent tracks during recording, and during reproduction, information of adjacent tracks will be included in the reproduction. That is, there is a drawback that crosstalk becomes large.

FIG. 5(c) shows the tip 74 of the lower magnetic pole.
a' and the tip 76a' of the upper magnetic pole are sequentially formed by ion etching using masks of the same width, when forming the tip 74a' of the lower magnetic pole and the tip 76a' of the upper magnetic pole. Due to a misalignment of the mask with respect to when forming the mask, the tips 74a' and 76a' may be formed misaligned. A thin film head having a tip portion having such a shape has the disadvantage that recording and reproducing characteristics are significantly deteriorated. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to form a magnetic pole tip with high precision, which has a large effect on at least recording and reproducing characteristics.

[0009]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The method for manufacturing a thin film head of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. The upper magnetic layer 3A is sequentially formed by a vacuum film-forming method, and the tip 2a of the lower magnetic pole 2 is formed by the lower magnetic layer 2A by batch ion etching using a mask 8 shaped like the tip of the magnetic pole.
The tip portion 3 of the upper magnetic pole 3 is formed by the upper magnetic layer 3A via the magnetic gap 4 formed by the gap layer 4A on the tip portion 2a.
This includes the step of forming a and a at the same time.

Furthermore, the mask 8 in the shape of the tip of the magnetic pole can be formed of a magnetic material. Further, the lower magnetic layer 2A and the upper magnetic layer 3A can be multilayer magnetic layers in which magnetic layers and nonmagnetic layers are alternately formed by a vacuum film forming method.

After forming the tip 2a of the lower magnetic pole 2, the magnetic gap 4, and the tip 3a of the upper magnetic pole 3 simultaneously on the substrate 1 by batch ion etching using a mask 8 in the shape of the tip of the magnetic pole. , forming a thin film coil 5 on the rear part 2b of the lower magnetic pole 2, and then forming a resist mask excluding the shape of the rear part 3b connected to the tip 3a of the upper magnetic pole 3;
After forming the magnetic layer on the entire surface, the rear part 3b of the upper magnetic pole 3 can be formed by a lift-off method in which the resist mask is removed.

After forming the tip 2a of the lower magnetic pole 2, the magnetic gap 4, and the tip 3a of the upper magnetic pole 3 on the substrate 1 at the same time by batch ion etching using a mask 8 in the shape of the tip of the magnetic pole, , a thin film coil 5 is formed on the rear part 2b of the lower magnetic pole 2, a plating base layer is formed on the entire surface, a resist mask is formed excluding the shape of the rear part 3b of the upper magnetic pole 3, and then a plating base layer is formed on the entire surface. The rear part 3b of the upper magnetic pole 3 is formed by a frame plating method in which a magnetic layer is plated using a layer.
can be formed.

[0013]

[Operation] By performing batch ion etching on the lower magnetic layer 2A, gap layer 4A, and upper magnetic layer 3A on the substrate 1 using a mask 8 shaped like the tip of the magnetic pole, the tip 2a of the lower magnetic pole 2 and The magnetic gap 4 and the tip 3a of the upper magnetic pole 3 are formed in a shape according to the mask 8. Therefore, there is no possibility that the tips 2a, 3a of the lower magnetic pole 2 and the upper magnetic pole 3 become misaligned. FIG. 1(A) shows a state in which a lower magnetic layer 2A and a gap layer 4A are formed on a substrate 1 by a vacuum film-forming method, and FIG. 1(B) shows a state in which a window is formed in the gap layer 4A and then the lower magnetic layer 2, and (C) shows a state in which a resist mask 7 in the shape of the rear part 2b of the upper magnetic layer 3 is formed.
(D) shows a state in which a mask 8 in the shape of the tip of the magnetic pole is formed after forming A by a vacuum film forming method, and (D) shows that the tip 3a of the upper magnetic pole 3 and the lower magnetic pole 2 are formed by batch ion etching.
The mask 8 is shown in a state in which the residue of the mask 8 is removed after the tip portion 2a of the mask 8 is formed at the same time.

Next, a thin film coil 5 is formed by frame plating or the like. FIG. 1E shows the state in which the thin film coil 5 is formed, and 6 is an insulating layer. Next, the rear portion 3b of the upper magnetic pole 3 is formed. (F) in FIG. 1 shows a state in which a rear part 3b is connected to the tip 3a of the upper magnetic pole 3, and the rear part 3b is connected to the rear part 2b of the lower magnetic pole 2 through the window of the gap layer 4A to form a magnetic circuit. Configure.

Further, when the mask 8 in the shape of the tip of the magnetic pole is formed of a magnetic material, it can be used as a thin film head without removing the residue of the mask 8 after the batch ion etching is completed, so that the process can be shortened. Further, the multilayer magnetic layer is one in which magnetic layers and nonmagnetic layers are alternately formed by a vacuum film forming method, and the magnetic properties can be improved.

After forming the tip portions 2a, 3a of the magnetic poles and the thin film coil, a resist mask is formed to form the rear portion 3b of the upper magnetic pole 3, a magnetic layer is formed by a vacuum film forming method, and the resist mask is removed. Then, the magnetic layer becomes the upper magnetic pole 3
Since the other magnetic layers are formed on the resist mask, they are removed together with the removal of the resist mask. That is, the rear part 3b of the upper magnetic pole 3 can be formed by the lift-off method without damaging the thin film coil 5.

After forming the magnetic pole tips 2a and 3a and the thin film coil, a plating base layer is formed, and then the upper magnetic pole 3a is formed.
A resist mask is formed to form the rear part 3b, and a magnetic layer is plated on the plating base layer not covered with this resist mask. Then, when the resist mask is removed, the rear portion 3b of the upper magnetic pole 3 is formed.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of the manufacturing process of a first embodiment of the present invention, and (A) to (F) show cross sections of important parts in each step. The substrate 1 is made of, for example, conductive Al2O3.T.
An insulating layer such as Al2O3 is formed on the iC, and a lower magnetic layer 2A of, for example, amorphous CoZr is formed on the iC by a vacuum film forming method such as sputtering.
Formed to a thickness of 3 μm, for example, Al2O
The gap layer 4A such as
．． It is formed to a thickness of 5 μm. FIG. 1A shows this state.

Next, a window for connecting the rear part 2b of the lower magnetic pole 2 and the rear part 3b of the upper magnetic pole 3 is formed in the gap layer 4A, and a photoresist is applied to connect the rear part 2b of the lower magnetic pole 2.
A resist mask 7 is formed by patterning into the shape of . When this resist mask 7 is heated and hardened, (
As shown in B), the pattern edge of the resist mask 7 becomes tapered. Next, an upper magnetic layer 3A of, for example, amorphous CoZr is deposited on the entire surface by a vacuum film-forming method.
It is formed to have a thickness of 3 μm, and a photoresist is applied thereon and patterned to form a mask 8 in the shape of the tip of the magnetic pole. FIG. 1C shows this state.

Next, the substrate 1 is etched by batch ion etching using the mask 8 until the substrate 1 is exposed. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 1D, the tip 2a of the lower magnetic pole 2 and the tip 3a of the upper magnetic pole 3 are formed simultaneously with the magnetic gap 4 interposed therebetween. Further, the rear portion 2b of the lower magnetic pole 2 has a shape according to the resist mask 7. This resist mask 7 can also be formed from an ultraviolet curing resist, which has superior heat resistance compared to a heat curing resist, and is reliable against rises in substrate temperature during film formation of the upper magnetic layer and heat treatment in post-processes. Improves sex. Moreover, polyimide having high heat resistance can also be used. Furthermore, the use of photosensitive polyimide has the advantage of omitting the etching process.

[0021]Al2O3 instead of the heat-resistant resin
It is also possible to use inorganic materials such as or SiO2,
In particular, since Al2O3 has a small ion etching rate, there is less film loss during batch ion etching.
This has the advantage of making the mask thinner. It is also possible to use a non-magnetic metal plated with a resist as a mask. In this case, the nonmagnetic metal layer as the mask 7 remains, and the eddy current has the effect of suppressing leakage of magnetic flux, so that the characteristics of the thin film head can be improved.

The mask 8 in the shape of the tip of the magnetic pole is made of photoresist, heat-resistant synthetic resin, ultraviolet curing synthetic resin, photosensitive polyimide, Si
Inorganic insulators such as O2, non-magnetic metals, magnetic materials, C, Al
It can be formed from a material with a low ion etching rate, such as 2 O3 or Ti. For example, when carbon having a low ion etching rate is used, it can be easily removed using oxygen plasma or the like. If a magnetic material is used, it will remain on the tip 3a of the upper magnetic pole, but there is no need to remove the mask of this magnetic material.
This has the advantage of simplifying the process. Further, the pattern of the mask 8 can be formed by photolithography,
When metal is used, it can also be formed by a mask plating method, and the mask 8 can be formed with high precision.

Next, the residue of the resist mask 7 is removed from the state shown in FIG. , From this state (D), the step of forming the thin film coil 5 and the insulating layer 6 is performed. That is, as shown in FIG. 1E, a thin film coil 5 and an insulating layer 6 are formed. This thin film coil 5 has, for example, an insulating layer formed thereon, and Cu
A plating base layer such as Cu is formed, a mask with the pattern of the thin film coil 5 is formed, and a C plating base layer is formed based on the plating base layer such as Cu.
It can be formed by a frame plating method in which a mask and a plating base layer on the mask are removed. Then, an insulating layer is formed on the thin film coil 5.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1F, the rear portion 3b of the upper magnetic pole 3 is formed. The front end side of this rear part 3b is in contact with the front end part 3a, and the rear end side is in contact with the rear part 2b of the lower magnetic pole 2, and a part of the thin film coil 5 is in contact with the lower magnetic pole 2.
and the rear portion 3b of the upper magnetic pole 3 with the insulating layer 6 interposed therebetween. Since a plurality of such thin film heads are simultaneously formed on the substrate 1, a single thin film head can be formed by dividing the substrate 1.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the manufacturing process of the second embodiment of the present invention, which includes the step of forming the rear part of the upper magnetic pole using the lift-off method, and (A) to (F) represent each step. This figure shows a cross section of the main parts in the figure. First, as shown in FIG. 2A, a lower magnetic layer 11 of amorphous CoZr is formed on a substrate 1 in which an insulating layer of Al2 O3 is formed on Al2 O3 .TiC, for example, by a vacuum film forming method such as sputtering. , to a thickness of 2 to 3 μm, and then patterned by ion etching into a shape that includes the front peripheral part of the lower magnetic pole and the rear part of the lower magnetic pole using a resist mask. Next, a gap layer 12 made of Al2O3 or the like is formed thereon to a thickness of, for example, 0.1 to 0.5 μm using a vacuum film forming method, and a lower magnetic pole and an upper magnetic pole are directly attached to the gap layer 12. After forming the window 14 for contacting the lower magnetic pole, a mask 17 is formed on the rear part of the lower magnetic pole, and an amorphous Co
The upper magnetic layer 13 of Zr is formed by a vacuum film forming method, for example, 2
It is formed to a thickness of ~3 μm, and then a mask 1 in the shape of the magnetic pole tip is formed.
form 0. This magnetic pole tip shape is, for example, (
It shows the front and rear portions along line A-A in a), and has a width of about 3 to 5 μm, which corresponds to the recording width corresponding to the track width, etc.

The mask 10 shaped like the tip of the magnetic pole can be made of various materials, similar to the mask 8 in the above-described embodiment. Using this mask 10, the upper magnetic layer 13, gap layer 12, and lower magnetic layer 11 are etched by batch ion etching to simultaneously form the tip portions 2a, 3a and the magnetic gap 4. Therefore, the tip 2
a and 3a do not shift and have the same shape. This state is shown in FIG. 2(B). This batch ion etching process reveals the remaining portion 17A of the mask on the rear of the lower magnetic pole. After removing the remaining portion 17A of the mask, the lower magnetic pole and the upper magnetic pole are directly connected in the step of (A) in FIG. A window 14 for making contact with each other can also be formed in this step (B).

Next, an insulating layer, a plating base layer, and a mask made of an insulator are sequentially formed, and, for example, Cu is plated to a desired thickness through the plating base layer, and then the mask is removed.
By removing the plating base layer at the mask position, (C) in Figure 2
As shown in the figure, a thin film coil 5 of several tens of turns is formed,
An insulating layer 6 made of resist or the like insulating this thin film coil 5
form.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2D, a mask 15 for lift-off is formed, excluding the pattern at the rear of the upper magnetic pole. This mask 15 is desirably made of a material such as a photoresist that can be removed with an organic solvent, and is preferably formed to be thicker than the thickness of the magnetic layer formed thereon.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2E, amorphous CoZr magnetic layers 16a and 16b are formed on the entire surface to a thickness of, for example, 2 to 3 μm. Then, the mask 15 is removed using an organic solvent. Thereby, mask 15
The upper magnetic layer 16b is removed together with the mask 15, and the magnetic layer 16a on the insulating layer 6 remains. Therefore,
As shown in FIG. 2(F), a lower magnetic layer 1 is placed on a substrate 1.
1, the tip 2a and rear part 2b of the lower magnetic pole 2 are integrally formed, and the tip 2a of the lower magnetic pole 2 and the tip 3a of the upper magnetic pole 3 are formed in the same shape through a magnetic gap 4. A rear part 3b is connected to the tip 3a of the upper magnetic pole 3, and this rear part 3b and the rear part 2b of the lower magnetic pole 2 are connected as shown in FIG.
A thin film coil 5 is formed between the lower magnetic pole 2 and the upper magnetic pole 3 and insulated by an insulating layer 6, which are connected through the window 14 shown in FIG. Therefore, the rear portion 3b of the upper magnetic pole 3 can be formed without damaging the thin film coil 5 and the insulating layer 6 that protects it. In addition, a plurality of such thin film heads are formed on the substrate 1 at the same time, and the thin film heads mounted on the head arm are formed through processes such as cutting the substrate 1 and polishing the recording surface as in the conventional example. be done.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the manufacturing process of the third embodiment of the present invention, which includes the step of forming the rear part of the upper magnetic pole by frame plating method, and includes the step of forming the rear part of the upper magnetic pole by the frame plating method. (
Step C) shows the same steps as (A), (B), and (C) in FIG. In (A), (B), and (C) of Figure 3,
21 is the substrate, 22a is the tip of the lower magnetic pole, 22b is the rear part of the lower magnetic pole, 23a is the tip of the upper magnetic pole, 24 is the magnetic gap, 25 is the thin film coil, 26 is the insulating layer, and 30 is the shape of the tip of the magnetic pole. The mask 31 is made of, for example, amorphous Co.
The lower magnetic layer 32 made of Zr is made of, for example, Al2O3.
33 is an upper magnetic layer made of amorphous CoZr, 37 is a mask, and 37A is the remainder of the mask formed by batch etching.

In the steps of (A), (B), and (C) in FIG. 3, the tip 22a of the lower magnetic pole and the tip 23a of the upper magnetic pole, including the magnetic gap 24, are formed by batch ion etching with high precision. A magnetic pole tip is formed. After removing the mask 30, etc., the thin film coil 25 is formed by a mask plating method or the like.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3D, a plating base layer 34 made of any conductive metal is formed on the entire surface, and a frame-shaped mask made of resist is formed to form the rear part of the upper magnetic pole. Form 35. This mask 35 can be patterned by photolithography.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3E, a magnetic layer 36 is formed by electroplating FeNi, for example. This thickness is, for example, 2 to 3 μm required for the rear part of the upper magnetic pole.
m. Next, the mask 35 is removed using an etching solution or the like, and the exposed plating base layer 34 is removed by ion etching or the like, as shown in FIG.
As indicated by the same reference numerals, the tip 2a of the lower magnetic pole 2 and the tip 3a of the upper magnetic pole 3 with the magnetic gap 4 in between are formed in the same shape on the substrate 1, and a magnetic layer 36 is formed by plating. becomes the rear part 3b of the upper magnetic pole 3, and the lower magnetic pole 2
A thin film coil 5 insulated by an insulating layer 6 on the rear part 2b of the
A thin film head is constructed.

The magnetic layer 36 formed by this frame plating method is made of Fe, which has a lower saturation magnetic flux density than amorphous CoZr.
Although it is made of Ni, as mentioned above, the strength of the magnetic field for magnetic recording mainly depends on the saturation magnetic flux density of the tips 2a and 3a.
Even if it is made of a material with a lower saturation magnetic flux density, the recording characteristics will not deteriorate.

In each of the embodiments described above, the lower magnetic pole 2 and the upper magnetic pole 3 are formed using amorphous CoZr, but at least the tip 3 of the upper magnetic pole 3
For a, an Fe-based magnetic material such as FeN or FeSi, which has a higher saturation magnetic flux density, can be used. This means that the magnetic pole tip of the thin film head and the magnetic recording medium such as a magnetic disk are connected from the tip 2a of the lower magnetic pole 2 to the tip 3a of the upper magnetic pole 3.
This is because the magnetic recording medium moves toward the side, and is recorded by the magnetic field generated on the rear end side of the magnetic gap 4. By increasing the saturation magnetic flux density of the recording magnetic field, the strength of the recording magnetic field can be increased. Further, by making the anisotropic magnetic field applied when forming the tip of the magnetic pole larger than when forming the rear part, it is possible to prevent a decrease in magnetic permeability due to a decrease in the width of the magnetic pole.

[0036] In addition, the multilayer magnetic film is formed by depositing a magnetic layer with a thickness of 1 to 2 μm or less and a nonmagnetic layer with a thickness of about 0.1 to 0.5 μm using a vacuum evaporation method or a sputtering method. The lower magnetic layers 2A,
11, 31 and the upper magnetic layers 3A, 13, 33 can be formed from this multilayer magnetic film. Furthermore, since the easy axis of magnetization of each magnetic layer is made parallel to the facing surface of the magnetic recording medium, and a substantially rectangular magnetic domain is formed, high frequency characteristics can be improved. Therefore, high-density recording becomes easy. Note that when the frame plating method is used, the rear portion 3b of the upper magnetic pole 3 is composed of a single magnetic layer.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and can be modified in various ways. For example, although the thin film coil 5 is shown as having a single layer, it may be formed in multiple layers. It is also possible to do so.

[0038]

Effects of the Invention As explained above, the present invention provides a substrate 1
The tip 2a of the upper lower magnetic pole 2 and the tip 3a of the upper magnetic pole 3
Since these are formed by batch ion etching using the mask 8, the tip of the magnetic pole can be formed with high dimensional accuracy. Therefore, it is possible to provide a thin film head with improved recording and reproducing characteristics.

Further, when the masks 8, 10, 30 having the shape of magnetic pole tips are made of a magnetic material, there is an advantage that the step of removing the residues of the masks 8, 10, 30 after the batch ion etching can be omitted. . Further, when the lower magnetic pole 2 and the upper magnetic pole 3 are formed of multilayer magnetic layers, substantially rectangular magnetic domains are formed, so that the recording and reproducing characteristics can be improved.

Further, by forming the rear part 3b of the upper magnetic pole 3 by the lift-off method or the frame plating method, there is an advantage that the thin film coil 5 and the insulating layer 6 are not damaged in the process of forming the rear part 3b. Therefore, it is possible to manufacture a thin film head having a small tip with high saturation magnetic flux density and high magnetic permeability with a high yield.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the manufacturing process of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the manufacturing process of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the manufacturing process of a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the manufacturing process of a conventional thin film head.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of problems in the conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1　　　　Substrate 2 Lower magnetic pole 2a Tip 2b Rear 3 Upper magnetic pole 3a Tip 3b Rear 4 Magnetic gap 5 Thin film coil 6 Insulating layer

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A lower magnetic layer, a gap layer, and an upper magnetic layer are sequentially formed on a substrate (1) by a vacuum film forming method, and the lower magnetic layer is formed by batch ion etching using a mask in the shape of the tip of a magnetic pole. The tip (2a) of the lower magnetic pole (2) formed by the magnetic layer, and the tip (2a) of the upper magnetic pole (3) formed by the upper magnetic layer via the magnetic gap (4) formed by the gap layer on the tip (2a). 3a) A method for manufacturing a thin film head, comprising the step of simultaneously forming 3a). 2. The method of manufacturing a thin film head according to claim 1, wherein the mask in the shape of the tip of the magnetic pole is formed of a magnetic material. 3. The lower magnetic layer and the upper magnetic layer are formed by multilayer magnetic layers in which magnetic layers and nonmagnetic layers are alternately formed by a vacuum film forming method.
A method of manufacturing the thin film head described. 4. The lower magnetic layer, the gap layer, and the upper magnetic layer formed on the substrate (1) are subjected to batch ion etching using a mask in the shape of the magnetic pole tip, so that the tip of the lower magnetic pole (2) is etched. (2a) and the tip (3a) of the upper magnetic pole (3) via the magnetic gap (4) above the tip (2a).
) of the lower magnetic pole (2) at the same time, the rear part (
2b) forming a thin film coil (5) on the upper magnetic pole (3);
b) forming a resist mask excluding the shape, forming a magnetic layer on the entire surface, and then forming the rear part (3b) of the upper magnetic pole (3) by a lift-off method of removing the resist mask; The method of manufacturing a thin film head according to claim 1, characterized in that: 5. The lower magnetic layer, the gap layer, and the upper magnetic layer formed on the substrate (1) are subjected to batch ion etching using a mask in the shape of the magnetic pole tip, so that the tip of the lower magnetic pole (2) is etched. (2a) and the tip (3a) of the upper magnetic pole (3) via the magnetic gap (4) above the tip (2a).
) of the lower magnetic pole (2) at the same time, the rear part (
2b) forming a thin film coil (5) on the upper magnetic pole (3); forming a plating base layer on the entire surface;
A resist mask is formed excluding the shape of the rear part (3b) connected to the tip part (3a) of the upper magnetic pole (3), and a frame plating method is used to plate a magnetic layer using the plating base layer. 2. The method of manufacturing a thin film head according to claim 1, further comprising the step of forming (3b).