JPH04356716A - Manufacture of magnetic head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To manufacture a magnetic head difficult to cause head crash, etc., even at low floating height and excellent in durability by improving the degree of flatness of an air bearing surface. CONSTITUTION:A magnetic head aggregate is fixed to a jig 5. A base body 1 is worked by cutting so that at least, one magnetic converting element 2 is contained. After that, the surface 11 of the magnetic converting element 2 where a conversion gap is located is worked by grinding.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a floating magnetic head that includes a magnetic transducer on a slider, and in which a magnetic head assembly is mounted on a jig and a base plate containing at least one magnetic transducer is mounted. After cutting, by polishing the surface where the conversion gap of the magnetic conversion element is located,
By increasing the flatness of the air bearing surface, the head can be improved even at low flying heights. The present invention is intended to provide a magnetic head with excellent durability that is unlikely to cause crashes or the like.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, magnetic disk drives have used a magnetic head that uses the dynamic pressure generated by the rotation of the magnetic recording medium to fly while maintaining a small air bearing gap between the magnetic recording medium and the magnetic recording medium. It is being Conventionally, this type of magnetic head has two rails spaced apart from each other on the medium facing surface side of a slider made of a ceramic structure that faces the magnetic recording medium, and the surface of the rails is used as an air bearing surface. In addition, a tapered portion is provided at one end of the rail portion, which serves as the inflow end of the air flow generated by the rotation of the magnetic recording medium. The magnetic transducer element was provided on the air outflow end side opposite to the tapered portion.

[0003] This type of magnetic head is becoming increasingly smaller in order to cope with higher density and higher speed magnetic recording. Miniaturization is effective in reducing the flying height and spacing loss necessary to achieve high-density recording. When combined with a suspension, it increases the resonance frequency and is effective in preventing crashes and improving durability.Moreover, it maintains an appropriate balance between dynamic pressure and support spring pressure, maintains a good levitation posture, and provides stable levitation. This is because characteristics can be obtained. Furthermore, the mass of the head decreases due to miniaturization. This results in faster access movement of the arm that supports the suspension.

However, the conventional floating magnetic head has a complicated structure having a rail portion and a tapered portion on the side facing the medium, and there is a limit to miniaturization. As a means to solve this problem, a magnetic head has been proposed in which the medium facing surface of the slider is made flat without a rail portion, as in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-21713. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an example of such a magnetic head, in which 1 is a slider, 2 is a magnetic conversion element,
3 and 4 indicate extraction electrodes.

The slider 1 has a flat medium facing surface 11, and the entire surface 11 functions as an air bearing surface.

[0006] The magnetic transducer element 2 is provided on the end surface that is the outflow end side of the airflow generated by the rotation of the magnetic recording medium. The magnetic transducer element 2 is arranged, for example, at a substantially middle portion in the width direction.

When used as a magnetic disk device,
The surface 12 opposite to the surface 11 is connected to a head (not shown). A so-called contact is attached to the suspension, and the surface 11 is brought into spring contact with the surface of the magnetic disk, and startup and shutdown are performed in this state. start. Driven by stop method. When the magnetic disk is stationary, the surface 11 is pressed against the surface of the magnetic disk by the spring pressure of the head support device, but when the magnetic disk rotates, lift dynamic pressure is generated on the surface 11 of the slider 1. It operates with a flying height that balances this dynamic pressure with the spring pressure of the head support device.

In the magnetic head shown in FIG. 5, the surface 11 of the slider 1 has a simple planar shape without a rail portion.
It is easy to downsize, and the above advantages due to downsizing can be secured.

[0009]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above-described magnetic head, the surface 11 is affected by processing distortion, etc.
As shown in an exaggerated manner in FIG. 6, it is convex at both end sides in the width direction and concave at the middle part. If the difference △h between the peak of the convex part and the bottom of the concave part is defined as flatness, then the flatness △h is 0.05
It was extremely difficult to reduce the thickness to below μm. If the surface 11 becomes a concave surface, the flying characteristics deteriorate when used in combination with a magnetic disk, making it easier to cause a head crash, and reducing durability.

[0010] The above-mentioned concave surface of the medium facing surface is deeply connected to the conventional manufacturing process. Taking the case of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head as an example, a large number of magnetic transducer elements are aligned and formed on a wafer that will become a slider according to a process similar to IC manufacturing technology, and then the wafer is cut, ground, and polished. The individual magnetic head elements are extracted by processing such as the following. FIG. 7 shows a step after taking out magnetic head assemblies in columns from a wafer during the above-described steps.

FIG. 7(a) is a perspective view showing a state in which the magnetic head assembly taken out in rows is attached to a jig. Magnetic transducer elements 2 are arranged at intervals. In the illustration, five magnetic heads Q1 to Q5 are shown, but
Actually it will be more. The above-described magnetic head assembly is mounted on a jig 5 using an adhesive 6 such as hot melt resin, and in this state, the surface 11 of the magnetic transducer 2 where the conversion gap G is located is polished. Increase superficiality.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7(b), the magnetic heads are cut using a cutting blade so as to separate each magnetic head individually.

As described above, in the conventional manufacturing method, since the surface 11 where the conversion gap is located is polished and then cut, the cutting blade directly hits the surface 11, leaving processing distortion. Therefore, it was not possible to prevent the concave shape shown in FIG. 6 from occurring.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a manufacturing method that can solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, increase the flatness of the air bearing surface, and manufacture a magnetic head that exhibits excellent durability even at low flying heights. The goal is to provide the following.

[0015]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing a magnetic head that includes a step of taking out a magnetic head from a magnetic head assembly in which magnetic transducer elements are arranged on the same surface of a base that becomes a slider. The method includes the steps of: mounting the magnetic head assembly on a jig, and cutting the base body on the jig so as to include at least one magnetic transducer element; The present invention is characterized in that it further includes the steps of polishing the surface of the magnetic transducer element where the transducing gap is located, and removing each magnetic head from the jig after the polishing step.

[0016]

[Operation] After the magnetic head assembly is mounted on a jig and the base is cut to include at least one magnetic transducer element, the surface where the transducer gap of the magnetic transducer element is located is polished. The convex portions remaining on the edges due to cutting distortion are removed by the polishing process, resulting in a high degree of flatness.

[0017] After that, by removing each magnetic head from the jig, a highly durable magnetic head that is less susceptible to head crashes and the like can be obtained.

The polishing process that follows the above-mentioned cutting process is performed with the magnetic head assembly attached to the jig, and then each magnetic head is removed from the jig, so after the cutting process,
The efficiency of the polishing work is significantly improved compared to the case where each magnetic head is removed from the jig before the polishing process, and then the polishing process is performed on each individual magnetic head.

As another means to avoid cutting distortion, shallow grooves were formed between adjacent magnetic heads on the side of the magnetic transducer where the transducer gap is located, and the gap side was polished. Later, a technique has been proposed in which the substrate is cut within a shallow groove with a width narrower than that width (Japanese Patent Application No. 2-48541). In comparison with this prior art, the present invention provides a flatness equal to or higher than that of this prior art, and also has the advantage of shortening the process since a shallow groove forming step is not required.

[0020]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a manufacturing method according to the present invention. First, as shown in FIG. 1(a), a magnetic head assembly taken out from a wafer is mounted on a jig 5 using an adhesive 6 such as hot melt resin. The magnetic head assembly has magnetic transducer elements 2 arranged at intervals on the same surface of a base 1 which serves as a slider.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1(b), with the magnetic head assembly mounted on the jig 5, each magnetic transducer element 2-2 is inserted so that one magnetic transducer element 2 is included. Base 1 between
cut.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1(c), the area 11 where the conversion gap G is located is polished. This polishing process removes the distortion caused by the cutting process shown in FIG. 1(b) and the distortion caused by the cutting process performed before taking out the magnetic head assembly, so that the surface 11 has a high degree of flatness. After this, the magnetic head is removed from the jig 5.

In the case of the conventional manufacturing method shown in FIG. 7, the flatness was limited to 0.05 μm, but according to the present invention,
A flatness of 0.001 to 0.002 μm could be obtained. Therefore, a highly durable magnetic head that is less susceptible to head crashes and the like can be obtained. FIG. 2 is a graph showing the relationship between flatness and relative velocity at the start of ascent. The relative speed at the start of flying is the relative speed at which the magnetic head starts flying when a magnetic head and a magnetic disk are combined to form a magnetic disk drive. As shown in Figure 2, as the flatness increases (the numerical value decreases),
The relative velocity at the start of ascent decreases accordingly. The lower the relative velocity at the start of flying, the less damage occurs between the magnetic head and the magnetic disk, and the durability improves. According to the present invention, the flatness Δh can be improved from the conventional 0.05 μm to about 0.001 to 0.002 μm, resulting in improved durability. In the case of driving using the CSS method, the relative speed of ascent and landing is also reduced, so damage at the time of ascent and stop can be reduced and durability can be improved.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing the relationship between relative velocity and friction coefficient. Curve L1 is the characteristic when using a magnetic head obtained by the conventional manufacturing method, curve L
2 is the characteristic when using the magnetic head obtained by the manufacturing method according to the present invention. As shown in the figure, in the magnetic head obtained by the manufacturing method according to the present invention, the coefficient of friction decreases more rapidly in the region where the relative velocity is lower than in the case of the magnetic head manufactured by the conventional manufacturing method. This shows that the magnetic head obtained by the present invention starts flying at a lower speed than the conventional one and has excellent durability.

The magnetic transducer 2 is a mono. It may be a lithic type, a composite type, or a thin film element. This embodiment shows an example of a thin film magnetic head using a thin film element. FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view centered on the magnetic transducer element 2. As shown in FIG. In the figure, 21 is a lower magnetic film, 22 is a gap film made of alumina, etc., 23 is an upper magnetic film, 24 is a coil film, and 25 is a gap film made of alumina or the like.
2 is an insulating film made of organic resin such as novolac resin.
6 and 27 are lead electrodes, and 28 is a protective film.

The tips of the lower magnetic film 21 and the upper magnetic film 23 are pole parts 211 and 231 facing each other with a gap film 22 of minute thickness in between.
Reading and writing are performed in 1. 212 and 232 are yoke parts, which are coupled to each other at a back gap part on the opposite side from the pole parts 211 and 231 so as to complete a magnetic circuit.

The insulating film 25 includes a plurality of layers of insulating films 251 to 25.
3, and on the insulating films 251 and 252,
A coil film 24 is formed so as to spiral around the joint portion of the yoke portions 212 and 232. One end of the lead electrodes 26 and 27 is electrically connected to both ends of the coil film 24, and lead electrodes 3 and 4 are formed on the other end.

In each of the above embodiments, a magnetic head for in-plane recording and reproduction is shown, but the present invention can also be applied to a magnetic head for perpendicular magnetic recording and reproduction, and the two-terminal magnetic head shown in the embodiments can also be applied to a magnetic head for perpendicular magnetic recording and reproduction. Not limited to 3-terminal magnetic head with center tap, mono. It can also be applied to a lithic magnetic head or a composite magnetic head. Further, the number and position of the magnetic transducer elements, the direction or position of the lead-out electrodes, etc. can be arbitrarily selected and are not limited to the illustrated state.

[0029]

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. (a) Mount the magnetic head assembly on a jig, and on the jig,
A step of cutting the base body so as to include at least one magnetic transducer element; After the cutting step, a step of polishing the surface of the magnetic transducer element where the conversion gap is located; and After the polishing step, each magnetic head Since the magnetic head includes the step of removing the magnetic head from the jig, it is possible to obtain a highly durable magnetic head that has a high degree of flatness and is less likely to cause head crashes. (b) Since the polishing process is performed with the magnetic head assembly attached to the jig, and then each magnetic head is removed from the jig, the efficiency of the polishing process is significantly improved. (c) Since the shallow groove forming process is not necessary, the advantage of shortening the process can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a method of manufacturing a magnetic head according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the relationship between flatness and relative velocity at the start of ascent.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing the relationship between relative speed and friction coefficient.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a magnetic transducer element.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the magnetic head.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing problems with a conventional magnetic head.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a conventional magnetic head manufacturing method.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Base 2 Magnetic conversion element 11 Media facing surface

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for manufacturing a magnetic head, comprising the step of taking out a magnetic head from a magnetic head assembly in which magnetic transducer elements are arranged on the same surface of a base body serving as a slider, the magnetic head assembly being placed on a jig. mounting, cutting the base on the jig so that it includes at least one magnetic transducer; and after the cutting step, polishing the surface of the magnetic transducer on which the transducer gap is located. A method for manufacturing a magnetic head, comprising the steps of processing, and removing each magnetic head from the jig after the polishing step.