JPH04366408A - Thin-film magnetic head assembly body and its manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a head crash by performing improvement so that a surface which is exposed on an opposing surface of a medium of an inorganic insulation protection film covering a thin-film magnetic head element does not protrude even if an interlayer insulation layer consisting of a resin material, etc., of the thin-film magnetic head element generates a great thermal expansion at the time of recording for the thin-film magnetic head assembly body used for a magnetic disk device, etc., and its manufacturing method. CONSTITUTION:A recessed portion 21 is provided previously on an opposing surface 19 of a medium of an inorganic insulation protection film 18. The recessed portion 21 is formed by heating a thin-film magnetic head element 20 to a temperature which is increased at least at the time of recording and allowing a surface which is exposed to a side of the opposing surface 19 of the medium of the inorganic insulation protection film 18 caused by a large thermal expansion of an interlayer insulation layer 15, and then performing abrasion machining of the opposing surface 19 of the medium to a flat surface.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thin film magnetic head used in a magnetic recording/reproducing device such as a magnetic disk device or a floppy disk device, and a method for manufacturing the same.

In recent years, as magnetic recording and reproducing devices such as magnetic disk drives and floppy disk drives have become more compact and have higher recording densities, there has been a demand for thin film magnetic heads used in these devices to have lower flying heights and be smaller. There is. Therefore, it is necessary to further flatten the medium facing surface (air bearing surface) of the thin film magnetic head.

0003

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional thin film magnetic head has a main structure shown in FIG. 5(b) on the airflow outflow end surface of a flying slider 11 made of a magnetic material such as Ni-Zn ferrite, as shown in the schematic side view of FIG. 5(a). They are arranged with a structure as shown in the enlarged cross-sectional view. That is, as shown in the figure, a first magnetic pole 13 made of a Ni-Fe film or the like is inserted through a nonmagnetic insulating layer 12 made of Al2O3.
A conductor coil 1 made of a spiral Cu film or the like is encapsulated on the first magnetic pole 13 by a gap layer 14 made of Al2O3 and an interlayer insulating layer 15 made of a thermosetting resin material or the like.
6 is disposed on the top surface of which a second film made of Ni-Fe film is disposed.
The tip of the magnetic pole 17 is exposed to the medium facing surface 19 with the gap layer 14 sandwiched between the tip of the first magnetic pole 13 and the rear end thereof extends in contact with the first magnetic pole 13. A thin film magnetic head element 20 is disposed so as to be magnetically connected to each other.
It is coated with an inorganic insulating protective film 18 made of 12O3.

0004

By the way, in the conventional head assembly as described above, when a signal current is applied to the conductor coil 16 when recording information on a magnetic disk, the conductor coil 16 generates heat. . The heat generated by the conductor coil 16 and the heat generated by wind damage when the magnetic disk rotates at high speed cause the magnetic disk, for example, to accommodate the
The internal temperature of the enclosure (DE) rises to about 60-80°C.

Therefore, in a magnetic head assembly under such an environment of temperature rise, the thermal expansion coefficient of the interlayer insulating layer 15 made of a thermosetting resin material, etc., encasing the conductor coil 16 is lower than that of Al2O3. Since it is relatively larger than the inorganic insulating protective film 18 etc., thermal expansion of the interlayer insulating layer 15 causes the main part enlarged sectional view in FIG. 5(b) and the main part enlarged plan view of the medium facing surface in FIG. 5(c) to As shown by the chain line, a protruding portion A that pushes up the inorganic insulating protective film 18 toward the medium facing surface 19 by approximately 0.05 to 0.10 μm, for example.
occurs.

Therefore, when the magnetic head assembly is levitated relative to the magnetic disk to record/reproduce information, the flying height is 0.1.
Since the thickness is about 0 to 0.15 μm, the inorganic insulating protective film 18 on the medium facing surface 19 protruding due to the thermal expansion of the magnetic head assembly comes into contact with the magnetic disk surface, causing a crash, and the magnetic disk surface, Alternatively, there is a problem that the medium facing surface 19 of the magnetic head assembly is damaged.

In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention solves the protrusion of the inorganic insulating protective film toward the surface facing the medium, which is caused by thermal expansion of the interlayer insulating layer made of a thermosetting resin material during recording. It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel magnetic head assembly with high reliability that prevents head crashes through a head structure, and a method for manufacturing the same.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention has a conductor coil laminated on the airflow outflow end face of a floating slider via an interlayer insulating layer made of a magnetic pole and an insulating resin material, In the configuration of a magnetic head assembly including a thin film magnetic head element whose surface is covered with an inorganic insulating protective film, a recessed portion is provided in the medium facing surface of the inorganic insulating protective film covering the thin film magnetic head element. do.

[0009] Furthermore, as a method of manufacturing the magnetic head assembly, a thin film magnetic head element is disposed by laminating conductive coils on the airflow outflow end surface of a flying slider with interlayer insulating layers made of magnetic poles and an insulating resin material interposed therebetween. After depositing an inorganic insulating protective film on the airflow outflow end face of the flying slider including the thin film magnetic head element, the magnetic pole tip and the inorganic insulating protective film are exposed while the thin film magnetic head element is heated to a predetermined temperature. The medium facing surface of the flying slider is polished into a flat surface.

Furthermore, the means for heating the thin-film magnetic head element may include a conductor coil built into the thin-film magnetic head element and which generates heat when a predetermined current is applied thereto, or a laser beam that irradiates and heats the thin-film magnetic head element. Apply.

[0011]

[Function] In the structure of the present invention, the exposed surface along the medium facing surface of the inorganic insulating protective film covering the thin film magnetic head element in the magnetic head assembly expands due to the temperature rise of the thin film magnetic head element; By providing a concave portion in advance to a predetermined depth in the protruding area, it is possible to prevent the exposed surface of the inorganic insulating protective film along the medium facing surface from protruding due to thermal expansion during recording. Crashes can be significantly reduced.

[0012] Furthermore, as a method for pre-denting the exposed surface of the inorganic insulating protective film along the medium facing surface that expands and protrudes due to the temperature rise of the thin film magnetic head element, there is a method for indenting in advance the region of the exposed surface of the inorganic insulating protective film along the medium facing surface that expands and protrudes due to the temperature rise of the thin film magnetic head element. After an inorganic insulating protective film is deposited on the airflow outflow end face of the slider, the thin film magnetic head element is heated to a predetermined temperature by the heat generated by its conductor coil or irradiated with laser light, and an insulating resin material is used to cover the conductor coil. The interlayer insulating layer consisting of is thermally expanded to make the exposed surface of the inorganic insulating protective film on the side facing the medium protrude, and the medium facing surface of the flying slider where the magnetic pole tip and the inorganic insulating protective film protrude and are exposed is The recesses can be easily formed by polishing the flat surface.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1(a) is a side cross-sectional view of essential parts for explaining an embodiment of the thin-film magnetic head assembly and method for manufacturing the same according to the present invention, and FIG. 1(b) is the thin-film magnetic head shown in FIG. 1(a). FIG. 5 is a plan view of essential parts of the medium facing surface of the assembly, in which the same parts as in FIGS. 5(b) and 5(c) are given the same reference numerals.

In this embodiment, as shown in these figures, a Ni--Fe film or the like is applied to the airflow outflow end surface of the floating slider 11 made of a non-magnetic material such as ceramic through a non-magnetic insulating layer 12 made of Al2O3. The first magnetic pole 1
3, and a conductor coil 16 made of a spiral Cu film or the like covered on the first magnetic pole 13 by a gap layer 14 made of SiO2 and an interlayer insulating layer 15 made of a thermosetting resin material or the like.
A second magnetic pole 17 made of a Ni--Fe film is formed on the upper surface of the second magnetic pole 17 such that its tip is exposed to the medium facing surface 19 with the gap layer 14 sandwiched between the tip of the first magnetic pole 13 and the gap layer 14 . The rear end portion is formed so as to contact and extend over the first magnetic pole 13 for magnetic connection, and a thin film magnetic head element 20 is provided in the same way as in the prior art.

[0015] Then, a thick film is formed on the entire surface of the
After forming an inorganic insulating protective film 18 made of Al2O3, a terminal (not shown) of a conductive coil 16 made of a spiral Cu film or the like built into the thin film magnetic head element 20 is connected to a current power source 22 as shown in FIG. The medium of the inorganic insulating protective film 18 coated on the thin film magnetic head element 20 by applying a predetermined current to the conductor coil 16 in the connected state to generate heat and heating the thin film magnetic head element 20 to at least 80° C. The surface of the floating slider 11 exposed to the opposing surface 19 is made to protrude due to large thermal expansion of the interlayer insulating layer 15 covering the conductor coil 16, and the inorganic insulating protective film 18 and the magnetic pole tip are exposed. The medium facing surface (air bearing surface) 19 is polished to a flat surface.

In this way, the recess 21 can be easily formed on the exposed surface of the inorganic insulating protective film 18 along the medium facing surface 19 of the flying slider 11. Therefore, due to the temperature rise of the conductor coil 16 during recording, the interlayer insulating layer 15
This prevents the protrusion of the inorganic insulating protective film 18 toward the medium facing surface 19 due to thermal expansion of the disk enclosure (DE) or temperature rise within the disk enclosure (DE).

In the above embodiment, the thin film magnetic head element 20 is heated as a means for heating the thin film magnetic head element 20.
Although an example has been described in which a conductor coil 16 that is built in a conductor coil 16 and generates heat when a predetermined current is applied thereto is used, the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, as shown in FIG. A similar effect can be obtained when a laser beam 23 or the like having an oscillation wavelength that can pass through the insulating protective film 18 or the organic interlayer insulating layer of the thin-film magnetic head element 20 and heat a metal layer such as a conductor coil is used.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the exposed surface along the medium facing surface of the inorganic insulating protective film covering the thin film magnetic head element in the magnetic head assembly expands due to the temperature rise of the thin film magnetic head element. An example has been described in which a concave portion having a predetermined depth corresponding to the amount of protrusion is provided in the protruding area. For example, as shown in FIG.
The exposed surface along the medium facing surface 19 of the flying slider 11 except for the vicinity of the thin film magnetic head element 20 is covered by a predetermined depth corresponding to the amount of protrusion due to thermal expansion of the inorganic insulating protective film 18. A similar effect can be obtained by removing the step 24 by mechanical grinding, etching, or the like.

Further, in this embodiment, an example has been explained in which a thin film magnetic head assembly for horizontal magnetic recording is used, but the present invention is not limited to this example. Similar effects can be obtained when applied to a thin film magnetic head assembly and its manufacturing method.

[0020]

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, the thin film magnetic head assembly and method of manufacturing the same according to the present invention have the following effects.
A region of the inorganic insulating protective film covering the thin film magnetic head element that expands and protrudes due to temperature rise of the thin film magnetic head element on the exposed surface along the medium facing surface of the flying slider is coated with a predetermined depth corresponding to the amount of protrusion. It is now possible to easily provide a recessed portion, and crashes and damage caused by contact between the thin film magnetic head assembly and the magnetic recording medium are significantly reduced, making it possible to obtain a highly reliable thin film magnetic head assembly. It has excellent effects.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of a thin film magnetic head assembly and a method for manufacturing the same according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view for explaining one embodiment of a heating means for a thin film magnetic head element used in the manufacturing method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view for explaining another embodiment of a heating means for a thin film magnetic head element used in the manufacturing method of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional side view of a main part for explaining another embodiment of a thin film magnetic head assembly and a method of manufacturing the same according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a conventional thin film magnetic head assembly and its manufacturing method.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 Floating slider 12 Non-magnetic insulating layer 13 First magnetic pole 14 Gap layer 15 Interlayer insulation layer 16 Conductor coil 17 Second magnetic pole 18 Inorganic insulation protective film 19 Media facing surface 20 Thin film magnetic head element 21 Hollow part 22 Current power supply 23 Laser light 24 Steps

Claims (4)

[Claims] [Claim 1] A conductor coil (16) is laminated on the airflow outflow end surface of the floating slider (11) via magnetic poles (13, 17) and an interlayer insulating layer (15) made of an insulating resin material, and these surfaces In the configuration of a magnetic head assembly including a thin film magnetic head element (20) covered with an inorganic insulating protective film (18), the medium of the inorganic insulating protective film (18) covering the thin film magnetic head element (20) is provided. A thin film magnetic head assembly characterized in that a recess (21) is provided on an opposing surface (19). 2. A thin-film magnetic head is constructed by laminating a conductor coil (16) on the airflow outflow end surface of the flying slider (11) via magnetic poles (13, 17) and an interlayer insulating layer (15) made of an insulating resin material. After arranging the element (20) and depositing an inorganic insulating protective film (18) on the airflow outflow end surface of the flying slider (11) including the thin film magnetic head element (20),
While the thin film magnetic head element (20) is heated to a predetermined temperature, the medium facing surface (19) of the flying slider (11), where the magnetic pole tip and the inorganic insulating protective film (18) are exposed, is polished into a flat surface. A method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head assembly, characterized in that: 3. A conductor coil (16) of the thin film magnetic head element (20) is energized with a predetermined current to generate heat, and the thin film magnetic head element (20) is heated by the heat generated. Item 2. Method for manufacturing a thin film magnetic head assembly. 4. The method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head assembly according to claim 2, further comprising heating the thin film magnetic head element (20) by irradiating the thin film magnetic head element (20) with a laser beam (23).