JPH06124416A - Manufacture of thin film magnetic head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make uniform the magnetic characteristic and the film quality of a magnetic body filled inside a groove thereby to improve the characteristic by sputtering a substrate with ion beams while inclining the substrate a predeter mined angle, and filling the magnetic body into the groove formed in an insulat ing layer of a core. CONSTITUTION:In an ion beam sputtering device 50, a substrate 54 and a target 53 are set in an ion beam sputtering chamber 52 separated from a positive ion generating chamber 51. At this time, the substrate 54 is inclined theta deg. to a line S connecting the centers of the substrate 54 and the target 53. When accelerated ions induced from an ion source of the chamber 51 are guided to the target 53 set in the chamber 52, a film is formed by sputtering while the substrate 54 is rotated. Therefore, the film of the magnetic body grows isotropically at the bottom face and the side faces of the groove. The magnetic characteristic and film quality of the magentic body become uniform, the deterioration of the characteristic is prevented and the mechanical strength is improved.

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 magnetic head, and more particularly, to a groove of an insulating layer of a core forming a magnetic circuit of a thin film magnetic head for high density magnetic recording, which is magnetized by ion beam sputtering. The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head filled with a body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The present applicant has previously filed Japanese Patent Application No. 1-19346.
No. 9 proposed a thin film magnetic head.

The outline of the proposed thin film magnetic head 30 will be described below.

FIG. 3 shows the previously proposed thin film magnetic head 30.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the same, and FIG.
11 is a substrate, 12 is a lower core, 12 is a lower core, 13 is an upper core, 14 and 15 are intermediate cores, 16 is a magnetic gap, and 19
Is a coil pattern, 31a is a lower insulating layer, 31b is an intermediate insulating layer, 31c is an upper insulating layer, 34 is a through hole, 3
5 is a lead line.

As shown in the figure, a flat lower insulating layer 31a is formed on the substrate 11, and a magnetic substance is formed in the groove 32 formed in the lower insulating layer 31a by using an ion beam sputtering apparatus. The lower core 12 is filled with the lower insulating layer and formed flat without any step.

An intermediate insulating layer 31b is formed on the lower insulating layer 31a, and an intermediate core 14 made of a magnetic material forms a lower core 12 and a magnetic gap 16 at the end of the intermediate insulating layer 31b. An intermediate core 15 made of a magnetic material is embedded so as to be directly connected to the lower core 12 inside the intermediate core 14 at a distance from the intermediate core 14.

Further, inside the intermediate insulating layer 31b,
A planar coil pattern 19 is embedded in a spiral shape so as to surround the intermediate core 15. One end of the coil pattern 19 is joined to an external lead wire 35 via a conductor buried in a through hole 34 formed in the upper insulating layer 31c, and can be electrically connected to an external device. Has become.

Further, an upper insulating layer 31c is formed on the intermediate insulating layer 31b, and an upper core 13 is formed on the upper insulating layer 31c so that both ends thereof are connected to the intermediate cores 14 and 15. A magnetic circuit is formed with the lower core 12.

As described above, the thin film magnetic head 30 is
The three flat insulating layers, that is, the lower insulating layer 31a, the intermediate insulating layer 31b, and the upper insulating layer 31c are stacked, and the magnetic layers formed at predetermined places in these insulating layers 31a, 31b, and 31c are connected to each other. It forms a magnetic circuit.

Each of the above-mentioned insulating layers 31a, 31b, 31c
The magnetic layer formed on the cores 12 and 33 is filled with a magnetic material by using an ordinary ion beam sputtering apparatus, that is, an apparatus in which a target and a substrate are arranged to face each other in the sputtering chamber.
a, 33b, and 13 are formed.

[0011]

The factors that influence the characteristics of the above-mentioned thin film magnetic head 30 are the magnetic cores 12 and 1.
It may be whether or not the magnetic substance to be 3, 14, 15 is evenly filled in the groove formed in the insulating layer. However, it is generally very difficult to uniformly fill a minute groove having a large aspect ratio D / W (groove depth D, groove width W) with a magnetic material by a film forming method such as sputtering.

The insulating layer 31 is formed by using an ordinary ion beam sputtering apparatus in which the substrate is opposed to the target in parallel.
When the cross section of the groove in which the groove formed in a is filled with the magnetic material 12 is seen, the magnetic material 12 is deposited such that the notch C is formed on the side wall of the groove as shown in FIG.

This is because the sputtered particles do not have a completely unidirectional incident, but include a component from some oblique directions.

The groove sidewalls are not perfectly vertical and have some taper. For that reason, film growth from both the side wall and bottom surface of the groove,
As a result, a stripe-shaped boundary portion is formed on the side wall portion of the groove. Also, especially on the side wall of the groove, the sputtered particles are incident on the surface to which the film is attached at a considerably high angle, so the magnetic characteristics of the filled magnetic material are not uniform and the magnetic resistance and coercive force are partially large. However, there is a problem that the mechanical strength is weak (a life size is near 0).

In particular, the magnetic characteristics and shape of the tip of the core that is in sliding contact with the recording medium, and the intermediate core located near the magnetic gap also affect the recording / reproducing characteristics of the magnetic head. There is a problem that it adversely affects the electromagnetic conversion characteristics and reliability.

[0016]

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and a magnetic circuit is composed of at least a lower core, an upper core, and an intermediate core, and each core is provided on a substrate. In a method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head comprising a magnetic layer of a magnetic material filled in a groove formed in each laminated insulating layer, the substrate and the target placed in a sputtering chamber
The substrate is tilted at a predetermined angle with respect to a straight line connecting each center of the get, and a groove is formed in the insulating layer of at least one core of each core by ion beam sputtering to fill the groove with a magnetic material. The present invention is intended to provide a method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head.

[0017]

In view of the above points, the present invention is an ion beam sputtering apparatus 5 for filling a groove formed in an insulating layer with a magnetic material.
At 0, the substrate 54 is tilted by θ degrees with respect to a straight line S connecting the substrate 54 arranged in the sputtering chamber 52 and the centers of the targets 53, and the magnetic substance is formed in the groove formed in the insulating layer. Is a method of manufacturing the thin film magnetic head 30 in which

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the basic structure of the ion beam sputtering apparatus 50 used in the method of the present invention.
The ion beam sputtering apparatus 50 will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in the figure, the ion beam sputtering apparatus 50 used in the present invention has a substrate 54 and a target 53 arranged in a sputtering chamber 52 separated from the positive ion generating chamber 51. The target 53 and the target 53 are arranged such that the substrate 54 is inclined by θ degrees with respect to the line S connecting the respective centers. At this time, θ <90 °.

The high-vacuum sputtering chamber 52 of the ion beam sputtering apparatus 50 used in the present invention configured as described above.
A target 53 placed inside is irradiated with an ion beam extracted from an ion source of an independent positive ion generating chamber 51 and accelerated to an appropriate energy to perform sputter film formation. Therefore, the gas pressure in the sputter chamber 52 should be 10 ^-4 to 10
Since it can be as low as ^-5 Torr, the concentration of residual impurity gas is much lower and a highly pure film can be formed.

Further, since the mean free path of the sputtered particles is large, there is no collision with gas atoms during flight, and the surface movement on the surface of the substrate 54 is large, which allows the formation of a dense and continuous film. Is suitable for a method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head 30 in which a magnetic material is filled in a minute groove having a large aspect ratio D / W (groove depth D, groove width W), and a high-quality process that could not be expected in the prior art. Has been realized.

Since the target 53 and the substrate 54 can be set to the same potential (usually the ground potential), the high temperature electrons from the target 53 do not collide with the substrate 54 and the substrate temperature can be kept low.

When the substrate 54 is formed with a tilt of θ degrees, if the substrate 54 is fixed, the magnetic film adheres only to a part inside the groove formed in the insulating layer due to the shadowing effect. It goes without saying that the process is performed by rotating the substrate 54.

A method of manufacturing the thin film magnetic head 30 of the present invention using the above-described ion beam sputtering apparatus 50 will be described.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional process diagram showing a manufacturing process of a method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head 30 of the present invention. The same components as those of FIG. 3 used for explaining the conventional technique are the same. The reference numerals are given and the description is omitted.

The steps will be described below with reference to FIG. Step 1 , on the substrate 11, for example, SiO ₂ , TiO ₂ , Al ₂
The insulating layer 31a such as O ₃ or WO ₃ is sputtered, vapor deposited, or CVD
It is formed by a vacuum thin film forming technique such as.

Next, a groove 12a for forming a lower core 12 which will be described later is formed by photolithography and etching. Step 2 , the lower substrate 11 having the groove 12a formed therein is placed in the sputtering chamber 52 of the ion beam sputtering apparatus 50 described above. In this case, as described above, the lower substrate 11 is inclined by θ with respect to the line S connecting the centers of the lower substrate 11 and the target 53, and is rotated to have Fe, Co, Ni, etc. as the main components. Ion beam sputtering of the target 53, which is a magnetic material such as a soft magnetic material, is performed. At this time, θ <90 °.
Sputtering is performed to form a film thicker than the groove 12a, and an excessively formed magnetic layer is removed by polishing to form a lower core 12 having a flat upper surface without a step with the insulating layer 31a. Step 3 , for example, SiO ₂ , TiO ₂ , Al _{2 is} formed on the flat insulating layer 31a including the lower core 12 by a vacuum thin film forming technique.
An intermediate insulating layer 31b such as O ₃ or WO ₃ is formed. Step 4 , a coil-shaped groove is formed in the intermediate insulating layer 31b in the same manner as in the formation of the core 12 so as not to reach the lower core 12, and thereafter, a conductor such as Cu, Al, Au, Ag is formed. Is formed by a vacuum thin film forming technique. Coil pattern 1 is obtained by polishing and removing the conductors formed outside the groove to flatten the surface.
Set to 9. Step 5 , the intermediate insulating layer 3 on which the coil pattern 19 is formed
Another insulating layer 32 is formed on 1b. Step 6 , leaving only the magnetic gap 16 to be described later, form the insulating layer 32 to the intermediate insulating layer 31b, and the groove 33a having the side wall parallel to the thickness direction of the insulating layer by the same photolithography or etching method as described above. To do. Step 7 , a groove 33b having side walls parallel to the thickness direction of the insulating layer is formed by the same method as the groove 33a. However, the groove 33b is formed so that a part of the lower core 12 is exposed. Step 8 : The lower core 1 is formed in the formed grooves 33a and 33b.
2 As in the formation, the soft magnetic material is deposited using the ion beam sputtering device 50, the excess magnetic material on the upper portion is removed, and the intermediate cores 14 and 15 having flat surfaces are formed. Step 9 , intermediate insulating layer 3 having the intermediate cores 14 and 15
1 to 10 μm, for example, SiO ₂ , TiO ₂ , Al ₂ on 1b
An upper insulating layer 31c such as O ₃ or WO ₃ is formed. Step 10 , the upper core 13 is formed in the same manner as the lower core 12. Step 11 , a through hole 34 connected to one end of the coil pattern 19 is formed in the upper insulating layer 31C, a conductor is filled therein, and a vacuum thin film forming technique, a plating method, or the like is further formed on the upper insulating layer 31C. The lead wire 35 is formed by the above method and is electrically connected to the conductor filled in the through hole. Finally, the thin film magnetic head shown in FIG. 3 can be obtained by cutting along the cutting line B-B so that the magnetic gap 16 becomes the end.

As described above, in the ion beam sputtering apparatus 50 used in the present invention, since the magnetic substance isotropically grows on the bottom surface and the side surface of the groove formed in the insulating layer,
The magnetic properties and film quality of the magnetic material filled in the groove are uniform, which can improve the deterioration of characteristics, and the mechanical strength is improved without the formation of streak-like boundaries on the side wall of the groove. It is possible to manufacture the thin-film magnetic head 30 with improved reliability without partial loss of the core even in the state of being polished to a dimension close to 0, and with excellent magnetic characteristics and electromagnetic conversion characteristics.

[0029]

As described above, the magnetic circuit is composed of at least the lower core, the upper core, and the intermediate core, and each core fills the groove formed in the insulating layer laminated on the substrate. In the method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head including a magnetic layer, the substrate and the target placed in the sputtering chamber are
A thin film of the present invention in which a groove is formed in an insulating layer of at least one core of each core by ion beam sputtering by inclining the substrate at a predetermined angle with respect to a straight line connecting to the center of each get. Depending on the manufacturing method of the magnetic head,
Since the magnetic substance isotropically grows on the bottom surface and the side surface of the groove formed in the insulating layer, the magnetic characteristics and the film quality of the magnetic material filled in the groove become uniform, and the characteristic deterioration can be prevented. In addition, there is no stripe-shaped boundary on the side wall of the groove, the mechanical strength is improved, the reliability is improved without partial loss of the core even after polishing to near the life dimension 0, and the magnetic characteristics and electromagnetic characteristics are improved. There is an effect that a thin film magnetic head having excellent conversion characteristics can be manufactured.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional process drawing showing a manufacturing process of a method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the basic configuration of an ion beam sputtering apparatus used in the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view for explaining the previously proposed thin film magnetic head.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the thin film magnetic head of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a groove side wall portion has a cut.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Substrate 12 Lower Core 13 Upper Core 14, 15 Intermediate Core 31a Lower Insulating Layer 31b Intermediate Insulating Layer 31c Upper Insulating Layer 50 Ion Beam Sputtering Device 51 Positive Ion Generation Chamber 52 Sputtering Chamber 53 Target 54 Substrate

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A magnetic circuit comprising at least a lower core, an upper core,
A thin film magnetic head comprising a magnetic layer of a magnetic material filled in a groove formed in an insulating layer laminated on the substrate. The substrate is tilted at a predetermined angle with respect to a straight line connecting the centers of the targets, and a magnetic material is filled in the grooves formed in the insulating layer of at least one of the cores by ion beam sputtering. A method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head characterized by the above.