JPH08190711A - Production of slider for thin-film magnetic head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To produce defectless slider rails with high accuracy by forming rails having a desired groove depth on the air bearing surface of a slider material for a thin-film magnetic head. CONSTITUTION: Air is introduced between a magnetic disk and the thin-film magnetic head 20 from an air introducing end by high-speed rotation of this magnetic disk. This air infiltrates an element forming part 24 and while the air is discharged from the air discharge end where the element forming part 24 exists, the magnetic head floats at a microspacing of <=100nm and information is recorded at a high recording density by an inductive element for writing the thin-film magnetic head 20. The recorded information is read out by the magnetic resistance element for reading out the thin-film magnetic head 20. The slider as the air bearing surface including the groove formed between the rails 23 formed to a nonlinear shape in such a manner is optimized in the rail shape in terms of the higher recording density.

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 used in a magnetic disk device, and more particularly to a method of manufacturing a slider for a thin film magnetic head which requires precision microfabrication.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a prior art relating to a method of manufacturing a slider for a thin film magnetic head, (1) Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-8488.
JP-A-6-12808 and (3).
JP-A-5-62404 is known.

In the above prior art (1), in a method for processing a slider rail of a magnetic head, a dry negative film material (a dry resist film made of a photoresist material such as Liston manufactured by Deupon de Numor Co., Ltd. of negative) is formed on the surface of an air bearing. A negative film layer is formed and the negative dry film is exposed and developed using a mask corresponding to the rail pattern shape. Forming a pattern insoluble in the liquid), irradiating the pattern with an ion beam to ion-process the air bearing surface, and removing the remaining photoresist material to manufacture a slider rail. There is.

Further, in the above-mentioned prior art (2), a Liston brand polymethylmethacrylate (PMM) is provided on the carrier body.
The photoresist layer such as A) is rolled, exposed through a mask, developed to remove the unexposed photoresist, and the carrier body is etched away by reactive ion etching to form an air bearing rail, which remains. It is described that the photoresist is removed to produce an air bearing rail.

Further, in the above prior art (3), in a method of processing a slider rail of a thin film magnetic head, an aromatic epoxy film having dry etching resistance is pressure-bonded to a surface to be processed (slider surface), and the film is formed. A mask pattern having a shape corresponding to the rail shape is formed on the top by photolithography, and the pressure-bonding film is patterned by dry etching such as reactive ion etching of oxygen according to the mask pattern. The patterned pressure-bonding film is used as a mask material. It is described that a rail is manufactured by forming a rail by physical ion etching and peeling off the pressure-bonding film remaining on the rail.

[0006]

In the above prior arts (1) and (2), a dry negative film material is used as a mask material for physical ion etching. When the dry negative film material is used as a mask material in this way,
Compared to the case of using a liquid resist, it is superior in film thickness uniformity and followability to steps, but since the photosensitive system is a negative type from the viewpoint of mechanical strength, in the negative type resist process, the exposed portion is not exposed. It becomes insoluble in the developer due to the crosslinking reaction. On the other hand, when the surface of the slider material (air bearing) 51 is processed by physical ion etching to a desired groove depth, the dry negative film material needs to remain. Therefore, the thickness of the dry negative film material is several tens of μm or more. Need to be thicker. Since the thickness of the dry negative film material is thus large, the exposure light is attenuated in the lower part of the dry negative film material and the crosslinking reaction does not proceed sufficiently, and the dry negative film material dissolves in the developing solution more than in the upper part. 6A, the cross section has an inversely tapered cross section (inverted trapezoid).

As shown in FIG. 6B, the slider material 51 provided with the mask 52 of the dry negative film material having the reverse taper cross-sectional shape is irradiated with an ion beam 53 of Ar + or the like for physical ion etching. In this case, the slider material 51
The sputtered particles 54 generated from the above reattach to the side surface of the mask 52 to form a reattachment layer 55. However, although the upper surface of the mask 52 is physically ion-etched, the ion beam 53 is blocked by the mask due to the inverse taper and the mask 5
The redeposition layer 55 formed on the side surface of No. 2 is not irradiated and is deposited as it is, and when the groove 56 having a desired depth is formed, the cross-sectional shape shown in FIG. In this state, even if the film material 57 remaining on the rail surface is removed by a solvent, the redeposition layer 55 remains as shown in FIG. 6D.

Also in the prior art (3), since the pressure-bonding film is patterned by dry etching such as reactive ion etching of oxygen, the cross-sectional shape becomes almost vertical as shown in FIG. 7 (a). When the slider material 51 provided with the pressure-bonding film mask 62 having the cross-sectional shape is irradiated with an ion beam 53 of Ar + or the like as shown in FIG.
The sputtered particles 54 generated by the above process reattach to the side surface of the mask 62 to form a reattachment layer 65. However, although the upper surface of the mask 62 is physically ion-etched, the ion etching rate by the ion beam 53 is hardly obtained on the side surface because the side surface is almost vertical, that is, the ion beam is formed by the redeposition layer attached on the upper side of the side surface. 63 is blocked, and when the groove 56 having a desired depth is formed, the cross-sectional shape shown in FIG. 7C is obtained. In this state,
Even if the film material 67 remaining on the rail surface is removed by a solvent, the redeposition layer 65 remains as shown in FIG. 7D.

As described above, in any of the prior arts, the rail for air bearing having no defects such as a redeposited layer is machined with a desired groove depth with high precision by physical ion etching on the slider material. No consideration was given to the problem to be attempted.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the object of the present invention is to precisely machine a rail without defects such as a redeposition layer on the air bearing surface of a slider material with a desired groove depth. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing the slider for a thin film magnetic head.

Another object of the present invention is to precisely machine a non-linear rail having excellent flying characteristics on the air bearing surface of a slider material, which is free from defects such as a reattachment layer and the like, by physical ion etching. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a slider for a thin film magnetic head that is made possible.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a film having a multi-layer structure having an upper layer film having photosensitivity and a lower layer film having dry etching resistance for a thin film magnetic head. A film crimping step of crimping on the air bearing surface of the slider material, and exposure and development in a pattern shape corresponding to the rail shape in a state in which a film having a multi-layer structure is crimped on the air bearing surface by the film crimping step. A pattern is formed on the upper layer film by performing the mask pattern forming step of further forming a forward tapered mask pattern that is spread upward on the lower layer film by isotropic wet etching based on the pattern, and the mask pattern forming step. Air bearing surface having underlying film with forward taper mask pattern formed On the other hand, for a thin film magnetic head, a dry etching processing step of forming a rail having a desired groove depth by dry etching and a removal step of removing a lower layer film remaining on the rail by the dry etching processing step are performed. A method of manufacturing a slider for a thin film magnetic head, characterized in that a rail having a desired groove depth is formed on an air bearing surface of a slider material.
Further, the present invention is characterized in that the upper layer film to be pressure-bonded in the film pressure-bonding step in the method for manufacturing the slider for a thin-film magnetic head is formed of a positive photoresist. Further, the present invention is characterized in that the upper layer film to be pressure-bonded in the film pressure-bonding step in the method for manufacturing the slider for a thin-film magnetic head is formed of a negative photoresist. Further, the present invention is characterized in that the lower layer film to be pressure-bonded in the film pressure-bonding step in the method for manufacturing the slider for a thin-film magnetic head is formed of a polyimide precursor.

Further, the present invention is a film crimping method for crimping a film having a multi-layer structure having an upper layer film having photosensitivity and a lower layer film having dry etching resistance onto a surface to be processed of a slider material for a thin film magnetic head. Process,
A film having a multi-layer structure is crimped onto the air bearing surface by the film crimping step, and a pattern is formed on the upper layer film by exposing and developing in a pattern shape corresponding to the rail shape, and further, based on the pattern. On the surface to be processed having a mask pattern forming step of forming a forward-tapered mask pattern expanded upward by isotropic wet etching on the lower layer film, and a lower-layer film having a forward-tapered mask pattern formed by the mask pattern forming step Physical ions that form a rail having a desired groove depth by physical ion etching in which the amount of physical ion etching is larger than the amount of redeposition that is attached to the side surface by irradiating an ion beam on the side surface with the forward taper mask pattern. Etching process and physical ion etching A removing step of removing the lower layer film remaining on the rail by the step, and forming a rail having a desired groove depth on the air bearing surface of the slider material for a thin film magnetic head. This is a method for manufacturing a head slider.

The present invention also provides a thin film magnetic head comprising a multi-layered film having an upper layer film formed of a photosensitive photoresist and a lower layer film formed of a polyimide precursor having dry etching resistance. Film pressure step of pressure-bonding onto the air bearing surface of the slider material for the slider, and exposure and development with a pattern shape corresponding to the rail shape in a state in which a film having a multi-layer structure is pressure-bonded onto the air bearing surface by the film pressure step. A pattern is formed on the upper layer film by performing the mask pattern forming step of further forming a forward tapered mask pattern on the lower layer film by isotropic wet etching on the basis of the pattern, and the mask pattern forming step. It has a lower layer film with a forward tapered mask pattern Physical ion etching step of forming a rail having a desired groove depth by irradiating an ion beam on the air bearing surface and performing physical ion etching according to the forward taper mask pattern; and the physical ion etching step. A removing step of removing the lower layer film remaining on the rail by the step, and forming a rail having a desired groove depth on the air bearing surface of the slider material for a thin film magnetic head. This is a method for manufacturing a head slider.

The present invention also provides a thin-film magnetic head comprising a multi-layered film having an upper layer film formed of a photosensitive photoresist and a lower layer film formed of a polyimide precursor having dry etching resistance. A film crimping step of crimping onto the air bearing surface of the slider material for the slider, and a state in which a film having a multi-layer structure is crimped onto the air bearing surface by the film crimping step, in a pattern shape corresponding to a non-linear rail shape. A mask pattern forming step of forming a pattern on the upper layer film by performing exposure and development, and further forming a forward tapered mask pattern expanded upward by isotropic wet etching on the lower layer film based on the pattern, and the mask. A lower layer film on which a forward tapered mask pattern is formed by a pattern forming process. And a physical ion etching process for forming a non-linear rail having a desired groove depth by irradiating an ion beam on an air bearing surface having a groove and performing physical ion etching according to the forward tapered mask pattern, A removing step of removing the lower layer film remaining on the rail by the physical ion etching step, and having a non-linear shape having a desired groove depth on the air bearing surface of the slider material for a thin film magnetic head. A method for manufacturing a slider for a thin-film magnetic head, characterized in that a rail is formed.

[0016]

In recent years, in the magnetic disk device, as the amount of information increases, higher recording density and higher reliability are required. Therefore, when the thin-film magnetic head performs recording on a magnetic disk recording medium and reproducing from the recording medium, it is necessary to reduce the flying height on the surface of the magnetic disk, stabilize the flying height, and ensure its reliability. In order to achieve this, there is an urgent need for finer slider processing and higher precision.

That is, according to the present invention, a film crimping is carried out by crimping a film having a multi-layer structure having an upper film having photosensitivity and a lower film having dry etching resistance onto the air bearing surface of a slider material for a thin film magnetic head. In a state in which a film having a multi-layer structure is pressure-bonded on the air bearing surface by the step and the film pressure-bonding step, a pattern is formed on the upper layer film by performing exposure and development in a pattern shape corresponding to the rail shape, and A mask pattern forming step of forming a forward taper mask pattern that is expanded upward by isotropic wet etching on the lower layer film based on the pattern and a forward taper that is expanded upward on the air bearing surface of the slider material for the thin film magnetic head Mask pattern can be formed, and as a result, the ion beam can be illuminated. When performing physical ion etching, most of the sputtered particles from the slider material are exposed to the ion beam and are etched even if they are attached to the side surface, so that the groove with the desired depth that minimizes the flying height is processed. By the time, the total amount of physical ion etching is larger than the amount of redeposition on the side surface, there is no redeposition layer, that is, there is no defect, and the reliability is high. A magnetic head can be manufactured.

Further, the present invention can be applied to a non-linear rail in which the flying height of the thin-film magnetic head is small with respect to the fluctuation of the peripheral speed between the inner circumference and the outer circumference of the magnetic disk. That is, a thin-film magnetic head having a reduced flying height, a stabilized flying height, and reliability can be manufactured efficiently and with high precision.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the thin film magnetic head. That is, the thin-film magnetic head 20 uses a ceramic sintered body from the viewpoint of slidability with respect to a magnetic disk, and is specifically formed of, for example, alumina, titanium oxide, alumina titanium carbide, zirconia, or the like. A slider substrate portion 25 having a non-linear slider rail 23 formed on the air bearing surface thereof, and a magnetic core, a magnetic gap regulating film, a coil, etc. manufactured by using a thin film manufacturing process on the side surface of the slider substrate portion 25. An element forming portion 24 in which the written inductive element and the read magnetoresistive element are formed is provided. In addition, in order to improve the sliding characteristics, an extremely thin film mainly made of carbon may be formed and used on the air bearing surface of the non-linear rail 23. An inclined surface 26 is formed at the air introduction end of the non-linear rail 23. Then, by rotating the magnetic disk (not shown) at a high speed, the thin-film magnetic head 20 introduces air from the air introducing end between the thin film magnetic head 20 and the magnetic disk (not shown) to the element forming portion 24. Element intrusion part 2
While air is discharged from the air discharge end where 4 exists, 10
Information can be recorded at a high recording density by the inductive element for writing of the thin film magnetic head 20, and information recorded by the magnetoresistive element for reading of the thin film magnetic head 20 can be read by floating a minute gap of 0 nm or less. You can As described above, the slider as the air bearing surface including the groove formed between the non-linear rails 23 is required to have a stable low flying height from the viewpoint of high recording density, and for that purpose, the rail shape is optimized. And improvement of processing accuracy is essential.

Next, FIG. 4 shows a manufacturing process of the thin film magnetic head. That is, the slider substrate 21 is formed of a ceramic sintered body. In FIG. 4A, a write inductive element and a read magnetoresistive element, which are composed of a magnetic core, a magnetic gap regulation film, a coil, etc., are formed on the slider substrate 21 by using a thin film manufacturing process similar to LSI. An element forming process for forming the constituted element 22 is shown. FIG. 4B shows a cutting process in which the element formed in the element forming process is cut into a predetermined size in order to produce the head block 2 shown in FIG. 4C. After that, both surfaces of the head block 2 are polished to manufacture the head block 2 having a desired thickness. FIG. 4D shows a head block setting process of setting the head block 2 whose both surfaces have been polished in this way on the head block fixing jig 1. Then, for example, a non-linear rail 23 is formed on the head block 2 set on the head block fixing jig 1 by physical ion etching as described later, and thereafter, the rail 23 is cut into each element, The thin film magnetic head 20 shown in FIG. 3 is manufactured. In addition, in order to improve the sliding characteristics, an extremely thin film mainly made of carbon may be formed on the air bearing surface and used.

Next, a method of processing the non-linear slider rail 23 of the thin film magnetic head 20 will be described.

<First Embodiment of Processing Method for Slider Rail> FIG. 1 is a process diagram showing a first embodiment of the processing method for a slider rail.

That is, the slider substrate 2 shown in FIG.
Alumina titanium carbide was used as the first material.
The slider block (head block) 2 is set on a jig (head block fixing jig) 1, and on the processed surface 2a of this slider block 2, OFPR-8 manufactured by Tokyo Ohka
An upper layer film 3b made of a positive resist having a thickness of about 3 μm to 8 μm made of 00 as a raw material, and a PI manufactured by Hitachi Chemical
Approximately 30 to 100 consisting of a polyimide precursor of Q130
A two-layer film 3 formed with the lower layer film 3a having a thickness of μm is pressure-bonded. To press-bond the two-layer film 3 to the work surface 2a, the slider block 2 set in advance in the jig 1 is heated to about 90 ° C., and the roll temperature is set to about 90 °.
C. using a laminator at .degree. C., and after-baking at about 90.degree. C. for about 30 minutes to further improve adhesion. Therefore, the lower layer film 3a is a polyimide precursor.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1 (b), the upper layer film 3b is exposed by an exposure device such as a projection system using a rail-shaped photomask, and an alkaline developing solution (Tokyo Ohka 2.38% NMD- 3) is used for development for about 5 minutes, and at the same time, the lower layer film 3a is isotropically wet-etched based on the pattern 4 formed on the upper layer film 3b to form a pattern. At this time, the lower layer film 3a is isotropically processed by wet etching based on the pattern 4 formed on the upper layer film 3b, and as shown in FIG. Pattern 5 is obtained. At this time, the cross section of the pattern 5 of the obtained lower layer film 3a was
The shape was a forward taper in which the inclination angle β ₀ spreads upward by about 45 °. As described above, the slider block (head block) 2 has the element forming portion 24, and the slider block (head block) 2 is immersed in an alkaline developing solution for development and wet etching. To prevent alkaline developer from entering
Must be protected with resin.

Next, by dry etching, as shown in FIG.
Pattern 4 formed on upper layer film 3b shown in (c)
The slider block 2 and the slider block 2 are etched so that the pattern 4 formed on the upper layer film 3b disappears first, and then the forward tapered cross-section pattern 5 formed on the lower layer film 3a and expanding upward at about 45 ° appears. Using the pattern 5 as a mask, the slider block 2 is processed by dry etching as shown in FIG. 5 to a desired groove depth H ₀ = about 6 μm (4 to 8 μm) that minimizes the flying height of the thin film magnetic head 20. As shown in FIG. 1D, a slider rail 23 having a non-linear shape is formed. As the dry etching, as shown in FIGS.
Physical ion etching or the like in which rare gas ions 30 such as argon ions are irradiated is desirable. At this time, the incident angle of the ion beam with respect to the surface to be processed is 0 ° (the angle between the direction perpendicular to the surface of the slider block 2 and the irradiation direction of the ion beam 30), as shown in FIGS.
Ion etching was performed under the conditions of an accelerating voltage for the ion beam of 800 V and an ion current of 0.8 A. At this time,
The etching rate of the alumina titanium carbide as the slider material was about 2 μm / hour, the etching rate of the polyimide precursor portion of the mask material was about 3.5 μm / hour, and the ion etching was performed for 3 hours. Therefore,
About 6 μm can be obtained as the groove depth H ₀ . That is,
By controlling the irradiation time of the ion beam 30,
A desired groove depth can be obtained.

At the time of this ion beam etching, as shown in FIG. 5, the pattern 5 of the lower layer film 3a has a forward taper shape which is expanded upward. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5C, the pattern 5 of the lower layer film 3a is formed. The side surface 31 of the slider rail 23 will also be etched back and retreat.
An inclined surface is also formed on the side surface 32 of the (groove 33). Then, the sputtered particles 35 generated from the bottom 33 of the groove by being irradiated with the ion beam 30 adhere to the inclined side surface 31 of the pattern 5 and the side surface 32 of the slider rail 23. However, this attached redeposition layer 34
Indicates that both the side surface 31 of the pattern 5 and the side surface 32 of the slider rail 23 (groove 33) are spread upward and inclined,
It is always exposed to the ion beam 30 and is etched and removed. That is, the amount of etching by the irradiation of the ion beam 30 is larger than the amount of adhesion on the inclined side surface 31 of the pattern 5 and the side surface 32 of the slider rail 23 up to the desired groove depth H ₀ .
In the state shown in (c), the inclined side surface 31 of the pattern 5 is formed.
And a redeposition layer 34 on the side surface 32 of the slider rail 23.
Was not found. At this time, the direction perpendicular to the surface of the slider rail 23 has a certain inclination angle with respect to the irradiation direction of the ion beam 30,
The jig (head block fixing jig) 1 is attached to the ion beam 30.
Even if the jig 1 is tilted with respect to the irradiation direction and the ion etching is performed by rotating the jig 1 about the tilted axis, the same ion etching result as shown in FIG. 5 is obtained.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 1 (d), the remaining mask 6 is stripped and removed using an organic solvent (by immersing the mask 6 in NMP at 80 ° C. for about 30).
The slider processing is completed as shown in (d). In addition,
At this time, it is also necessary to remove the resin that has sealed the element forming portion 24.

As described above, the redeposition layer 34 is formed on the side surface.
High-precision non-linear slider rail 2 that does not exist
3 can be formed. That is, the redeposition layer 34 is formed on the side surface.
And the accuracy of the slider rail 23 is 3
The variation of the shift amount from the mask size in the width of 00 μm is 1.1 μm when 3σ is 3σ.
I was able to get

As described above, since the cross section of the pattern 5 has a forward tapered shape that widens upward, the side surface 31 of the pattern 5 is also exposed by the ion beam 30 and etched, so that the width direction varies. Since the size of the pattern 4 is to be retreated, the size of the pattern 4 formed on the upper layer film 3-2 needs to be determined in advance by taking into account the amount of retreat. As a result, a desired rail width W that minimizes the flying height of the thin-film magnetic head 20 (for example, in the case of the non-linear slide rail 23 shown in FIG. 3, the width at the narrowest point in the center rail) Can be obtained with high accuracy (with a very small variation).

<Second Embodiment of Processing Method for Slider Rail> FIG. 2 is a process diagram showing a second embodiment of the processing method for a slider rail.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2A, zirconia was used as the material of the slider substrate 21. A slider block (head block) 2 is set on a jig (head block fixing jig) 1, and a surface of the slider block 2 to be processed 2a is made of Tokyo Oka OMR-83 and has a thickness of about 3 μm to 8 μm. A two-layer film 3 formed by an upper layer film 3c made of a negative resist and a lower layer film 3a having a thickness of about 30 to 100 μm made of a precursor of polyimide of PIQ130 manufactured by Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd. is pressure-bonded. The two-layer film 3 is pressure-bonded to the work surface 2a by heating the slider block 2 set in advance in the jig 1 to about 90 ° C. and using a laminator with a roll temperature of about 90 ° C. About 90 ℃ to improve
After baking for about 30 minutes. Therefore, the lower layer film 3a is a polyimide precursor.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2B, the upper film 3c is exposed by a projection type exposure machine using a rail-shaped photomask, and a solvent type developer (OMR developer SL manufactured by Tokyo Ohka Co., Ltd.) is used. Develop for about 1 minute,
As shown in FIG. 2C, the pattern 4 is formed on the upper layer film 3c.
Was formed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2 (d), using the pattern 4 of the upper layer film 3c as a mask (based on it), an alkaline aqueous solution (2.38% NMD-3 made by Tokyo Ohka Co., Ltd.) was used for about 3 minutes. By the isotropic wet etching, a pattern 5 having a forward taper shape whose cross section is expanded upward is formed on the lower layer film 3a. At this time, the lower layer film 3a
2 is isotropically processed by wet etching based on the pattern 4 formed on the upper layer film 3c.
As shown in (d), a forward tapered pattern 5 having a cross section that widens upward is obtained. At this time, the cross section of the pattern 5 of the obtained lower layer film 3a has an inclination angle β ₀ of about 40.
The shape was a forward taper that expanded upwards. As described above, the slider block (head block) 2 has the element forming portion 24, and the slider block (head block) 2 has an alkaline developer (manufactured by Tokyo Ohka Co., Ltd. 2.38% N).
It is necessary to protect the element forming portion 24 with a resin so that the alkaline developing solution does not infiltrate into the element forming portion 24 because it is soaked in MD-3) and wet-etched.

Next, as shown in FIG.
Pattern 4 formed on upper layer film 3c shown in (d)
The slider block 2 and the slider block 2 are etched so that the pattern 4 formed on the upper layer film 3c disappears first, and then the forward tapered cross-sectional pattern 5 formed on the lower layer film 3a and spreading upward at about 40 ° appears. Using the pattern 5 as a mask, the slider block 2 is processed by dry etching as shown in FIG. 5 to a desired groove depth H ₀ = about 6 μm (4 to 8 μm) that minimizes the flying height of the thin film magnetic head 20. As shown in FIG. 2E, the slider rail 23 having a non-linear shape is formed. As the dry etching, as shown in FIGS.
Physical ion etching or the like in which rare gas ions 30 such as argon ions are irradiated is desirable. At this time, the incident angle of the ion beam with respect to the surface to be processed is 0 ° (the angle between the direction perpendicular to the surface of the slider block 2 and the irradiation direction of the ion beam 30), as shown in FIGS. Ion etching was performed under the conditions of an acceleration voltage of the ion beam 30 of 600 V and an ion current of 0.6 A. At this time, the etching rate of zirconia as the slider material was about 1 micron / hour, the etching rate of the polyimide precursor portion of the mask material was about 3.5 micron, and the ion etching was performed for 6 hours. Therefore, a groove depth H ₀ of about 6 μm can be obtained. That is, the desired groove depth can be obtained by controlling the irradiation time of the ion beam 30.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 5, since the pattern 5 of the lower layer film 3a has a forward taper shape which is expanded upward, the side surface 31 of the pattern 5 of the lower layer film 3a is also formed as shown in FIG. 5 (c). By etching and retreating, an inclined surface is also formed on the side surface 32 of the slider rail 23 (groove 33). Then, the sputtered particles 32 generated from the bottom 33 of the groove by being irradiated with the ion beam 30 adhere to the inclined side surface 31 of the pattern 5 and the side surface 32 of the slider rail 23. However, the attached reattachment layer 34 is always exposed to the ion beam 30 and removed by etching because both the side surface 31 of the pattern 5 and the side surface 32 of the slider rail 23 (groove 33) are inclined upward. Will be done. That is, the amount of etching by the irradiation of the ion beam 30 is larger than the amount of adhesion on the inclined side surface 31 of the pattern 5 and the side surface 32 of the slider rail 23 up to the desired groove depth H ₀ . In the state shown in (c), no redeposition layer 34 was found on the inclined side surface 31 of the pattern 5 and the side surface 32 of the slider rail 23. At this time, the direction perpendicular to the surface of the slider rail 23 has a certain inclination angle with respect to the irradiation direction of the ion beam 30 (incident angle of the ion beam 30 to the surface to be processed, for example, about 45 °). Even if the tool (head block fixing jig) 1 is tilted with respect to the irradiation direction of the ion beam 30 and the jig 1 is rotated about the tilted axis to perform ion etching, the same ion as shown in FIG. The result of etching.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 2 (e), the remaining mask 6 is stripped and removed using an organic solvent, and slider processing is completed. This peeling was performed using NMP at 80 ° C. for 30 minutes.
It was performed by soaking for a minute. At this time, it is also necessary to remove the resin that seals the element forming portion 24.

As described above, the redeposition layer 34 is formed on the side surface.
High-precision non-linear slider rail 2 that does not exist
3 can be formed. That is, the redeposition layer 34 is formed on the side surface.
And the accuracy of the slider rail 23 is 3
The variation of the shift amount from the mask size in the width of 00 μm is 1.8 μm when 3σ is 3σ.
I was able to get

As described above, since the cross section of the pattern 5 has a forward tapered shape that widens upward, the side surface 31 of the pattern 5 is also exposed to the ion beam 30 and etched, so that the side surface 31 of the pattern 5 varies in the width direction. Since the size of the pattern 4 is to be retreated, it is necessary to determine the size of the pattern 4 formed on the upper layer film 3c in consideration of the amount of retreat. As a result, a desired rail width W that minimizes the flying height of the thin-film magnetic head 20 (for example, in the case of the non-linear slide rail 23 shown in FIG. 3, the width at the narrowest point in the center rail) Can be obtained with high accuracy.

<Third to Tenth Embodiments of Processing Method for Slider Rails> The third to tenth embodiments are the first and second embodiments.
As a result of carrying out slider processing under the conditions shown in Table 1 in the same manner as in Example 1, it was confirmed that highly accurate sliders were obtained and that they were extremely useful methods. Further, in the fifth, sixth, eighth and tenth examples, the adhesiveness with the slider block 2 is particularly good, and the third and ninth examples are shown.
With regard to the example of (3), a highly accurate slider was obtained even in a fine pattern. As a comparative example, a case where a dry film was used as a mask material was examined. As shown in FIG. 7, the taper angle β ₀ of the obtained pattern was as large as about 90 °, and the taper angle β _{0 on} the sidewall of the pattern at the end of ion etching was large. The redeposition layer remains, the width accuracy of the processed slider rail is poor, and the variation of the shift amount from the mask size in the 300 μm width portion is 12.2 at 3σ.
Was about 20.5 μm.

[0041]

[Table 1]

The method of forming the dry processing mask by pressure bonding the two-layer film and processing the slider rail has been described above, but in any case, the upper layer film 3 is used.
By using isotropic wet etching of the lower layer film 3a with b and 3c as masks, a mask having a forward tapered cross section is obtained. By using this mask to process the slider rails based on ion etching, redeposition layers, etc. It has become possible to manufacture a thin film magnetic head having a slider rail that is defect-free and has dramatically improved rail width dimensional accuracy.

Although the two-layer film has been described in the above embodiments, it is clear that the lower layer film may be composed of a plurality of layers as long as the section can be formed into a forward tapered shape by wet etching. is there.

[0044]

According to the present invention, a mask material having a forward tapered pattern in cross section can be formed on a surface of a slider block to be processed, and as a result, a slider rail free from defects such as a redeposited layer can be formed by ion etching. It can be manufactured with high precision, resulting in a head slider of 0.1
This has the effect of making it possible to achieve a low flying height of the order of microns in a stable and highly reliable manner.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a first method of processing a slider rail according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a process explanatory view showing the example of FIG.

FIG. 2 is a second method of processing a slider rail according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a process explanatory view showing the example of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a thin-film magnetic head having an example of a non-linear slider rail according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a manufacturing process of the thin film magnetic head according to the invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which a slider rail is being formed by ion etching in the slider rail processing method according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state in which slider rails are being formed by ion etching according to conventional techniques (1) and (2).

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state in which a slider rail is being formed by ion etching according to the conventional technique (3).

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Slider block fixing jig (head block fixing jig) 2 ... Slider block (head block) 2a ... Slider rail work surface, 3 ... Two-layer film 3a ... Lower layer film, 3b, 3c ... Upper layer film 4 ... Upper layer Film pattern, 5 ... Lower film pattern, 20 ... Thin film magnetic head, 21 ... Slider substrate, 2
2 ... Element 23 ... Slider rail, 24 ... Element forming part, 25
... Slider substrate part 30 ... Ion beam, 31 ... Side surface of lower layer film pattern, 32 ... Side surface of slider rail, 33 ... Groove,
34 ... Reattachment layer 35 ... Sputtered particles

Front page continued (72) Inventor Togawa Satellite 2880 Kozu, Odawara City, Kanagawa Hitachi Storage Systems Division

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A film crimping step of crimping a film having a multi-layer structure having a photosensitive upper layer film and a dry etching resistant lower layer film onto an air bearing surface of a slider material for a thin film magnetic head, A film having a multi-layer structure is pressure-bonded on the air bearing surface by a film pressure-bonding step, and a pattern is formed on the upper-layer film by exposing and developing in a pattern shape corresponding to the rail shape, and further, a pattern is formed based on the pattern. A mask pattern forming step of forming a forward tapered mask pattern that is spread upward by isotropic wet etching on the lower layer film, and an air bearing surface having the lower layer film having the forward tapered mask pattern formed by the mask pattern forming step. On the other hand, dry etching is performed to obtain a desired groove depth. And a removal step of removing the lower layer film remaining on the rails by the dry etching processing step, and a desired groove depth on the air bearing surface of the slider material for the thin film magnetic head. A method for manufacturing a slider for a thin film magnetic head, characterized in that a rail having a thickness is formed. 2. The method for manufacturing a slider for a thin film magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein the upper layer film to be pressure-bonded in the film pressure-bonding step is formed of a positive photoresist. 3. The method for manufacturing a slider for a thin film magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein the upper layer film to be pressure-bonded in the film pressure-bonding step is formed of a negative photoresist. 4. The method for manufacturing a slider for a thin film magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein the lower layer film to be pressure-bonded in the film pressure-bonding step is formed of a polyimide precursor. 5. A film crimping step of crimping a film having a multi-layer structure having a photosensitive upper layer film and a dry etching resistant lower layer film onto a surface to be processed of a slider material for a thin film magnetic head, In the state where a film having a multi-layer structure is pressure-bonded on the air bearing surface by a film pressure-bonding step, a pattern is formed on the upper-layer film by exposing and developing in a pattern shape corresponding to the rail shape, and further based on the pattern. A mask pattern forming step of forming a forward tapered mask pattern that is spread upward by isotropic wet etching on the lower layer film, and a lower layer film on which the forward taper mask pattern is formed by the mask pattern forming step is formed on the surface to be processed. Irradiate the ion beam and put it on the side surface with the forward taper mask pattern. A physical ion etching step of forming a rail having a desired groove depth by physical ion etching in which the physical ion etching amount is larger than the attached redeposition amount, and on the rail by the physical ion etching processing step And a removing step for removing the lower layer film remaining on the air bearing surface of the slider material for a thin film magnetic head, and a rail having a desired groove depth is formed on the air bearing surface. Method. 6. A slider material for a thin-film magnetic head, comprising a film having a multi-layer structure having an upper layer film formed of a photoresist having photosensitivity and a lower layer film formed of a polyimide precursor having dry etching resistance. By performing a film crimping step of crimping onto the air bearing surface of the film, and exposing and developing in a pattern shape corresponding to the rail shape in a state in which a film having a multi-layer structure is crimped onto the air bearing surface by the film crimping step. A mask pattern forming step of forming a pattern on the upper layer film, and further forming a forward tapered mask pattern that is expanded upward by isotropic wet etching on the lower layer film based on the pattern, and a forward taper by the mask pattern forming step. Air bearing having underlying film with mask pattern formed A physical ion etching processing step of forming a rail having a desired groove depth by irradiating an ion beam on the surface and performing physical ion etching according to the forward tapered mask pattern; and A removing step of removing a lower layer film remaining on the rail, and forming a rail having a desired groove depth on the air bearing surface of the slider material for the thin film magnetic head. Manufacturing method. 7. A slider material for a thin-film magnetic head, comprising a film having a multi-layer structure having an upper layer film formed of a photoresist having photosensitivity and a lower layer film formed of a polyimide precursor having dry etching resistance. Film crimping step of crimping on the air bearing surface of the above, and exposure and development with a pattern shape corresponding to the non-linear rail shape in a state in which a film having a multi-layer structure is crimped on the air bearing surface by the film crimping step. A mask pattern forming step of forming a pattern on the upper layer film by performing the above, and further forming a forward tapered mask pattern expanded upward by isotropic wet etching on the lower layer film based on the pattern, and the mask pattern forming step A blank having a lower layer film having a forward tapered mask pattern formed by A physical ion etching step of irradiating a bearing surface with an ion beam to form a non-linear rail having a desired groove depth by physical ion etching in accordance with the forward taper mask pattern; A step of removing the lower layer film remaining on the rail by an ion etching step, and forming a non-linear rail having a desired groove depth on the air bearing surface of the slider material for the thin film magnetic head. A method of manufacturing a slider for a thin film magnetic head, comprising: