JPH087227A - Thin film magnetic head and its production - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To manufacture the thin film magnetic head which realize reduced floating eight and high recording density with high reliability. CONSTITUTION:The magnetic head is manufactured by forming the lower magnetic film 2, gap insulating film 3, coil conductor 4, upper magnetic film 5 and air-supported surface protective film 9, etc., on the slider substrate 1. The protective film 9 comprises at least one first constituent element group consisting of silicon, aluminum, and/or boron and at least one second constituent element and/or compound group consisting of tungsten carbide, boron nitride, aluminum nitride, silicon nitride, aluminum carbide, aluminum oxide, boron carbide, silicon carbide and/or carbon. Also, the protective film 9 is composed of a non-magnetic single-layer inorganic protective film within which the abundance ratio of the first constituent element group decreases in the direction toward the film surface while the abundance ratio of the second constituent element and/or compound group increases in the same direction to concurrently realize the formation of its extremely thin film and the improvement in adhesion between the film and the undercoat and in sliding resistance of the film.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a magnetic head used in a magnetic disk device, and more particularly to a thin film magnetic head suitable for low flying density magnetic recording / reproduction and a method of manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, magnetic disk devices have been required to have higher recording density as the amount of information increases.
For this reason, there has been an urgent need for thin-film magnetic head sliders for recording on and reproducing from recording media, in order to reduce the flying height on the magnetic disk surface. On the other hand, since the head slider repeatedly contacts and does not contact the disk surface due to its structure, it is necessary to provide a protective film on the air supporting surface for the purpose of protecting the head in order to improve the reliability of the magnetic disk device. .

Further, recently, it has become possible to use a magnetoresistive (MR) reading head as a method for realizing a high recording density, but unlike a conventional induction head, M
The R head has a drawback that it is easily corroded due to its manufacturing material (for example, a magnetic alloy thin film such as CoNi system), and as a countermeasure against this, the protective film on the air supporting surface has become an essential technique.

As this type of protective film, there has been proposed a structure in which an amorphous silicon film and an amorphous carbon film are laminated to form a double layer structure. In order to increase the recording density, it is necessary to make the protective film as thin as possible to reduce the distance between the head and the disk, but since a ceramic material such as alumina titanium carbide is usually used as the slider material, a carbon film is directly formed on this. It is difficult (easy to peel off) to form the protective film alone from the viewpoint of film forming property. Therefore, in the above proposal, a silicon film is formed as an adhesive layer between the carbon film and the slider material surface. Avoids adhesion problems. As a related technique of this type, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-276367 can be cited.

[0005]

The conventional protective film having a film thickness of about 25 nm could be sufficiently put into practical use, but further thinning is required in the future high recording density, and 15 nm or less, preferably Since a strict condition of 10 nm or less is required, for example, when the above-mentioned amorphous silicon film and amorphous carbon film are laminated to form a double layer structure, at least 5 nm is required as an adhesive layer. Therefore, the remaining 20 nm becomes a carbon film, which cannot be realized by the conventional technique using this kind of multilayer.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. The first object of the present invention is that the adhesion to the slider material surface is good and the sliding resistance (abrasion resistance) is good. The present invention is to provide an improved thin film magnetic head provided with a thin single-layer protective film having excellent corrosion resistance), and a second object thereof is to provide a manufacturing method thereof. In this way, finally, the distance between the magnetic disk and the magnetic head is reduced to achieve a high recording density by lowering the flying height.

[0007]

A first object of the present invention is to provide a coil conductor disposed between an upper magnetic film and a lower magnetic film on a slider substrate with an insulating film interposed between the upper magnetic film and the lower magnetic film. One end of the film is magnetically connected to form a back core connecting part, and the other end of the film forms a front magnetic gap part formed by sandwiching a gap-regulating insulating film and an air supporting surface, and at least the front part. In a thin-film magnetic head having a protective film formed on a sliding surface including an end face of a magnetic gap, the protective film has adhesiveness to a base and sliding resistance continuously changed in a film thickness direction. However, as the film thickness increases, the adhesion to the surface of the protective film decreases from large to small, while the sliding resistance is increased from small to large. The thin film magnetic head
Achieved.

That is, by using a thin single-layer film structure in which the composition is continuously changed in the film thickness direction, it is characterized in that both the adhesion to the underlayer of the film and the sliding resistance as a protective film are compatible. There is. Generally, when the gap between the sliding surface of the magnetic head and the magnetic disk becomes large, a spacing loss occurs which impairs good recording and reproduction. In order to avoid this, it is necessary to reduce the film thickness of the protective film formed on both the head and the disk. Therefore, in the present invention, for example, in order to secure the adhesion of the protective film on the surface of the slider material, an amorphous film containing a large amount of silicon component is formed at the initial stage of film formation, and the abrasion resistance is gradually and continuously excellent. We focused on increasing the ratio of elements such as carbon to reduce the silicon content and ensuring abrasion resistance on the outermost surface of the protective film.

As described above, since the single layer film has both adhesiveness and abrasion resistance, the thickness of the protective film can be greatly reduced and the distance between the head and the disk can be reduced. It is possible to increase the recording density. Specifically, in order to secure adhesion with the slider material, a film composition containing a large amount of at least one first constituent element group consisting of silicon, aluminum, and boron elements is preferable, and in order to improve wear resistance. Is a film containing a large amount of at least one second constituent element group and / or constituent compound group consisting of tungsten carbide, boron nitride, aluminum nitride, silicon nitride, aluminum carbide, aluminum oxide, boron carbide, silicon carbide and carbon. The composition is preferred.

As a specific film composition, the required element or compound concentration differs depending on the condition of the slider surface, but in order to secure the adhesion at the interface, the slider material surface protective film is formed at the initial stage of film formation. In the protective film, the first constituent element group is contained in the protective film in an amount of 5 to 100 atomic%, preferably 10
˜100 atomic%, the second constituent element group and / or the constituent compound group can be selected in the range of 95 to 0 atomic%, preferably 90 to 0 atomic%. Further, in the course of film formation, the components of the first constituent element group in the film thickness direction are continuously reduced, and at the outermost surface of the protective film 50
To 0 atomic%, preferably 40 to 0 atomic%, while the second constituent element group and / or constituent compound group is 50 to 1
It can be selected in the range of 00 atom%, preferably 60 to 100 atom%.

If the composition of the first constituent element group is less than 5% at the interface between the slider material and the protective film, that is, at the bottom surface of the protective film, the adhesiveness of the protective film deteriorates, and at the outermost surface of the protective film 40%. If it exceeds, wear resistance and hardness decrease. The composition in the film thickness direction of the second constituent element group and / or the constituent compound group is completely opposite to that of the first constituent element group.

The thickness of the protective film is 5 nm to 15 n.
If the thickness is less than 5 nm, which is set in accordance with the purpose in the range of m, the effect of continuously changing the composition is lost, and the problem of pinholes in the film occurs, so that the function as a protective film deteriorates. Further, when the film thickness exceeds 15 nm, the spacing loss becomes a problem as described above, which hinders the improvement of the recording density. Therefore, the thickness of the protective film is 5 to 1
When used in the range of 5 nm, preferably 5 to 10 nm, preferable results can be obtained in which both recording density and reliability are compatible.

The second object is to previously form a thin film magnetic head on a slider substrate, to form a protective film on an air supporting surface including a front gap end surface, and to at least the front gap end surface of the air supporting surface. And a step of forming a slider rail surface in a region including the step of forming a protective film, wherein the step of forming the protective film is such that adhesiveness to a base and sliding resistance are in a film thickness direction. Inorganic protection of a non-magnetic single layer, which has the characteristics of continuously changing and decreasing the adhesion to the surface of the protective film from large to small as the film thickness increases, while increasing the sliding resistance from small to large This is achieved by a method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head configured by the step of forming a film.

More specifically, the step of forming the non-magnetic single-layer inorganic protective film comprises the steps of depositing at least one first constituent element group consisting of silicon, aluminum, and boron, and tungsten carbide. Boron nitride, aluminum nitride, silicon nitride, aluminum carbide,
Depositing at least one second constituent element group and / or constituent compound group consisting of aluminum oxide, boron carbide, silicon carbide, and carbon, and depositing by the step of depositing the first constituent element group. While decreasing the ratio of the constituent element group toward the surface of the protective film, the ratio of the constituent element group deposited by the step of depositing the second constituent element group and / or the constituent compound group is increased to continuously increase in the film thickness direction. The step is to form a single film by causing a compositional change.

As a method for forming these protective films,
A plasma CVD method using a high frequency wave or a microwave, a multi-source sputtering method capable of simultaneously forming various elements, or the like is used. These film forming methods can be selected according to the purpose, but reactive sputtering or a combination of sputtering and CVD can also be used. CVD
When using, SiH ₄ and SiF ₄ are used as the silicon raw material.
A compound containing silicon such as B ₂ is used as a boron raw material.
For example, H _{6 and the} like, methane gas as a carbon raw material, aluminum alkoxide compound as an aluminum raw material, tungsten hexafluoride or tungsten hexacarbonyl and a combination of methane gas as a tungsten carbide raw material, and B ₂ H ₆ gas as a boron nitride raw material. And N
Combination of H ₃ gas, etc., C as aluminum nitride raw material
Since it is difficult to use VD alone, a combination of reactive sputtering using NH ₃ and an aluminum target, a combination of SiH ₄ and NH ₃ as a silicon nitride raw material, a combination of methane gas and aluminum alkoxide for aluminum carbide, and N ₂ O for aluminum oxide. , Reactive sputtering with oxygen gas and aluminum target,
In the case of boron carbide, a combination of B ₂ H ₆ and methane gas can be selected, and in the case of silicon carbide, a combination of SiH ₄ and methane gas can be selected.

By introducing these source gases into the reaction chamber and adjusting the flow rate of each source gas during film formation, it is possible to continuously change the abundance ratio of the materials forming each film in the film thickness direction. . Also, by controlling the supply power applied to each target using reactive sputtering using two or more types of targets, it is possible to change the ratio of constituent materials in the film thickness direction, as in the case of CVD. Is.

If necessary, the protective film may be formed by a combination of CVD and sputtering as in the case of the above-mentioned aluminum compound. CV
When using D to form a film of silicon and carbon,
The ratio of the SiH ₄ gas flow rate to the methane gas flow rate at the initial stage of film formation is S
When the iH ₂ gas is 100 to 5% and the methane gas is 0 to 95%, and the flow rate ratio on the film surface at the end of the film formation is in the range of SiH ₄ gas 0 to 40% and methane gas 100 to 60%, it is possible to form a base substrate. Adhesiveness,
It is possible to obtain an air-bearing surface protective film having both the performance as a protective film. Further, the substrate temperature during film formation may be heated in the range of room temperature to 250 ° C. depending on the case of sputtering or CVD.

In forming the protective film, the film thickness is 5 to 1
If the thickness is less than 5 nm, which is set according to the purpose in the range of 5 nm, the effect of continuously changing the composition is lost, and the problem of pinholes in the film occurs, so that the function as a protective film deteriorates. If the film thickness exceeds 15 nm, the spacing loss becomes a problem as described above, which may hinder the improvement of the recording density. Therefore, in the formation of the protective film, the use of the film thickness in the range of 5 to 15 nm, more preferably 5 to 10 nm, can provide preferable results in which both the recording density and the reliability can be compatible.

[0019]

As described above, according to the thin film magnetic head of the present invention, by using a single layer film having a structure in which the composition continuously changes in the film thickness direction as the air support surface protection film, the adhesion to the slider material is improved. It is possible to secure the above, and to greatly improve the sliding characteristics of the head and the corrosion resistance of the magnetic material with a very thin film thickness, so that the distance between the head and the disk can be reduced and the recording density can be improved, and at the same time, The reliability of magnetic recording and reproduction can be improved.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. <Embodiment 1> FIG. 1 is a front view showing an end surface of a thin film magnetic head slider 13 on the side where a magnetic head is formed, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AB in FIG. In FIG. 1, 1 is a slider, 6 is a thin film magnetic head element, 9 is a protective film, 10 is a recessed region that constitutes an air supporting surface, 11 is a rail portion that constitutes an air supporting surface, and a rail 11 portion. The front magnetic gap portion (not shown) of the thin-film magnetic head element 6 faces one end of the. Hereinafter, the structure of the thin film magnetic head will be described together with the manufacturing method.

As shown in FIG. 2A, first, a CoNi-based magnetic film is formed as the lower magnetic layer 2 on the slider substrate 1 made of alumina titanium carbide by a well-known sputtering film forming method. Next, an insulating material such as SiO ₂ or polyimide (here, polyimide is used) and a coil material (here, a spiral coil pattern is formed by copper plating) are formed on the lower magnetic film 2 by a known method. The insulating layer 3 and the coil conductor 4 are formed by film formation and etching. Next, the upper magnetic layer 5 is formed on these stacked bodies by the same film forming method as that of the lower magnetic layer 2. Thus, the magnetic head element 6 having the front magnetic gap 12 at one end is formed.

As shown in FIG. 2B, a protective layer 7 is formed on the magnetic head element 6 by subsequently depositing an insulating material such as alumina or silicon oxide by sputtering.

In the laminated body thus formed, the end portions of the front magnetic gap 12 are exposed by grinding and polishing the end portions thereof, and the sliding surface 8 is formed as shown in FIG. 2 (c). It is formed.

The front magnetic gap 12 exposed on the sliding surface 8 by the processing of the sliding surface, that is, the thickness of the insulating layer 3 sandwiched between the upper magnetic layer 5 and the lower magnetic layer 2 defines the gap, and the thin film magnetic head. Can be written and erased by utilizing the leakage magnetic field determined by the gap width.

Currently, the flying height of the head slider is 100 nm.
It is considered to be reduced to 80 nm or less in the future from the viewpoint of improving the recording density, although it is only about the extent. A protective film on the disc,
Although a lubricant is formed, there are minute protrusions on this disk, and when the flying height of the head decreases, the frequency of collision of the head with the disk increases. The protective film used in the present invention not only protects the head element 6 from the collision with the disk, but also protects the magnetic material which is easily corroded.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2D, in the thin film magnetic head of this embodiment, in order to protect the sliding surface 8, after the sliding surface 8 is formed, 13.56 MHz high frequency plasma CVD is performed. Gas pressure of 1 × 10 to ¹ to 1 × 10
~ ² Torr, at a film forming temperature of 150 ° C, monosilane gas (SiH ₄ ) is introduced into the film forming chamber as an example of the first constituent element group, and methane gas (CH ₄ ) is introduced as an example of the second constituent element group,
A protective film 9 having a film thickness of 10 nm in which the ratio of silicon to carbon continuously changes in the film thickness direction was formed while controlling the introduction amounts of both gases temporally. Regarding the gas flow rates at this time, the SiH ₄ gas flow rate at the start of film formation is 10 sccm, the CH ₄ gas flow rate is 0 sccm, and the SiH ₄ gas flow rate at the end of film formation is 0 sccm.
The sccm and methane gas flow rate were 10 sccm.

Elemental analysis in the film thickness direction of the protective film 9 thus formed was measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry. As a result, the abundance ratio of silicon atoms and carbon atoms changed substantially linearly, and at the initial stage of film formation. Almost no carbon was present, and the film surface at the end of film formation was a single layer film with silicon atoms of 5% or less and carbon atoms of 95% or more.

When the thin film magnetic head slider having the protective film 9 with the film composition continuously changed in this way was evaluated, the adhesion of the protective film 9 was found to be a conventional film having a multi-layered structure using silicon as an adhesive layer. No difference was observed as compared with the case of the protective film having a thickness of 25 nm, and no corrosion was observed on the surface of the magnetic material after 20 hours in the corrosion test of the element left in the atmosphere of sulfurous acid gas of 2 ppm. Further, as a result of a sliding test on the disk, no difference was observed in the sliding resistance performance as compared with the conventional protective film having a multilayer structure and the surface layer being an amorphous carbon film.

Next, as shown in Table 1, when the composition amounts are continuously changed in the film thickness direction by variously changing the amounts of SiH ₄ and CH ₄ introduced into the film forming chamber of the high frequency plasma CVD apparatus. The effect of the composition of the bottom surface of the protective film and the outermost surface composition on the adhesion to the base and the sliding resistance, and the effect of the thickness of the entire protective film on the corrosion resistance were tested.

[0030]

[Table 1]

From these results, (1) in order to secure good adhesion of the protective film at the slider material interface, the sample No.
As is clear from comparison between 2 or 8 and 4, the value of (SiH ₄ ) / (SiH ₄ + CH ₄ ) ratio is 0.
05 or more is sufficient, and in order to satisfy (2) sliding resistance, Sample No. As is clear by comparing 3 with 5 and 7, (CH ₄ ) / (SiH ₄ + C
It is understood that the value of H ₄ ) ratio is 0.6 or more. (3) In order to prevent corrosion of the magnetic material existing under the protective film, the sample No. As is clear by comparing 9 and 10, it is found that the film thickness is preferably 5 nm or more.

Next, in the following examples, examples of the protective film containing the first constituent element group other than the silicon / carbon combination and the second constituent element group and / or constituent compound group element will be shown.

<Embodiment 2> After the magnetic head element 6 shown in FIG. 2 (a) is formed by the same method as in Embodiment 1, FIG.
The protective layer 7 was formed, and the sliding surface 8 shown in FIG. 7C was formed by grinding. A protective film 9 having a film thickness of 10 nm shown in FIG. 3D was formed on the sliding surface 8 by the following method. That is, 13.56 MHz high frequency plasma CV
Gas pressure 5 × 10 ³ 〜 by using an apparatus having a sputtering function by installing an aluminum target in the apparatus D
SiH ₄ gas and NH ₃ gas were introduced into the film formation chamber at 1 × 10 to ² Torr and a film formation temperature of 150 ° C., and an aluminum target was further installed in the film formation chamber to perform sputtering at the same time, and silicon was formed in the film thickness direction. The number of atoms decreases continuously,
A protective film 9 having a film thickness of 10 nm and having a structure in which the abundance ratio of aluminum nitride continuously increases was formed.

Elemental analysis in the film thickness direction of the protective film 9 thus formed was measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry. As a result, the abundance ratio of silicon atoms and aluminum nitride changed substantially linearly, and at the initial stage of film formation. Almost no aluminum nitride was present, and 5% or less of silicon atoms and 95% or more of aluminum nitride were present on the film surface at the end of film formation.

As described above, the thin film magnetic head slider having the protective film 9 with the film composition continuously changed was evaluated. As a result, the adhesion of the protective film 9 was found to be a conventional film having a multi-layered structure using silicon as an adhesive layer. No difference was observed as compared with the case of the protective film having a thickness of 25 nm, and no corrosion was observed on the surface of the magnetic material after 20 hours in the corrosion test of the element left in the atmosphere of sulfurous acid gas of 2 ppm. Further, as a result of a sliding test on the disk, no difference was observed in the sliding resistance performance as compared with the conventional protective film having a multilayer structure and the surface layer being an amorphous carbon film. In other words, it was confirmed that the single layer film of the present invention having a film thickness of 25 nm in the conventional multilayer structure can be sufficiently used for practical use even with a film thickness of 10 nm.

<Embodiment 3> In the same manner as in Embodiment 1, FIG.
After forming the sliding surface 8 in (c), a protective film 9 composed of a single layer containing silicon and boron nitride was formed to a thickness of 10 nm by the following method, as shown in FIG.

That is, using the same CVD apparatus as in Example 1, SiH ₄ , B ₂ H ₆ and NH ₃ were introduced into the film forming chamber as film forming gases. The delivery conditions at this time of the gas, 70 vol% and SiH ₄ gas into the deposition initial, B ₂ H ₆ and NH ₃ flowing sum of the gas 30 vol%, SiH ₄ gas 0 on completion of film formation
%, The total of B ₂ H ₆ and NH ₃ gas was 100% by volume. When the thin film magnetic head slider thus formed was evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1, good results were obtained in terms of adhesion to the underlying substrate, corrosion resistance, and sliding resistance.

<Embodiment 4> In the same manner as in Embodiment 1, FIG.
After forming the sliding surface 8 in (c), a protective film 9 composed of a single layer containing silicon and silicon nitride was formed to a thickness of 10 nm by the following method, as shown in FIG.

That is, using the same CVD apparatus as in Example 1, SiH ₄ and NH ₃ were introduced into the film forming chamber as film forming gases. The conditions for introducing the gas at this time are:
70% by volume of H ₄ gas and 30% by volume of NH ₃ gas were made to flow, and SiH ₄ gas was 40% and NH ₃ gas was 60% by volume at the end of film formation. When the thin film magnetic head slider thus formed was evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1, good results were obtained in terms of adhesion to the underlying substrate, corrosion resistance, and sliding resistance.

<Embodiment 5> In the same manner as in Embodiment 1, FIG.
After forming the sliding surface 8 in (c), a protective film 9 composed of a single layer containing silicon and boron carbide was formed to a thickness of 10 nm by the following method, as shown in FIG.

That is, using the same CVD apparatus as in Example 1, SiH ₄ , B ₂ H ₆ and methane gas were introduced into the film forming chamber as film forming gases. The conditions for introducing the gas at this time are:
70% by volume of SiH ₄ gas and 30% by volume of B ₂ H ₆ and CH ₄ gas were made to flow at the beginning of film formation, and when the film formation was completed, 0% of SiH ₄ gas and 100% of B ₂ H ₆ and CH ₄ gas were made to flow. The volume% was defined. When the thin film magnetic head slider thus formed was evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1, good results were obtained in terms of adhesion to the underlying substrate, corrosion resistance, and sliding resistance.

<Embodiment 6> In the same manner as in Embodiment 1, FIG.
After the sliding surface 8 in (c) was formed, a protective film 9 composed of a single layer containing silicon and aluminum oxide was formed to a thickness of 10 nm by the following method, as shown in FIG.

That is, a CVD apparatus having the same sputtering function as in Example 2 was used, and SiH ₄ was used as a film forming gas.
N ₂ O was introduced into the film forming chamber. As the gas introduction conditions at this time, 70% by volume of SiH ₄ gas and 30% by volume of N ₂ O gas were caused to flow at the initial stage of film formation, and aluminum was simultaneously sputtered. At the end of film formation, SiH ₄ gas 0%, N ₂ O 1
It was set to 00% by volume. When the thin film magnetic head slider thus formed was evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1, good results were obtained in terms of adhesion to the underlying substrate, corrosion resistance, and sliding resistance.

<Embodiment 7> In the same manner as in Embodiment 1, FIG.
After forming the sliding surface 8 in (c), a protective film 9 composed of a single layer containing silicon and aluminum carbide was formed to a thickness of 10 nm by the following method, as shown in FIG.

That is, a CVD apparatus having the same sputtering function as in Example 2 was used, and SiH ₄ was used as a film forming gas.
CH ₄ was introduced into the film forming chamber. The delivery conditions at this time of the gas, 70 vol% and SiH ₄ gas into the deposition initial flushed with CH ₄ gas 30 vol%, was sputtered aluminum simultaneously. At the end of film formation, SiH ₄ gas 0%, CH ₄ 1
It was set to 00% by volume. When the thin film magnetic head slider thus formed was evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1, good results were obtained in terms of adhesion to the underlying substrate, corrosion resistance, and sliding resistance.

<Embodiment 8> In the same manner as in Embodiment 1, FIG.
After forming the sliding surface 8 in (c), a protective film 9 composed of a single layer containing silicon and tungsten carbide was formed to a thickness of 10 nm by the following method, as shown in FIG.

That is, using the same CVD apparatus as in Example 1, SiH ₄ , CH ₄ , and W (CO) ₆ were introduced into the film forming chamber as film forming gases. The conditions for introducing the gas at this time are:
70% by volume of SiH ₄ gas, CH ₄ and W (C
30% by volume of O) ₆ is flowed, and SiH ₄
The gas was 40%, and the total of CH ₄ and W (CO) ₆ was 60% by volume. When the thin film magnetic head slider thus formed was evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1, good results were obtained in terms of adhesion to the underlying substrate, corrosion resistance, and sliding resistance.

Further, in addition to the above-mentioned embodiment, in order to enhance the adhesion to the base, either boron or aluminum element or both elements other than silicon may be used as the first constituent element group, if necessary. It was confirmed that the result of was obtained.

[0049]

As described above, according to the present invention, the intended purpose can be achieved. That is, according to the thin-film magnetic head of the present invention, a first protective film is formed on the sliding surface.
Of the slider material by providing a single-layer thin film containing the constituent element group and the second constituent element group and / or the constituent compound group, the composition of which continuously changes in the film thickness direction. It becomes possible to form a thin protective film that has both good adhesiveness at the interface and excellent sliding characteristics.
As a magnetic recording device, it is possible to realize high recording density and reliability improvement by reducing spacing loss.
In addition, by forming a single-layer film in terms of apparatus, a multi-chamber film forming apparatus, which was necessary in the case of a multi-layer film, becomes unnecessary, and the effect of the apparatus cost is great.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a magnetic head slider including a thin film magnetic head element for explaining an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional process drawing of FIG. 1A-B.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Slider substrate, 2 ... Lower magnetic layer, 3 ... Insulating layer, 4 ... Coil conductor, 5 ... Upper magnetic film, 6 ... Magnetic head element, 7 ... Protective layer, 8 ... Sliding surface, 9 ... Protective film, 10 ... slider recessed area, 11 ... rail section, 12 ... front magnetic gap, 13 ... thin film magnetic head slider.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Asao Nakano 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Pref., Institute of Industrial Science, Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Inventor Noriyuki Saiki 2880, Kozu, Odawara, Kanagawa Stock Company (72) Inventor Kiyoshi Ogata, 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa, Ltd.

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A coil conductor disposed between an upper magnetic film and a lower magnetic film on a slider substrate via an insulating film, and one ends of the upper and lower magnetic films are magnetically connected to each other. A front magnetic gap portion that constitutes the back core connecting portion, and the other end portion is formed with the gap regulation insulating film sandwiched therebetween,
In a thin-film magnetic head comprising an air supporting surface and a protective film formed on a sliding surface including at least the end face of the front magnetic gap, the protective film is provided with adhesion and sliding resistance to an underlayer. And change continuously in the film thickness direction,
Consists of a non-magnetic single-layer inorganic protective film that has the property that the adhesion to the surface of the protective film decreases from large to small as the film thickness increases, while the sliding resistance increases from small to large Thin film magnetic head. 2. The nonmagnetic single-layer inorganic protective film is formed of silicon,
At least one first constituent element group consisting of aluminum and boron, and at least one second constituent element consisting of tungsten carbide, boron nitride, aluminum nitride, silicon nitride, aluminum carbide, aluminum oxide, boron carbide, silicon carbide, and carbon. And the presence of the second constituent element group and / or the constituent compound group while the abundance ratio of the first constituent element group decreases toward the surface of the protective film. 2. A single film structure having an increased ratio.
The thin-film magnetic head described. 3. The composition ratio of the first constituent element group on the bottom surface of the protective film is at least 5 atomic%, and the composition ratio of the second constituent element group and / or constituent compound group on the outermost surface of the protective film is at least 60. 3. The thin film magnetic head according to claim 2, further comprising a protective film having an atomic percentage. 4. The composition ratio of the first constituent element group on the bottom surface of the protective film is 10 to 100 atomic%, and the composition ratio of the second constituent element group and / or constituent compound group is 90 to 0 atomic%. And the composition ratio of the first constituent element group on the outermost surface of the protective film is 50 to 0 atomic%, and the composition ratio of the second constituent element group and / or the constituent compound group is 100 to 50 atomic%.
3. A thin film magnetic head according to claim 2, wherein the composition ratio of both is formed in a single film structure continuously changing toward the surface of the protective film. 5. The first constituent element group is composed of silicon, and the second constituent element group and / or constituent compound group is composed of carbon,
The composition ratio of the two on the bottom surface of the protective film is silicon 10 to 10
0 atomic% and 90 to 0% carbon, and the composition ratio of the two on the outermost surface of the protective film is 50 to 0 atomic% silicon and 100 to 5 carbon.
3. The thin film magnetic head according to claim 2, wherein the thin film magnetic head has a single film structure in which the composition ratio of both is 0% and continuously changes toward the surface of the protective film. 6. The thin film magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein the protective film has a thickness of 5 to 15 μm. 7. A step of forming a thin film magnetic head on a slider substrate in advance, a step of forming a protective film on an air supporting surface including a front gap end surface, and a slider on a region including at least the front gap end surface of the air supporting surface. A method of manufacturing a magnetic head comprising a step of forming a rail surface, wherein the step of forming the protective film is such that adhesion to a base and sliding resistance are continuously changed in a film thickness direction. , A step of forming a non-magnetic single-layer inorganic protective film having the property that the adhesion to the surface of the protective film decreases from large to small as the film thickness increases, while the sliding resistance increases from small to large And a method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head constituted by. 8. A step of forming the inorganic protective film of the non-magnetic single layer, a step of depositing at least one first constituent element group consisting of silicon, aluminum and boron, and a step of forming tungsten carbide, boron nitride and nitriding. aluminum,
Depositing at least one second constituent element group and / or constituent compound group consisting of silicon nitride, aluminum carbide, aluminum oxide, boron carbide, silicon carbide, and carbon, wherein the first constituent element group is The ratio of the constituent element group deposited by the depositing step is decreased toward the surface of the protective film, while the ratio of the constituent element group deposited by the step of depositing the second constituent element group and / or the constituent compound group is increased. 8. The method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head according to claim 7, which is a step of forming a single film by continuously changing the composition in the film thickness direction. 9. A step of depositing the first constituent element group,
9. The method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to claim 8, wherein the step of depositing the second group of constituent elements and / or the group of constituent compounds comprises a step of depositing by plasma CVD or plasma CVD having a sputtering function. 10. The step of depositing the first constituent element group and the step of depositing the second constituent element group and / or the constituent compound group are constituted by a step of depositing by plasma CVD, and the step of depositing the source gas is performed. Using SiH ₄ and CH ₄ , the SiH ₄ gas flow rate ratio at the beginning of film formation is 100 to 5%, the CH ₄ gas flow rate ratio is 0 to 95%, and the SiH ₄ gas flow rate ratio at the end of film formation is 0 to 4%.
9. The method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head according to claim 8, wherein the step of forming a film is a combination of 0% and a CH ₄ gas flow rate ratio in the range of 100 to 60%.