JPH10275311A - Magnetic reluctance effect type magnetic head and magnetic disk device using the head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To protect the structural film of read elements and to obtain a desired shape and a desired thickness by forming the protective pattern having the film, which has a high chemical resistivity and covers the difference-in-level section of the upper.lower shield film of the read elements located under a write element gap film in the process after the completion of a write element gap film forming. SOLUTION: After an upper section shield film 9 is formed and the processing of a read element section is completed, a write element gap film 10 is formed by an insulating film using the material such as alumina and a first insulating film 11, which is made of an organic insulating resin material, is then formed. During the process above, a protective pattern 17 is formed on the tilted surface and difference-in- level sections of the upper.lower shield film of the read element section to partially cover them. Then, a spiral conductive coil 12 is formed and a second insulating film 13, which is made of an organic insulating resin material, is formed. Then, an upper section magnetic film 14 is formed. Thus, the upper.lower section shield film is protected and the element process is finally completed by forming a protective film 15 made of alumina and a terminal 16.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a magneto-resistance effect type magnetic head and a magnetic disk drive compatible with a high recording density.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a magnetoresistive head is generally manufactured by using a deposition technique such as sputtering or a fine processing technique by photolithography. 5 and 6 schematically show the structure of a conventionally known magnetoresistive head. A base alumina film 2 is formed on a substrate 1 made of a ceramic material, on which a lower shield film 3 and a lower gap film 4 made of an insulating film such as alumina are provided, on which an MR layer composite film 5 and a magnetic domain control film are provided. 6 are formed simultaneously. Furthermore, an electrode 7 serving to supply a current for operating as a sensor is formed thereon. Thereafter, an upper gap film 8 and an upper shield film 9 made of an insulating film such as alumina, an upper gap film 10 made of an insulating film made of alumina and the like, insulating films 11 and 13 made of an organic insulating resin material, and a spiral conductor made of Cu and the like. A coil 12 is formed, an upper magnetic film 14 is further formed thereon, and finally a protective film 15 of alumina or the like and a terminal 16 for connecting a lead wire are formed. The upper magnetic film 14 is formed by “PROCEEDINGS OFTHE SYMPOSIUM ON MAGNET
IC MATERIALS, PROCESSES, AND DEVICES Vol.90-8 "p
221 to p232 "(Proceedings of the
Symposium on Magnetic Materials
Processes and Devices) "as described in" Frame Plating Method ". Generally, in the frame plating method, a base film for conducting plating is deposited on an insulating film such as alumina. Next, a resist serving as a frame is formed, and after the magnetic film is plated, the resist is removed. At this time, the underlying film of the resist portion is also removed by a dry process such as ion milling. Next, in order to protect a desired pattern (for example, a core shape), the desired pattern is covered with a resist or the like, and portions other than those covered with the resist are removed by etching by a wet process (an acidic chemical containing hydrochloric acid of about PH3). Finally, the resist covering the pattern is removed.

Further, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-21522, a narrow band-shaped insulating layer is formed along the periphery of a magnetic film formed on a substrate, and then the insulating layer and the magnetic film are included. It is disclosed that an insulating film is formed thereon. This method is an insulating film between the magnetic film and the magnetic film, when using an organic insulating resin such as a novolak resin,
The purpose of the present invention is to prevent the thickness of the insulating film on the slope from becoming extremely thin and preventing the breakdown voltage between the magnetic films from decreasing.

[0004]

Conventionally, when alumina is formed by a sputtering method and an organic insulating film is applied,
The thickness of the alumina film and the organic insulating film at the slope portion and the step portion is usually about 0.7 to 0.8 times the thickness of the flat portion. For this reason, the film becomes thin at the step due to processes such as ion milling and etching in a later step. In particular, here, the gap film of the write element has a thickness of 0.1 to 0.4 μm.
In this case, there is a problem that the gap film is extremely thin or completely eliminated at the slopes and steps of the upper and lower shield films of the MR read element. At this time, when the upper magnetic film is formed by the frame plating method, the constituent film of the read element (upper / lower shield film, MR film, electrode, etc.) is used by an acidic chemical such as hydrochloric acid of about PH3 used in the wet process. There is a problem of damage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a magnetoresistive effect type magnetic film which can protect a constituent film of a read element from a wet process when forming an upper magnetic film and secure a desired shape and thickness without increasing the number of process steps. The purpose is to provide a head.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic disk drive which realizes low cost and high reliability.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a magneto-resistance effect type magnetic head having a magneto-resistance effect element formed on a substrate by a thin film laminating method in a process step after formation of a write element gap film. This is achieved by forming a protective pattern with a film having high chemical resistance (acid resistance) so as to cover the step portion of the upper and lower shield films for the read element under the gap film.

As another means, as shown in FIG. 3D, both ends of a frame (resist or the like) formed by a frame plating method in a process step are disposed on the upper surface and the lower surface of a step of the upper and lower shields, respectively. This is achieved by protecting the upper and lower shields with resist in the wet process of the frame plating method.

By using the above-described magnetoresistive head, a magnetic disk drive which achieves low cost and high reliability is achieved.

[0010]

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

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the magnetoresistive head of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the magnetoresistive head of the present invention. A base alumina film 2 is formed on a substrate 1 made of a ceramic material, and there is a lower shield film 3 formed of a magnetic film of NiFe or the like of 1 to 3 μm and a lower gap film 4 formed of an insulating film of alumina or the like. On top of this, an MR layer composite film 5 composed of a magnetoresistive film, a bias film and a separation film is formed. A magnetic domain control film 6 for controlling magnetic domains of the MR layer composite film 5 is formed simultaneously with the MR layer composite film 5. Furthermore, an electrode 7 serving to supply a current for operating as a sensor is formed thereon. Thereafter, an upper gap film 8 made of an insulating film of alumina or the like and an upper shield film 9 made of a magnetic film of NiFe or the like having a thickness of 2 to 4 μm are formed, and the process of the read element portion is completed. Next, the write element gap film 10 is formed of an insulating film such as alumina.
Is formed to a thickness of 0.1 to 0.4 μm, on which a first insulating film 11 made of an organic insulating resin material such as a novolak resin is formed. The protection pattern (1) 17 is formed on the slope and the step without increasing the number of steps. The protection pattern (1) 17 is partially covered as shown in the perspective view of FIG. Further, the film may be formed so as to cover the entire slope portion and the step portion. This novolak resin has the property of not being damaged by acidic chemicals containing hydrochloric acid of about PH3. This property depends on the thickness of the resin.
It has a sufficient value even at around 1.0 μm, which is the limit of breakdown voltage in 1522, and there is no deterioration of this property even at around 0.5 μm. Next, a spiral conductive coil 12 made of Cu or the like is formed, and a second insulating film 13 made of an organic insulating resin material such as a novolak resin is formed. Like the first insulating film, the second insulating film plays an equivalent role by disposing the protection pattern 17 without increasing the number of steps. An upper magnetic film 14 is formed thereon. This upper magnetic film is manufactured by a frame plating method. By doing so, the upper and lower shield films are protected even in the wet process of the frame plating method. Finally, a protective film 15 made of alumina or the like and terminals 16 for connecting lead wires are formed to complete the element process.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, a resist pattern formed by a frame plating method for forming the upper magnetic film 14 is used. As shown in FIG. 3A, an upper shield film 9 made of a magnetic film such as NiFe is formed, and a write element gap film 10 is formed of an insulating film such as alumina (FIG. 3-B).
A base film 18 of the upper magnetic film is deposited (FIG. 3C).
Next, both ends of a resist 19 serving as a frame by a frame plating method are formed on portions corresponding to the slope portion and the step portion of the shield film 9 (FIG. 3D), and NiFe20 is plated (FIG. 3E). ). Thereafter, the resist 19 serving as the frame is removed. Thereafter, the underlying film 18 under the resist portion 19 is removed by a dry process such as ion milling. Next, a cover resist 21 is formed on the desired pattern in order to form a desired pattern (upper magnetic film 14) (FIG. 3- (f)), and portions other than those covered with the cover resist are PH3. It is removed with a slightly acidic chemical (FIG. 3- (g)), and finally the cover resist 21 is peeled off. This protects the upper shield film 9 from acidic chemicals. It is important that the cover resist 21 be about 1 to 2 μm larger than the frame resist.

As can be seen from the first and second embodiments, the present invention can be easily formed without increasing the number of process steps by laminating thin films of a magnetoresistive effect type magnetic head, and a constituent film of a read element can be secured. . In addition, the first aspect of the present invention
In the first embodiment, the material to be protected is described as a resist, but a metal film having high chemical resistance (acid resistance) may be used.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention.
This embodiment can be formed by a simple process similarly to the above, and a constituent film of the read element can be secured. In FIG.
After forming the write element gap film 10 with an insulating film such as alumina, a protection pattern of about 0.1 to 0.4 μm (2)
22 is formed at least at a place where an acidic chemical of about PH3 is in contact with the upper and lower shield films with the gap film interposed therebetween. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a magnetic disk drive according to one embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a magnetic disk drive comprises a plurality of magnetic disks 23 mounted at equal intervals on a spindle 24 for high-precision and high-speed rotation, and information is recorded / reproduced on / from this magnetic disk 23. A magnetic head group 26 held on a movable carriage 25 for performing the operation, a voice coil motor 27 for driving the carriage 25 at a high speed and performing high-precision positioning, and a high-rigidity base 28 for supporting them. Is done. In addition, a voice coil motor control circuit for controlling the voice coil motor 27, an interface for exchanging signals with the host, and a current flowing through the magnetic head are controlled in accordance with a signal sent from a host such as a magnetic disk controller. It is connected to a higher-level device via a recording / reproducing processing unit 29 having a read / write circuit and the like. Here, the magnetic head group 26 can achieve high reliability and low cost by using the magnetoresistance effect type magnetic head shown in the present invention.

[0016]

As described above, by using the structure of the present invention for the magnetic head, it is possible to protect the film thickness of the slopes and step portions where the film is difficult to be formed without increasing the number of process steps, and to reduce the process steps of the write element. As a result, the problem that the constituent film of the read element is destroyed due to the ultra-thin or complete loss of the gap film of the write element due to the etching treatment performed in step (1) is eliminated, and a desired shape can be secured.

Further, by using the magnetoresistive head, a highly reliable and low-cost magnetic disk drive can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a magnetoresistive head according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a magnetoresistive head according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a process chart of a magnetoresistive effect type magnetic head according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a magnetoresistive head according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional magnetoresistance effect type magnetic head.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a conventional magnetoresistance effect type magnetic head.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a magnetic disk drive of one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Substrate, 2 ... Base alumina film, 3 ... Lower shield film, 4 ... Lower gap film, 5 ... MR layer composite film,
6 magnetic domain control film 7 electrode 8 upper gap film 9 upper shield film 10 gap film for write element 11 first insulating film 12 conductor coil 13
... second insulating film, 14: upper magnetic film, 15: alumina protective film, 16: terminal, 17: protective pattern (1), 18
... Underlayer, 19 ... Frame resist, 20 ... NiFe,
21: cover resist, 22: protective pattern
(2), 23: magnetic disk, 24: spindle,
25: carriage, 26: magnetic head group, 27: voice coil motor, 28: base, 29: recording / reproducing processing unit.

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Kiyonori Shiraki 2880 Kozu, Odawara-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Storage Systems Division, Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Inventor Ritsu Imanaka 2880 Kozu, Odawara City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Hitachi, Ltd. Storage Systems Division

Claims (3)

[Claims] In a magneto-resistance effect type magnetic head, a read element is formed on a substrate, a gap film (insulating film) of a write element is formed thereon, and further, an upper magnetic film is formed. A magnetoresistance effect type magnetic head characterized in that a slope portion and a step portion formed by upper and lower shield films of a read element portion are protected by a film having high chemical resistance (acid resistance). 2. A magneto-resistance effect type magnetic head, comprising: a read element formed on a substrate; a gap film (insulating film) for a write element formed thereon; and an upper magnetic film formed thereon. The slope portion and the step portion formed by the upper and lower shield films of the element portion are placed on the upper surface and the lower surface of the step portion of the upper and lower shield, respectively, on one side of a frame (resist or the like) formed by the frame plating method for forming the upper magnetic film. A magnetoresistive head. 3. A magnetic disk drive using the magneto-resistance effect type magnetic head according to claim 1.