JPS63171409A - Manufacture of thin film magnetic head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the track width processing accuracy by using two photo resist patterns to decide the track width. CONSTITUTION:A gap layer 2 is formed on a high permeability ferromagnetic base 1. A 1st photo resist pattern 3 is formed to both sides on the gap layer 2 so that the track width part lT forms a slot. Then a magnetic layer 4 is formed to the entire base including the pattern 3. Then a 2nd photo resist pattern 3b to form a track is formed. Then a part of the pattern 3b is left by the ion beam etching to remove the magnetic layer 4 on the pattern 3. Next, removing the resist, a prescribed track width formed by the magnetic layer 4 is obtained. Thus, no taper angle is caused to both end faces of the magnetic layer 4 subjected to track processing. Thus, the accuracy of track width processing is improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head used in a magnetic recording/reproducing device.

2. Description of the Related Art The most important manufacturing process for thin film magnetic heads is the formation of a magnetic layer. In order to cope with the recent high-density recording, it is necessary to make the head tracks multi-layered or narrower, and to do so, finer track dimensions must be constructed. Therefore, it is an important issue to microfabricate the track dimensions with high precision.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a thin film magnetic head having a multi-track configuration in which a gap layer coil and a coil insulating layer are laminated on a substrate, and a magnetic layer is provided above the coil insulating layer. however,
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of one track of the magnetic layer and the gap layer on the tape sliding surface side. In FIG. 3, 21 is a core oblique portion, 22 is a gap layer, 3 is a magnetic layer, 24 is a coil insulating layer, and 25 is a thin film coil. In the figure, the gap depth is
lb indicates the track width, lo indicates the core thickness, and the arrow indicates the direction of magnetic flux. The magnetic flux density of the core oblique portion 21 is Bc
1. The thickness of the oblique part of the core is lcl, the track width is "W", the magnetic flux of the oblique part of the core is φ.
If the magnetic flux of 2 is φ, each φ. , φ9 are expressed by the following equation.

From formulas (1) and (2), φc7/φ9= Bo-Tc/Bg, D -...
−(3) is derived. Still, when leakage magnetic flux is taken into consideration, φC/φ9〉1, so when Bg=BcO, TC>
D can be derived.

Therefore, at least the core thickness Tc needs to be thicker than the gap depth D. For example, when D=10 [μm], the magnetic layer needs to have a thickness of 10 [μm] or more.

Next, the conventional process for forming a magnetic layer is shown in xl in Figure 3.
FIG. 4 shows each process when viewed from the cross section divided by -x2, that is, from the tape sliding surface side. In FIG. 4, 1 is a high magnetic permeability ferromagnetic substrate, 2 is a gap layer, 4 is a magnetic layer constituting a magnetic circuit, and 3a is a photoresist pattern for patterning the magnetic layer to a predetermined trunk width dimension. . FIG. 4a shows a step of forming a gap layer 2 on a high magnetic permeability ferromagnetic substrate 1, and in the step of FIG. 4, a magnetic layer 4 is formed on the gap layer 2, and a photoresist pattern 3a is form. Next, in the step shown in FIG. 4C, the magnetic layer 4 is finely etched by ion milling or the like, and the photoresist pattern 3a is removed to obtain a predetermined track size.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, when a magnetic layer with a thickness of 10 μm or more is microfabricated into a predetermined shape by ion beam etching, as shown in FIG. The magnetic layer 4 has a trapezoidal shape that widens from the upper surface toward the underlayer, resulting in a significant deterioration in the accuracy of trunk width processing. This problem becomes more serious as the thickness of the magnetic layer 4 increases. Furthermore, when the distance between tracks becomes narrow, it becomes difficult to even separate adjacent tracks.

In view of the above problems, the present invention maintains the conventional magnetic layer thickness,
Furthermore, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing a thin film magnetic head that improves track width processing accuracy.

Means for Solving the Problems To achieve this object, the method for manufacturing a thin film magnetic head of the present invention includes laminating a gap layer, a coil insulating film, and a thin film coil on a substrate, and depositing a magnetic layer on the coil insulating film. When forming a multi-track thin film head having a structure having a film, a first photoresist pattern having a predetermined inter-track distance dimension is formed on the gap layer, and the entire surface of the substrate including the top of the first photoresist pattern is formed. Form a magnetic layer on the
A second photoresist pattern for forming a predetermined track width dimension is formed on the magnetic layer.

Next, after etching the exposed magnetic layer film, track separation is performed by removing the first and second photoresists.

According to the present invention, the shape and dimensions of the track width are determined by the shape of the first resist pattern and its pattern width by the method described above, so that the shape of both end faces of the track width can be made perpendicular to the gap layer. , it is possible to realize track processing without deformation of the shape by ion beam etching. Furthermore, even if overetching is performed to remove unnecessary magnetic layers, the underlying layer is a resist pattern, so there is no effect on the gap layer that is the underlying layer of the resist, and the track shape of the magnetic layer may be distorted. There is no.

In addition, it is possible to dramatically improve etching accuracy.

Embodiment FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the tape sliding surface side of a thin film magnetic head having a multi-track configuration, which is formed by an embodiment of the method for manufacturing a thin film magnetic head of the present invention. The thin-film magnetic head has a substrate including a gap layer 12 and a coil insulating layer 11. It is constructed by laminating thin film coil layers 15.

In FIG. 2, the gap depth of the gap layer 12 is lD
l Trunk width is 71! T, gap layer 12,
A magnetic layer 14 is formed on the coil insulating layer 11 . The magnetic layer 14 has the same core thickness 11 as that of the conventional magnetic layer, and when viewed from the tape sliding surface side, there is no taper angle at both end faces even after etching. Therefore, the track width IT is regulated with good dimensional accuracy. Next, the steps of forming the magnetic layer along the x1'-x2 cross section in FIG. 2 are shown in FIG. 1 as an embodiment of the method for manufacturing a thin film magnetic head of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a high permeability ferromagnetic substrate, 2 is a gap layer, 3 is a first photoresist pattern, 3b is a second photoresist pattern, 4 is a magnetic layer, and lT is a track width. In FIG. 1, in step a, a gap layer 2 is formed on a high permeability ferromagnetic substrate 1. As shown in FIG. Next, in the process, a track width l is formed on the gap layer 2.
A first photoresist pattern 3 is formed on both sides of the first photoresist pattern 3 so that one portion becomes a groove, and in step C, a magnetic layer 4 is formed on the entire substrate including the top of the first photoresist pattern 3, and a trunk is further formed. A final second 7-photoresist pattern 3b is formed.

Next, in step d, ion beam etching is performed to remove the magnetic layer 4 on the first photoresist 3, leaving a portion of the second photoresist pattern 3b. Although the etching process has already been carried out in this step d, the magnetic layer 4 is formed by the first and second photoresist patterns 3.
．． 3b, and both end faces of the track width are not etched, so that no taper angle is formed on the end faces. Next, in step e, the resist is removed to obtain a predetermined track width formed by the magnetic layer 4. Therefore, in the thin film magnetic head formed as described above, the processing accuracy of the track width is determined by the shape of the first photoresist pattern 3 and its dimensional accuracy. , O does not cause the taper angle described in the conventional example.As described above, according to this example, even a magnetic layer with a thickness of several μm can be easily microfabricated with high dimensional accuracy. can. Therefore, it is possible to improve the accuracy of track width processing, which will become important in the development of narrow track thin film magnetic heads, which are expected to continue in the future.

Although a single high magnetic permeability substrate is used in this embodiment, a substrate having a high magnetic permeability material thin film formed on a nonmagnetic substrate may also be used.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the method for manufacturing a thin film magnetic head of the present invention laminates a gap layer, a coil layer, and a coil insulating layer on a substrate, and in the process of forming a magnetic layer on the coil insulating layer, a predetermined process is performed. a first photoresist pattern having an inter-track distance dimension; a second photoresist pattern for forming a predetermined track width on the magnetic layer; When a photoresist pattern is formed, the exposed magnetic layer is etched, and the photoresist is removed, the shape of both end faces of the track width is determined by the shape of the first photoresist pattern. Therefore, no deformation of the shape occurs due to ion beam etching, and it is possible to dramatically improve the accuracy of track width processing even for a magnetic layer with a thickness of several μm.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a process diagram showing a method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a tape sliding surface of a thin-film magnetic head with a multi-track configuration formed by the manufacturing method of this embodiment. Enlarged perspective view of one track on the side, 3rd
The figure is an enlarged perspective view of one track on the tape sliding surface side of a conventional thin film magnetic head having a multi-track configuration, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the process of forming the magnetic layer of the conventional thin film magnetic head. 1... High magnetic permeability ferromagnetic substrate, 2...
Gap layer, 3...first photoresist pattern, 3b...second photoresist pattern, 4...magnetic layer.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In manufacturing a thin film magnetic head with a multi-track configuration in which a gap layer, a coil insulating film, and a thin film coil are laminated on a substrate and a magnetic film is formed on the coil insulating film, a first magnetic head having a predetermined inter-track distance dimension is used. A photoresist pattern is formed on the gap layer, a magnetic layer is formed on the entire surface of the substrate including on the first photoresist pattern, and a second layer is formed on the magnetic layer to form a predetermined track width dimension. After forming a photoresist pattern and etching the exposed magnetic layer film, the first and second photoresist patterns are formed.
A method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head, the method comprising removing photoresist and performing track separation.