KR100331188B1 - A thin film magnetic head, a recording/reproduction separation type head and a magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus using the head - Google Patents

Abstract

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a thin film magnetic head for recording with low clarity and a high recording magnetic field, a recording / reproducing separate magnetic head and magnetic memory reproduction using the same. According to the present invention, the gap film of the recording head and the magnetic film in contact with the gap film are processed to have the same track width, and the width of the upper magnetic film of the recording head and the upper shield film of the magnetoresistive effect film are wider than the track width, and the floating surface of the upper magnetic film is provided. The thin film magnetic head has a small cross-sectional area parallel to the floating surface and a position below the gap depth. The present invention also provides a coil conductor sandwiched between a first magnetic film and a fourth magnetic film, a second magnetic body magnetically coupled to the first magnetic film, and a third magnetically coupled to the fourth magnetic film. A thin film magnetic head having a magnetic gap sandwiched between a magnetic material, a second magnetic film, and a third magnetic film and having at least a nonmagnetic single film covering the first magnetic film with an insulating property in contact with the second magnetic film and the third magnetic film.

Description

Thin film magnetic head, recording / playback separation type head and magnetic recording and playback device using the same {A THIN FILM MAGNETIC HEAD, A RECORDING / REPRODUCTION SEPARATION TYPE HEAD AND A MAGNETIC RECORDING AND REPRODUCING APPARATUS USING THE HEAD}

The present invention relates to a novel thin film magnetic head, a recording / reproducing separate magnetic head and a magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus using the same.

A thin film magnetic head for a magnetic disk device is formed on a slider held on a disk that rotates at high speed. The magnetic head has a magnet pole layer, which is a thin film of ferromagnetic material. On the air beating surface (ABS), there is a lower magnetic pole layer and an upper magnetic pole layer above and below the layer. Upper and lower magnetic pole layers of the recording head are in contact with the gap in the rear part. In order to increase the recording density, it is necessary to record a lot of data on the surface of the magnetic disk. For this reason, there is a method of increasing the recording density by narrowing the track width. A method of providing a thin film magnetic head with a head having a width of the pole end, i. According to this method, when forming a magnetic film by the plating method, the silicon dioxide layer is used as a plating frame. In addition, the present invention is that the magnetic pole layer from the ABS plane to the rear zero throat level is wider and parallel than the magnetic pole monolayer and provides a parallel path for the exchange of magnetic flux with the magnetic pole region, thereby enhancing the magnetic flux transmission capability. It is described. 24 and 25 clearly show the shape of the upper magnetic film (shown at P2 (T) in FIG. 24 and at P2 in FIG. 25). The cross-sectional area of the upper magnetic film seen from the floating surface at the gap depth position (upper part of the frame) is constant.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a thin film magnetic head having a small blur in recording and a high recording magnetic field, a recording reproducing separate magnetic head and a magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus using the same.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a high frequency drive magnetic head having a magnetic pole width of 1 m or less and an ultra high density magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus using the same.

The present invention provides a thin film magnetic head having an upper magnetic layer and a lower magnetic layer through a non-magnetic gap film, wherein at least one of the upper magnetic layer and the lower magnetic layer is formed through the magnetic gap on the magnetic gap side. The upper magnetic film is formed on the upper magnetic film and the lower magnetic film is formed on the lower magnetic film at the end of the magnetic gap.

The present invention also provides that at least one of the upper magnetic film and the lower magnetic film has a cross-sectional area parallel to its floating surface, the portion having the magnetic gap of the upper magnetic film and the lower magnetic film, which is smaller than the cross-sectional area; At least one of the upper magnetic film and the lower magnetic film has a track width smaller than that of the upper magnetic film and the lower magnetic film; And at least one of the upper magnetic film and the lower magnetic film is formed of one or two or more combinations protruding toward the floating surface side from the floating surface than the upper magnetic film and the lower magnetic film.

The above-described thin film magnetic head includes the following two types; That is, the upper magnetic film and the lower magnetic film is formed of a plating magnetic film having a saturation magnetic flux density of 1. 5 Tesla or more, and is formed by a plating or sputtering method having a specific resistance of 50 μΩcm or more with a width wider than the frame width of the plating magnetic film. Consisting of an upper magnetic film; And the upper magnetic film and the lower magnetic film have the same track width, and the upper shield film that magnetically shields the upper magnetic film and the magnetoresistive effect film has a width wider than the track width. It is characterized by consisting of one or a combination of two consisting of a multilayer magnetic film.

The present invention is characterized in that the recording head is made of the above-described thin film magnetic head in a recording / reproducing separate magnetic head in which a recording head for recording information and a reproduction head for reading are integrally formed.

In the above-described recording and reproducing separate magnetic head of the present invention, the reproducing head includes a ferromagnetic material having a magnetoresistive effect and an antiferromagnetic material in close contact with the ferromagnetic material and expressing unidirectional anisotropy in the ferromagnetic material, wherein the antiferromagnetic material is a Cr-Mn-based alloy. Characterized in that consisting of.

The present invention relates to a recording / reproducing separation magnetic head having a thin film magnetic disk for recording information, a rotating means of the thin film magnetic disk, a recording head for recording information, and a reproducing head for reading information, and a floating head. In the magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus having a moving means for supporting the magnetic disk and having access to the thin film magnetic disk, the magnetic disk rotating at 4000 rpm or more during recording and reproducing, and having a recording frequency of 45 MHz or more, It is characterized by consisting of a regeneratively separated magnetic head.

The present invention is preferably used for a magnetic disk device having a recording density of 4 Gb / in ² or more.

When the recording head is seen from the floating surface, as shown in FIG. 1, the magnetic film 1 on the gap is narrowed to the track width Tw in the vicinity of the gap and the upper magnetic film 16 of FIG. The structure has become wider on both sides of the track. A frame member having an undercut is formed on a two-layer film using photoresist and polydimethylglutarimide by combining ultraviolet and ultraviolet rays and two phenomena, and a gap film is formed between the photoresist layers. And a lower magnetic pole film is formed in the undercut portion.

When the magnetic head of the structure of FIG. 3 of the present invention is manufactured, a frame member such as silicon dioxide is not used, and thus the wear resistance and the apparatus for forming the frame member are not required. Since the upper magnetic film 11 does not come out on the floating surface as shown in Fig. 3, there is less leakage of magnetic flux from the upper magnetic film to the floating surface, so that bleeding can be reduced in recording on the medium. In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, when the shape of the upper magnetic film changes in the throat height, the cross-sectional area parallel to the floating surface on the floating surface side is reduced, and the cross-sectional area is increased in the middle of the throat height. . Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the magnetic field leaking from the upper magnetic film 11 to the floating surface and to increase the magnetic field leaking from the upper magnetic film 11 through the upper magnetic film 17. This head can be used for a magnetic recording apparatus having a high recording density of 4 Gb / in ² or more in surface recording density. It is important to reduce the overhang t near the floating surface of the upper magnetic film 11 in a narrow track head. to be. In the present invention, by setting the overhang to 5 times or less the film thickness of the gap film 17, the bleeding is reduced in recording.

As an example, when the track width Tw is 1.0 mu m, the upper magnetic film thickness Pu is 4 mu m, and the gap film thickness is 0.2 mu m, the magnetic field H leaking from the end of the upper magnetic film 11 and the overhang The relationship of t is shown in FIG. The smaller the leakage magnetic field, the better. However, if the overhang t is made small, the magnetic field strength near the gap on the floating surface decreases when the thickness of the upper magnetic film is made constant. In order to increase the magnetic field strength and reduce the leakage magnetic field, in this case, a range of t where H ≦ 1000Oe, i.e., t ≦ 1 μm, is preferably 5 times or less of the thickness of the gap film (0.2 μm). In order to increase the magnetic field strength at t ≦ 1 μm, the thickness of the upper magnetic film 11 may be increased. If the thickness of the upper magnetic film 11 is increased, the shape and precision of the plating frame for forming the upper magnetic film 11 become a problem. That is, when the plating frame becomes thick, shape control becomes difficult and positional accuracy with the lower magnetic film (upper magnetic film 16) becomes a problem. Therefore, t = 0 micrometers is difficult in the point of shape and precision of a plating frame. It is preferable to thicken the upper magnetic film 11 as t = 0.05-0.1 micrometer. In the above example, the upper magnetic film 11 is 10 nm away from the floating surface. The upper magnetic film 11 is separated from the floating surface by 10 nm or more, so that the magnetic field from the end of the upper magnetic film on the floating surface is reduced. Therefore, the structure of FIG. 3, which is the present invention from the structure of FIG. 2, which is a conventional recording head structure, eliminates the influence of the recording data due to the leakage magnetic field from the upper magnetic film on the adjacent tracks or the adjacent tracks. The effect is obtained by increasing the cross-sectional area of the upper magnetic film 11 away from the floating surface to a position equal to or less than the gap depth (width from the floating surface of the gap film in FIG. 3) and decreasing the cross-sectional area of the floating surface.

In the present invention, the magnetic pole end of the recording head of the thin film magnetic head is fabricated by frame plating. That is, three kinds of films of the upper magnetic film 16, the gap film 17, and the lower magnetic film 18 shown in Figs. 2 and 3 are plated using the same frame. The upper magnetic film 11 of FIGS. 2 and 3 is in contact with the upper magnetic film 16 on the floating surface side. According to the conventional structure, the shape of the upper magnetic film 16 is a cross-sectional view in the direction perpendicular to the floating surface as shown in FIG. 2 and as shown in FIG. 4 when viewed from above the membrane surface. As shown in FIG. 4, the shape of the gap film 17 and the upper magnetic film 16 is the same from the floating surface to the gap depth (frame end), and the cross section parallel to the floating surface is from the floating surface to the gap depth (where the gap film is located). Cross section). When the cross-sectional area of the floating surface side of the upper magnetic film 16 as shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 6 is reduced with respect to this conventional shape, the leakage magnetic field from the upper magnetic film 16 is reduced at the floating surface and the recording magnetic field is reduced. It sharpens and the edges of the track edges become sharp, resulting in a smaller background.

Nickel oxide, iron manganese alloy thin film, chromium-manganese, chromium-manganese-platinum, chromium aluminum alloy film, etc. may be used for an antiferromagnetic film. Alternatively, hard magnetic films such as ferromagnetic cobalt platinum, cobalt-chromium-platinum, and iron-cobalt-terbium alloy films may also be used. The hard magnetic film is a magnetic film whose magnetization hardly changes with respect to an external magnetic field. Even if the coercive force adds a magnetic field of 50 Ersted, for example, 100 orersed or more, the direction of magnetization hardly changes, and thus has the same effect as the antiferromagnetic film. That is, it is not necessarily antiferromagnetic as long as it has a property of applying one-way anisotropy by exchange coupling bias when formed in close contact with another magnetic film. In general, it is preferable to use a film called a bias film.

In the magnetic film, alloys of 70 to 95 atomic% Ni, 5 to 30 atomic% Fe and 5 to 5 atomic% Co, or 30 to 85 atomic% Co, 2 to 30 atomic% Ni, and 2 to 50 atomic% Fe It is preferable to use. In addition, a permalloy, a permender alloy, etc. may be used. That is, it is preferable to use a ferromagnetic material having good soft magnetic properties.

Au, Ag, Cu is preferably used for the nonmagnetic conductive film. In addition, Cr, Pt, Pd, Ru, Rh, or an alloy thereof may be used. That is, it is preferable to use the one which does not have spontaneous magnetization at room temperature and the electron has a favorable permeability. It is preferable that the above films each have a film thickness of about 2 to 1000 kPa.

The present invention has a coil conductor between the first magnetic film and the fourth magnetic film, the second magnetic material magnetically coupled to the first magnetic film, and the third magnetic material magnetically coupled to the fourth magnetic film. The present invention also relates to a magnetic head having a magnetic gap between the second magnetic film and the third magnetic film. In a structure that achieves both high frequency characteristics and narrow tracking described later, an insulating and nonmagnetic film exposed to a sliding face, in particular for the purpose of reducing manufacturing costs, includes at least a first magnetic film.

Further, in the above structure, a part of the third magnetic film is exposed to the nonmagnetic and insulating film surface in order to satisfy the basic function of the magnetic head, and the third magnetic film and the fourth magnetic film are magnetically coupled.

Further, for the purpose of reducing the cost of manufacturing the magnetic head, at least three of the second magnetic film and the third magnetic film forming the magnetic gap are surrounded by a nonmagnetic and insulating film, and the nonmagnetic and insulating film surfaces A second nonmagnetic insulating film was laminated and a coil conductor was provided in the second nonmagnetic insulating film.

Further, a magnetic pole portion for forming a recording track width from the laminated structure of the second magnetic film and the third magnetic film in the same two-dimensional shape as the second magnetic film and the third magnetic film for the purpose of reducing the manufacturing cost; The back contact part which magnetically couples the 1st magnetic film and the 4th magnetic film was comprised.

In addition, in order to improve the high frequency characteristics, a coil conductor was disposed in addition to the presence region of the second magnetic film and the third magnetic film.

Moreover, the specific resistance of the 1st magnetic film and the 4th magnetic film was set higher than the specific resistance of a 3rd magnetic film in order to improve the high frequency characteristic.

In addition, the volume of the third magnetic film was set to 10E-4 or less of the volumes of the first and fourth magnetic films for the purpose of improving the high frequency characteristics.

In addition, the saturation magnetic flux density Bs1 of the fourth magnetic film, the thickness t, the saturation magnetic flux density Bs2 of the third magnetic film, the third magnetic film and the fourth magnetic film for the purpose of improving the high frequency characteristics and generating a recording magnetic field of the required strength. 0.8 <Bs1 × t / Bs2 × Dg <1.5 was satisfied for the overlapped length Dg in the direction of flotation.

In addition, compared to the areas of the first and fourth magnetic films exposed to the same area of the second magnetic film and the third magnetic film exposed on the head floating surface in order to reduce unnecessary recording to the adjacent track and to realize high density recording. I made it wider.

In addition, for the purpose of improving the high frequency characteristics, the resistivity of the materials constituting the first magnetic film and the fourth magnetic film is ρ (μΩ-cm), the relative magnetic permeability at 5 MHz is μ, and the film thickness is t ( Μm), p / (μ x t2)> 0. Satisfied 0064.

A magnetic head satisfying this condition was manufactured and a magnetic recording device was assembled using the same magnetic head.

Further, by inputting a control signal having a driving frequency of 150 MHz or more to a magnetic recording apparatus equipped with a magnetic head having improved frequency characteristics, it is possible to drive the magnetic recording apparatus at the driving frequency.

In addition, in order to realize high density recording, the width of the third magnetic film exposed on the sliding surface was set to 1.0 mu m or less. The thickness was set to 1.0 mu m or less for the purpose of satisfying the frequency characteristic and the required recording magnetic field strength. This magnetic head was manufactured and a magnetic recording device equipped with the magnetic head was assembled.

Further, in order to satisfy the reliability and life of the recording apparatus, the above-described first insulating and nonmagnetic film is constituted from a film mainly containing a film containing alumina film or diamond particles.

In order to achieve both high frequency characteristics and required recording magnetic field strengths, the first magnetic film and the fourth magnetic film are composed of a multilayer film in which the magnetic film and the nonmagnetic film are laminated or an amorphous alloy film having a high resistivity of 50 μΩcm or more. Moreover, the 3rd magnetic film was comprised from the alloy film which has Co-Ni-Fe of a specific resistance of 20 microohm-cm or less as a main component. Further, by mounting the magnetic head having the above structure in the recording apparatus, a high speed and high density magnetic recording apparatus has been realized.

In addition, the first magnetic film and the second magnetic film were made of the same material for the purpose of reducing the manufacturing cost and improving the frequency characteristics. By mounting the same magnetic head on a magnetic recording apparatus, a high speed magnetic recording apparatus was manufactured at low cost.

In addition, in order to reduce the manufacturing cost and to realize the required recording magnetic field strength, the saturation magnetic flux density of the third magnetic film is made higher than that of the second magnetic film. This configuration is used under the condition that the third magnetic film is located on the outlet end side in accordance with the rotation direction of the medium with respect to the second magnetic film.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Explanatory drawing of the shape of the magnetic film seen from the floating surface side of the magnetic recording head which has an overhang.

2 is a sectional view seen from a plane perpendicular to the floating surface of the magnetic recording head.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view seen from a plane perpendicular to the floating surface of the magnetic recording head.

4 is an explanatory diagram of shapes of an upper magnetic film and an upper magnetic film seen from an upper surface of a magnetic recording head;

Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the shapes of the upper magnetic film and the upper magnetic film seen from the upper surface of the magnetic recording head;

Fig. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the shapes of the upper magnetic film and the upper magnetic film seen from the upper surface of the magnetic recording head;

7 is a diagram showing a relationship between a magnetic field H and an overhang t.

Fig. 8 is a partial sectional perspective view of the recording / reproducing separable magnetic head.

9 is a plan view of a thin film magnetic head for recording;

Fig. 10 is a perspective view showing the film configuration of a magnetoresistive effect magnetic head.

11 is a film configuration diagram of a magneto-resistive effect type magnetic head.

12 is a plan view and a sectional view of the magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus.

13 is an operation principle diagram of a magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus.

14 is a sectional view of a magnetic recording head.

Fig. 15 is a sectional view of the magnetic recording head.

16 is a conceptual diagram showing a magnetic head of the present invention.

17 is a process chart showing the manufacturing method of the magnetic head of the present invention.

18 is a view showing the shape of a magnetic film pattern constituting part of the present invention;

Fig. 19 is a frequency characteristic diagram when the specific resistances of the first and fourth magnetic film patterns are changed.

20 is a diagram showing a relationship between a specific resistance of a core portion and an upper limit of a driving frequency.

21 is a cross-sectional structural view of the magnetic head of the present invention.

Fig. 22 is a diagram showing a relationship between magnetic pole conditions, magnetic field strengths, and magnetic field gradients;

Fig. 23 is a graph showing the relationship between the volume and the frequency characteristic of the third magnetic film.

Fig. 24 is a graph showing the relationship between the volume of the third magnetic film and the upper limit of the recordable frequency.

<Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings>

1, 11, 15, 16, 18, 101, 103, 107: magnetic film

12, 14: insulating film

13,109: coil

17, 102: gap film

21: nonmagnetic metal layer

22, 45, 47: magnetic layer

23: antiferromagnetic layer

31: connection

32: lead

40: magnetic head

43: substrate

51: thin film magnetic disk

52: spindle

53, 202: Head Positioning Mechanism

55: recording / playback signal processing system

104: magnetoresistive film

105: electrode

106, 108: shield film

201: Separate recording / playback magnetic head

203: recording medium

204: reproduction signal processing system

<Example 1>

3 is a sectional view showing a recording head portion of the recording / reproducing separate magnetic head of the present invention.

As shown in Fig. 3, the present invention relates to a recording head. In a thin film magnetic head having an upper magnetic film 11 and a lower magnetic film 15 through a nonmagnetic magnetic gap film 17, the upper magnetic film 11 forms the magnetic gap 17 on the magnetic gap side. The upper magnetic film 16 is formed on the upper magnetic film 11 at one end.

In the present invention, the cross-sectional area parallel to the rising surface of the upper magnetic film 16 is a portion having the magnetic gap of the upper magnetic film 11, which is smaller than the cross-sectional area.

In addition, the track width Tw of the upper magnetic film 16 is smaller than the track width Tw of the upper magnetic film 11.

Further, in the present invention, the upper magnetic film 16 is more protruding from the floating surface to the floating surface side than the upper magnetic film 11.

The thin film magnetic head of the present invention comprises a plated magnetic film having a magnetic flux saturation magnetic flux density of 1.5 tesla or higher and the upper magnetic field formed by a plating or sputtering method having a specific resistance of 50 μΩcm or more at a width wider than the frame width of the plated magnetic film. It consists of the tabernacle.

In the present invention, the upper magnetic film 16 and the lower magnetic film 18 have the same track width, and the upper shield film that magnetically shields the upper magnetic film and the magnetoresistive effect film has a width wider than the track width. The upper magnetic layer 11 may be formed of a multilayer magnetic layer.

Although the present invention is not shown, the recording and reproducing magnetic head is formed integrally with the recording head for recording information and the reproducing head for reading.

The following describes the process for producing the recording head of the present invention. Below the lower magnetic film 15 of FIG. 3, there is a giant magnetoresistive head through a gap film. The lower magnetic layer 15 serves as a shield of the giant magnetoresistive head. Alternatively, when a magnetic tunnel spin valve (large magnetoresistance effect type) head using an oxide film is formed below, it serves as a film that serves as a shield and an electrode. For these films, high magnetic permeability ferromagnetic films are used. A multilayer film of a ferromagnetic film and an oxide film containing Co, Ni, or Fe may be used. On the frame, a frame is formed of a resist or a resist partly comprising an oxide film, and the ferromagnetic film is electroplated between the frame and the frame to form the lower magnetic film 18. The throat height is 10 μm or less. Co-Ni, Fe alloys, Co-Fe alloys, Ni-Fe alloys or alloys in which a metalloid element is added to these alloys are suitable for this plating film. The gap film 17 is plated on the lower magnetic film 18. As the gap film 17, an alloy such as Cr alloy, Ta, W, Ti, Mo, or the like is used. The upper magnetic film 16 is plated on the gap film 17. The magnetic property required for the plating film in contact with the gap film is that of high saturation magnetic flux density. By using a film with a saturation magnetic flux density of 1.5T or more, recording of 4Gb / in ² can be achieved. The upper magnetic film 16 may be the same magnetic film as the lower magnetic film 18. In order to fabricate the recording head of FIG. 5, after removing the frame, the lower insulating film 14 is formed and the coil 13 is formed thereon. The upper magnetic film is then plated or sputtered on the insulating film 12. . The magnetic properties required for the upper magnetic film are high resistivity. It is necessary that the film has a specific resistance of 50 µ? Cm or more and a saturation magnetic flux density of 1.0T or more. By combining the above-described properties of the plated film and the properties of the upper magnetic film (the lower magnetic film 15 is also preferably equivalent to that of the upper magnetic film), it is confirmed that a recording magnetic field of 2000Oe or more occurs at a track width of 0.5 mu m. It was. In addition, it was confirmed that the recording head of the structure of FIG. 5 or FIG. 6 had less blurring in writing than the structure of FIG. 4 and no significant difference was observed in the recording magnetic field strength. Since the value of the magnetic field strength also depends on the saturation magnetic flux density of the upper magnetic film 11, the higher the saturation magnetic flux density of the upper magnetic film is preferable. In addition, it has been confirmed that the position on the floating surface side of the upper magnetic film of the head of the structure of FIG. 5 is effective by falling 10 nm or more from the floating surface. Also in the case of Figure 6, the position of the upper magnetic film is confirmed by the effect of falling 10nm away from the surface. The value of the performed overhang t is 10 nm-100 micrometers.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the upper magnetic film 11 has a narrow front end portion, which is a floating surface, and has a rounded shape as a triangular flask.

8 is a perspective view showing the structure near the floating surface of the recording / reproducing magnetic head. The giant magnetoresistive film 104 is arranged between the lower shield film 106 and the upper shield film 108 through an insulating film, and sense current flows through the electrode 105. The recording head also includes a lower magnetic film 103, a gap film 102, an upper magnetic film 101, an upper magnetic film 107, and a coil 109 on the upper shield film 108. The upper magnetic film 107 is formed inward (10 nm or more) from the floating surface. With such a configuration, the magnetic lines of the magnetic field near the floating surface of the gap film 102 have less influence of the upper magnetic film 107 end portion, high magnetic field inclination is obtained, and have good recording characteristics.

In this embodiment, the recording head and the reproduction head shown below are combined using the above-described high resistivity film for the recording head. The giant magnetoresistive film 104 is used for the regeneration head, and the electrode 105 for flowing current is in electrical contact with the giant magnetoresistive film 104. Below the electrode 105 and the giant magnetoresistive film 104 is a lower shield film 106 through a lower gap film. On the giant magnetoresistive film 104, there is a high resistivity lower magnetic film 108 that becomes an upper shield film through the upper gap film, and the high resistivity lower magnetic film 108 becomes part of the lower magnetic pole of the recording head. It is possible to improve the high frequency characteristics of the recording head by using a part of the high resistivity lower magnetic film 108 as a high resistivity film. The gap film 102 of the recording head has the same width as the upper and lower magnetic films, and the upper and lower highly saturated magnetic flux density films 101 and 103 are preferably of a higher saturated magnetic flux density than other magnetic pole portions. A high resistivity upper magnetic film 107 is formed on the highly saturated magnetic flux density film 101. A current flows through the coil 109 of the recording head, and data is recorded on the recording medium 110 by the magnetic field from the recording head. Also, the regeneration head may be a head having another structure using a ferromagnetic tunnel membrane.

9 is a plan view of the recording head portion of FIG. 8 viewed from above. The upper magnetic film 107 has a shape in which the above-mentioned upper magnetic film protrudes on the floating surface, and has an overall rounded flat shape, such as a triangular flask whose tip portion is narrowed. The coil 109 is wound in a spiral like a plan view, and is connected to the external lead 32 by a connecting portion 31. The upper shield film 108 serves as the lower magnetic film. The lower magnetic film is formed at the end of the upper shield film 108 in contact with the gap film 102.

Fig. 10 is a partial cross-sectional perspective view of the element using the spin valve magnetoresistive film used for the reproducing head of the recording / reproducing separate magnetic head of the present invention.

The MR sensor of the present invention has a structure in which the first magnetic layer 45 of the soft ferromagnetic material, the nonmagnetic metal layer 21 and the second magnetic layer 22 of the ferromagnetic material are attached to a suitable substrate 43 such as glass or ceramic. The ferromagnetic layers 45 and 22 have respective magnetization directions of about 90 degrees when no magnetic field is applied. In addition, the magnetization direction of the second magnetic layer 22 is fixed in the same direction as the magnetic field direction of the magnetic medium. The magnetization direction of the first magnetic layer 45 of the soft ferromagnetic material when no magnetic field is applied is inclined 90 degrees with respect to the magnetic field direction of the second magnetic layer. In response to the applied magnetic field, magnetization rotation occurs in the first magnetic layer 45.

In the present embodiment, the first magnetic layer 45, the nonmagnetic metal layer 21, the second magnetic layer 22, and the antiferromagnetic layer 23 can use a film structure used in the laminated structure shown in FIG. . In addition, Co ₈₂ Cr ₉ Pt ₉ , Co ₈₀ Cr ₈ Pt ₉ (ZrO ₂ ) _3, or the like may be used for the hard ferromagnetic layer 47. The film structure in FIG. 16 has a film structure corresponding to the first magnetic layer 45 and the second magnetic layer 22 in this embodiment, and their magnetic field directions are formed in the same manner as described above.

In this embodiment, a suitable lower film 24 such as, for example, Ta, Ru, or CrV is attached on the substrate 43 before the first magnetic layer 45 of the soft ferromagnetic material is attached. The purpose of attaching the underlying film 24 is to optimize the organization, crystal grain size and shape of the layer to be deposited later. The shape of the layer is very important for obtaining a large MR effect. This is because a very thin spacer layer of the nonmagnetic metal layer 21 may be used depending on the form of the layer. In addition, in order to minimize the effect of shunt current, the lower layer electrode has a high electric resistance. The lower layer can also be used as an inverse structure as described above. The substrate 43 is sufficiently flat with sufficient high electric resistance. In addition, the lower layer 24 of the substrate 43 having an appropriate crystal structure may be unnecessary.

The first magnetic layer 45 is a means for causing a bias in the longitudinal direction to maintain the single domain state in a direction parallel to the ground. As a means for generating the bias in the longitudinal direction, a hard ferromagnetic layer 47 having high coercive force, high squareness and high electric resistance is used. The hard ferromagnetic layer 47 is in contact with the region of the end portion of the first magnetic layer 45 of the soft ferromagnetic material. The magnetization direction of the hard ferromagnetic layer 47 is parallel to the ground.

The antiferromagnetic layer can be attached by contacting the area of the end of the first magnetic layer 45 and creates the necessary bias in the required longitudinal direction. These antiferromagnetic layers preferably have a blocking temperature sufficiently different from that of the antiferromagnetic layer 23 used to fix the magnetization direction of the second magnetic layer 22 of the ferromagnetic material.

Next, it is preferable to attach a capping layer of a high resistance material such as, for example, Ta to the entire top of the MR sensor. An electrode 28 is provided and a circuit is formed between the MR sensor structure and the current source and the detection means.

FIG. 11 is a film constituting the magnetoresistive element of the present invention formed in place of the respective films of the nonmagnetic metal layer 21, the second magnetic layer 22, and the antiferromagnetic layer 23 of FIG. 10. FIG. It produced by the apparatus as follows. In the atmosphere of 3 millitorr of argon, the following materials were sequentially laminated | stacked and produced on the ceramic substrate of thickness 1mm and 3inch in diameter. As the sputtering target, each target of tantar, nickel-20 at% iron alloy, copper, cobalt, and chromium-50 at% manganese was used. In the production of the chromium-manganese alloy film, the composition was adjusted by arranging 1 cm 3 chips of additional elements on the chromium-manganese target and increasing or decreasing the number of chips. In addition, when making a Co-Fe-Ni layer as a ferromagnetic layer, 1 cm <3> chips of nickel and iron were arrange | positioned on a cobalt target, and the composition was adjusted.

The laminated film is formed as follows. High frequency power is applied to the cathode on which each target is disposed to generate plasma in the apparatus. Each layer was formed by sequentially opening and closing one shutter disposed at each cathode. In forming the film, a magnetic field of about 30Oe was applied in parallel to the substrate using a permanent magnet to have uniaxial anisotropy, and the direction of the exchange coupling magnetic field of the chromium-manganese film was induced in the direction of the applied magnetic field.

Fig. 12 shows an example of a magnetic disk apparatus using the recording / reproducing separate magnetic head of the present invention. The recording / reproducing separate magnetic head 40 is mounted on a slider made of an Al ₂ O ₃ sintered body and floats on the thin film magnetic disk 51 as a recording medium which is rotated by a spindle 52 and is moved by the head positioning mechanism 53. Highly accurate position control. The reproduction signal and the recording signal read out by the recording reproduction separation type magnetic head 40 are signal processed by the recording reproduction signal processing system 55.

FIG. 13 is an operation principle diagram of the magnetic disk device using the recording / reproducing separate magnetic head shown in FIG. In the recording / reproducing type magnetic head 201, the position on the recording medium 203 is controlled by the head positioning mechanism 202 on the magnetic disk, which is the recording medium 203 rotating by a motor. The recording / reproducing separate magnetic head 201 is connected to the reproduction signal processing system 204.

The apparatus includes a DC motor for rotating a magnetic disk, a magnetic head for recording and reading information, a positioning device of a means for supporting and changing a position with respect to the magnetic disk, that is, an actuator, a voice coil motor, and an inside of the device. It consists of an air filter (air filter) etc. to keep it clean. The actuator consists of a carriage, a rail and a bearing, and the voice coil motor consists of a voice coil and a magnet. These figures show an example in which eight magnetic disks are attached to the same rotation axis and the total storage capacity is increased.

A magnetic disk is to be a surface roughness R _MAX is 100Å or less, preferably the surface of the medium favorable than 50Å. The magnetic disk forms a magnetic recording layer on the surface of a rigid substrate by a vacuum film formation method. A magnetic thin film is used as the magnetic recording layer. Since the film thickness of the magnetic recording layer formed by the vacuum film forming method is 0.5 m or less, the surface property of the rigid substrate is reflected as the surface property of the recording layer as it is. Therefore, the rigid gas uses a surface roughness R _MAX of 100 GPa or less. As such a rigid gas, a rigid gas mainly composed of glass, chemically-strengthened soda aluminosilicate glass or ceramic is suitable.

In the case where the magnetic layer is a metal, an alloy, or the like, it is preferable to provide an oxide layer and a nitride layer on the surface or to make the surface an oxide film. Moreover, use of a carbon protective layer is also preferable. By doing so, the durability of the magnetic recording layer is improved. Damage to the magnetic disk can be prevented even in the case of recording / reproducing at an extremely low float amount or in contact, start and stop.

As a result of measuring the performance (overwrite characteristic) of the recording head according to the present invention evaluated in such a configuration, excellent recording performance of about -50 Hz was obtained even in a high frequency region of 40 MHz or more.

According to this embodiment, even a high coercive force can be sufficiently recorded even in the high frequency range, and the data transfer speed of 15MB / sec or more, recording frequency of 45MHz or more, high speed transfer of data of magnetic disk 4000rpm or more, shortening of access time, increase of recording capacity, On the basis of the anisotropic magnetoresistance effect, a highly sensitive MR sensor having an excellent MR effect is obtained. Thus, a magnetic disk device of 3 Gb / in ² or more as the surface recording density is obtained.

<Example 2>

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of the recording thin film magnetic head having the upper magnetic film 11 and the lower magnetic film 15 through the nonmagnetic magnetic gap film 17 instead of FIG. The lower magnetic film 18 is formed at an end of the lower magnetic film 15 to form the magnetic gap through the magnetic gap on the magnetic gap side.

The lower end magnetic film is a portion having the magnetic gap of the lower magnetic film in a cross-sectional area parallel to the floating surface thereof and smaller than the cross-sectional area.

The lower magnetic film is smaller than the track width of the track width lower magnetic film.

In addition, the lower magnetic film protrudes from the floating surface to the floating surface side than the lower magnetic film.

The lower magnetic film of this embodiment is composed of a plated magnetic film having a saturation magnetic flux density of 1.5 Tesla or more. The lower magnetic film is formed by a plating or sputtering method having a specific resistance of 50 mu OMEGA cm or more at a width wider than that of the plating magnetic film.

The upper magnetic film 16 and the lower magnetic film 18 have the same track widths. The upper shield film which magnetically shields the upper magnetic film and the magnetoresistive effect film has a width wider than the track width, and the upper magnetic film can be constituted by a multilayer magnetic film.

<Example 3>

Similarly, FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of a thin film magnetic head having an upper magnetic film 11 and a lower magnetic film 15 through a nonmagnetic magnetic gap film 17 instead of FIG. 3. The upper magnetic film 11 and the lower magnetic film 15 are formed with an upper magnetic film on the upper magnetic film and an lower magnetic film on the lower magnetic film at the end of forming the magnetic gap on the magnetic gap side through the magnetic gap. .

In addition, the upper magnetic film and the lower magnetic film have a cross-sectional area parallel to their floating surface and have a smaller magnetic cross section than the upper magnetic film and the lower magnetic film.

The track width of the upper magnetic film and the lower magnetic film is smaller than that of the upper magnetic film and the lower magnetic film.

The upper magnetic film and the lower magnetic film protrude from the surface of the floating surface to the surface of the floating surface than the upper magnetic film and the lower magnetic film. In the present embodiment, the lower magnetic film 15 slightly protrudes from the tip of the upper magnetic film 11, but may be left in the same state.

The upper magnetic film and the lower magnetic film are each formed of a plated magnetic film having a saturation magnetic flux density of 1.5 Tesla or more, and are formed by a plating or sputtering method having a specific resistance of 50 μΩcm or more at a width wider than the frame width of the plated magnetic film.

In addition, the upper magnetic film and the lower magnetic film have the same track width. The upper shield film which magnetically shields the upper magnetic film and the magnetoresistive effect film has a width wider than the track width, and the upper magnetic film can be constituted by a multilayer magnetic film.

<Example 4>

An embodiment of a magnetic head to which the present invention is applied is shown in FIG. FIG. 16A is a cross-sectional structural view, FIG. 16B is a plan view, and FIG. 16C is a plan view of the floating surface.

The first magnetic film stated in the present invention corresponds to the lower core 125 shown in the drawing. In addition, the fourth magnetic film corresponds to the upper core 127. The coil 26 exists between the first magnetic film and the fourth magnetic film. The coil 126 is formed of a conductive material mainly composed of Cu, Au, Al, Ta, Mo, etc. having a thickness of 2 m. The insulating material 138 is filled for the purpose of maintaining electrical insulation between the coil 126 and the core 127.

In addition, a second magnetic film 132 and a third magnetic film 133 are inserted between the upper core 127 serving as the fourth magnetic film and the lower core 125 serving as the first magnetic film. have. These members form a magnetic gap (or recording gap) 110. The configuration so far is the same as the magnetic head according to the prior art.

In the present invention, there is no notch structure described in the prior art. Instead, in the present invention, a nonmagnetic film 131 having a single structure is provided in contact with the second magnetic film pattern 132 and the third magnetic film pattern 133. This nonmagnetic film 131 covers at least almost the entire area of the first magnetic film.

In addition, the coil 126 was provided in the insulating material 138 laminated on the nonmagnetic and insulating film 131.

Further, magnetic path members 141 and 142 and a magnetic gap 140 are provided between the upper core 127 and the lower core 125. This structure is preferable when a high hardness film such as an alumina film is applied to the insulating and nonmagnetic film 131, and has an advantage of reducing the manufacturing cost.

That is, the alumina film is formed by sputtering method or the like. When forming an alumina film, it also laminates on a 3rd magnetic film. It is of course necessary to selectively remove the alumina film from the third magnetic film in order to achieve the basic function of the magnetic head. However, the alumina film has a problem of high hardness. By introducing the structure of this invention, this process can be performed by the inexpensive method mentioned later.

In addition, by forming the members 140, 141, and 142 simultaneously with the second magnetic film 132 and the third magnetic film 133, an increase in manufacturing cost can be prevented.

In addition, reference numeral 137 shown in Fig. 16A is to protect the magnetic head function (protective film), reference numeral 138 denotes an electrical insulating layer, and reference numeral 130 denotes a flow of writing current through the coil. The reference numeral 136 denotes a magnetic head body (slider).

16B is a view of the magnetic head from the upper core side corresponding to the fourth magnetic film. It can be seen that the coil 126 is wound in a spiral shape. The coil 126 is coupled to the electrode 130 (Fig. 16A) in the contact hole 134. Here, the coil conductor 126 is disposed outside the presence regions of the second magnetic film 132 and the third magnetic film 133 to improve the high frequency characteristics. In addition, the upper core 127 and the lower core 125 are coupled to the magnetic contact hole 135. This magnetic contact hole 135 is configured to include the magnetic material 141, 142 described above.

The second magnetic film 132 and the third magnetic film 133, which are the characteristics of the magnetic head, are located at the front ends (ends approaching the recording medium) of the fourth magnetic film 127 and the first magnetic film 125, It has a structure which a part exposes from a sliding surface (strictly passes through a sliding surface protective layer in many cases). Fig. 16C shows the structure of the member as seen from the α direction. That is, the width | variety is narrow between the 4th magnetic film 127 and the 1st magnetic film 125, and the 2nd magnetic film 132 and the 3rd magnetic film 133 are sandwiched.

The second magnetic film 132 is magnetically coupled to the first magnetic film 125 and the third magnetic film 133 is magnetically coupled to the fourth magnetic film 127 (a state of magnetic path resistance). have. In addition, a magnetic gap is formed by being surrounded by the second magnetic film 132 and the third magnetic film 133. In the present embodiment, the magnetic gap length is set to 0.3 µm, but it goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to other conditions. As the magnetic gap, a nonmagnetic film such as a Cu film, an alumina film, or silicon oxide can be used.

Further, as shown in the drawing, the insulating nonmagnetic film 131, which is a single structure film, is exposed on the sliding surface. In this case, the mechanical non-magnetic film 131 can be made into a film containing a small amount of alumina film or diamond. This realizes a highly reliable magnetic head.

In order to realize high density recording, the width of the third magnetic film exposed on the sliding surface is set to 1.0 µm or less, and the thickness is set to 1.0 µm or less for the purpose of satisfying the frequency characteristics and the recording magnetic field strength.

This is the effect that the electrolytic plating method can be applied to the formation of the third magnetic film. In addition, a magnetic head capable of high frequency driving is realized by configuring the magnetic poles under the conditions described below.

In this invention, it set in order to raise the electrical resistance of both a 1st magnetic film and a 4th magnetic film (specific resistance value: 50 micro ohm-cm or more, the reason mentioned later). Specifically, a pattern was formed from a CoTa Zr amorphous alloy film, a sanddust, a CoZrNbTa amorphous alloy film, a multilayer film, or the like.

The sputtering method was used for film formation. In addition, dry methods, such as a lift-off method and a dry etching method, were used for the film pattern. These high resistivity films are difficult to form patterns by the electroplating method which is excellent in fine workability. Therefore, it is conventionally considered that application to the magnetic pole material which narrowed the magnetic pole width is difficult.

According to this structure, since such a material is applied only to the part with a large pattern area (pattern width), pattern formation by a dry method becomes possible. In addition, since these magnetic film patterns have a large area, even if a material having a high saturation magnetic flux density is not selected, the magnetic field required for recording can be guided to the magnetic pole tip portion (sliding surface side).

Unlike the second magnetic film, the third magnetic film located at the outflow end side (the trailing side) used a material having a saturated magnetic flux density of 1.5T or more. This is because the magnetic field from the outflow end side affects the quality (overwrite characteristics, magnetization inversion length, etc.) of the magnetic domain information recorded on the medium. Simply, the function of generating a sufficient recording magnetic field becomes important. It is well known from a material having a high saturation magnetic flux density that a sufficient recording magnetic field is generated.

Specifically, Co Ni Fe, Ni Fe, an alloy film or pure iron, iron nitride, or the like was used for the third magnetic film. Further, the electrical resistance of these films is lower than that of the first magnetic film or the fourth magnetic film described above at approximately 50 mu OMEGA cm or less, and the pattern formation by the electroplating method can be made possible to realize high density recording.

The high-resistance film, as its name implies, is difficult to pass electricity through. For this reason, segregation will occur easily at the time of electroplating, and a quality film cannot be grown. In addition, it is impossible to grow a film containing an insulating substance by the plating method. For the above reasons, a material having a low electric resistance and a high saturation magnetic flux density that did not contain an insulating substance as the third magnetic film was selected.

Next, the reason for setting the specific resistance values of the first magnetic film and the fourth magnetic film to 50 μΩcm or more is described. 19 is a result of measuring the frequency characteristics of the magnetic head produced by changing the specific resistance of the first magnetic film and the fourth magnetic film. The electron beam tomography method was used for this measurement. Here, the magnetic permeability µ of the magnetic film was fixed at approximately 1000. All the film thicknesses were fixed at 2.8 micrometers. In addition, the middle portion (Dg shown in FIG. 21) between the fourth magnetic film and the third magnetic film was 2 m.

From Fig. 19, when a material having a specific resistance of 16 mu OMEGA cm (general Ni-Fe material) is used, at a driving frequency of 90 MHz, it is generated (leak) magnetic field as compared with a result of driving frequency of 10 MHz (which is almost the same as a magnetostatic result). It can be seen that the lowering to 50% or less. In a material having a specific resistance of 60 μΩcm or less, the decrease in the generated magnetic field is small, and it is understood that a strong magnetic field is generated up to about 200 MHz.

In a magnetic disk device, high speed recording is required. In order to satisfy this demand, a magnetic head for generating a high frequency recording magnetic field is required. For this reason, a high resistivity material was used for the first and fourth magnetic films.

20 is for estimating the resistivity of the core portion (corresponding to the first and fourth magnetic films stated in the present invention) required for high frequency driving. The vertical axis of the figure shows the upper limit of the frequency at which a 65% generated magnetic field is obtained with respect to the generated magnetic field during low frequency driving of about 1 MHz (read from Fig. 19). The generated magnetic field of 65% is the lower limit of the required magnetic field for which normal recording is performed, and is a value obtained from the experience of device manufacturing.

From the figure, it can be seen that driving 150 MHz can be achieved by increasing the specific resistance of the core portion to 50 mu OMEGA cm.

Although the value of this specific resistance is satisfied about the case of the head condition used for this examination, it can develop to a general value by the following logic.

The frequency characteristic of the magnetic head depends on the value fg (ρ, μ, t) even if the stimulus conditions change, where ρ is the resistivity of the stimulus material, μ is the specific permeability of the stimulus material, t is the thickness of the stimulation film

There is a relationship. Substituting the above head condition (stimulation condition), which enables 150 MHz driving,

It becomes Therefore, even if the condition of the magnetic film changes, the head condition that enables 150 MHz driving is

It can be seen that it is necessary to satisfy. From this equation, it can also be seen that when a magnetic pole of t2 is used, a material of ρ <50 μΩcm can be applied.

This equation is satisfied under the same condition that the thickness of the upper core and the thickness of the lower core are the same. However, when there is a difference in thickness, it is confirmed that the above equation is established by using the thicker film thickness. In this manner, this equation can be applied to all magnetic heads having the configuration of the present invention.

In addition, high frequency driving conditions exceeding 150 MHz can be obtained from the results shown in FIG. 20. That is, fg 'is obtained by reading the value of rho that can generate a magnetic field of 65% or more with respect to the static magnetic field from the drawing, and substituting this value into equation (2). From this value, magnetic film conditions (ρ, μ, t) satisfying the expression (3) can be obtained.

Unless the film thickness is especially thin, driving at 150 MHz is realized by using a material having a resistivity of 50 mu OMEGA cm or more. Although a material with a resistivity of 50 μΩcm or more has been developed so far, a magnetic disk device using this material has not been realized because high frequency driving is being progressed with higher density of the device.

In other words, even if the density increases in the sliding direction (circumferential direction) due to the improvement of the driving frequency, the data is serialized, thereby increasing the access time (reel memory type), thereby providing random access characteristic of the magnetic disk. The castle is disturbed. For this reason, high density also requires high density in the track width direction by narrowing the magnetic pole width together with the sliding movement direction.

The film which has a high specific resistance and can be formed by the electroplating method has a high magnetization distortion constant, and has the drawback which a crack occurs easily in a mask material when forming a fine pattern. Moreover, the multilayer film in which the amorphous, oxide film, etc. with high specific resistance were sandwiched has the fault which pattern formation by an electroplating method cannot be performed. For this reason, there exists a fault which cannot implement | achieve a narrow magnetic pole width. For this reason, high frequency and high density cannot be obtained simultaneously. For this reason, the magnetic head of the 150 MHz drive using a material of high electric resistance and the magnetic disk device to which the magnetic head is applied are not realized.

In the magnetic head structure based on the present invention, the magnetic head initially driven at a frequency of 150 MHz or more by applying the conditions satisfying the above expression (3) to the materials and structures of the first and fourth magnetic films, in particular. A magnetic disk device using a magnetic head can be realized. This knowledge is not disclosed until now, and finally becomes clear as a result of FIGS. 19 and 20.

By the way, the result shown in FIG. 19 was not influenced by the value of the specific resistance of a 3rd magnetic film. This phenomenon was limited to the case where the volume of the third magnetic film stated in the present embodiment was small compared with the volumes of the first magnetic film and the fourth magnetic film.

Although FIG. 23 is the same frequency characteristic as FIG. 19, it uses as a parameter the ratio of the volume of a 3rd magnetic film and the volume of a 1st and 4th magnetic film. From the figure, it can be seen that the frequency characteristic deteriorates as the volume ratio approaches 1 (volume ratio 1 simply means a state in which patterns having the same film thickness overlap). This result is summarized in FIG. 24 (the same display as that in FIG. 20). 24, the upper limit of the frequency at which the generated magnetic field becomes 65% or more with respect to the static magnetic field is improved by decreasing the volume ratio. It can be seen that there is a tendency to saturation. When the volume of the third magnetic film is set to 10 ⁻⁴ or less of the volumes of the first and fourth magnetic films, it can be seen that the existence of the third magnetic film can usually be ignored. Therefore, in the present invention, the volume of the third magnetic film is defined within this range.

As the third magnetic film, other material conditions were also required from the necessity of generating a ferromagnetic field for recording. Fig. 22 shows the relationship between the saturation magnetic flux density Bs of the third magnetic film (here, Bs of the second magnetic film is also the same) and the generated magnetic field strength. The result of changing Bs of a 1st and 4th magnetic film as a parameter is shown. As a result, it can be seen that the ferromagnetic field is generated as the Bs of the third magnetic film is increased. In general, it is known that a medium having a high coercive force is preferable for high density recording. It is known that a strong magnetic field is required for recording as much as a medium having high coercivity. From these, the necessity of selecting a material of high Bs for the third magnetic film can be understood.

However, even if the Bs of the third magnetic film was deliberately increased, recording with high resolution was not realized. This reason was found to be due to deterioration of the magnetic field gradient. The result of having calculated | required the magnetic field inclination is also shown in FIG. From the figure, the range of Bs (experimental result; the range where the overwrite characteristic of 30 Hz) was obtained with high magnetic field inclination (standard value 0.9 or more) and high resolution was recorded as Bs of the first and fourth magnetic films. Is 1T, the Bs value of the third magnetic film is in the range of 1T to 1.7T, and the Bs value of the third magnetic film is from 1.2T to 2.3T when the Bs of the first and fourth magnetic films is 1.3T. Was in the range of.

This range can be summarized by a general relation in consideration of the magnetic path of the magnetic head. In the cross section of the magnetic head shown in FIG. 21, the magnetic flux flows from the first magnetic film 25 to the second magnetic film 32 and from the third magnetic film 33 to the fourth magnetic film 27. The quantity per unit length of the track width direction of the magnetic flux which flows through each magnetic path can be calculated | required approximately from the product of the thickness t (stimulation thickness) and Bs of a magnetic path. Therefore, when Bs and t of the first magnetic film and the fourth magnetic film are the same, magnetic flux proportional to Bs1 × t flows together. This magnetic flux flows entirely through the second magnetic film and the third magnetic film by using the depth length Dg (the overlap length between the first magnetic film and the second magnetic film, or the fourth magnetic film and the third magnetic film) shown in FIG. 21. It is understood that the product of the overlap length) and the product of Bs 2 are the same.

Here, since the third magnetic film is located on the outflow end side with respect to the second magnetic film, the magnetic field from here affects the recording state most. Therefore, the conditions of the third magnetic film are stated below.

In the case of this example, Dg = 2 mu m, t = 2. Since it is fixed at 8 micrometers, when Bs1 of a 1st and 4th magnetic film is set to 1T, this relationship is satisfied by setting Bs2 of a 3rd magnetic film to about 1.4T. The farther from this condition, the shortage or excess of magnetic flux (saturation of magnetic poles) occurs in the third magnetic film. For this reason, magnetic field distribution deteriorates.

Therefore, the range for obtaining a good magnetic field distribution can be described using the values of Bs1, t, Dg, and Bs2. First, when Bs1xt and DgxBs2 are calculated about the range from which the above-mentioned good magnetic field distribution is obtained,

Bs1xt = 2. 8

Dg × Bs2 = 2 to 3.4

Bs1 x t = 3. 64

Dg x Bs 2 = 2. 4 to 4. 6

It can be seen that the range of. If the above range is described using Bs1 × t / Dg × Bs2, the range in which a good magnetic field gradient is obtained is

It becomes By satisfying this condition, high resolution recording can be realized with the magnetic head structure of the present invention.

As described above, the specific resistance of the first and fourth magnetic films of the present invention is generally higher than that of the third magnetic film. In addition, the volume of the first magnetic film is larger than that of any of the third magnetic films. In addition, it is preferable that the stimulus structure satisfies the expression (4).

Next, other features of the magnetic head of the present invention are described below. FIG. 18 schematically illustrates a relationship between the fourth magnetic film 127 and other magnetic films 125, 132, and 133. In the example of Fig. 18A, the shape of the fourth magnetic film 127 is close to the shape of a house, and this shape corresponds to the shape of the upper core of the conventional magnetic head. In this embodiment, the areas of the second magnetic film 132 and the third magnetic film 133 exposed to the end face of the magnetic gap are narrower than the areas of the fourth magnetic film 127 exposed to the same. It is obvious.

This structure was able to realize good recording operation when a general medium was used. However, it has been found that the medium is not suitable for particularly small coercive force. The reason is that the recording operation is performed by the magnetic field from the region 151 shown in FIG. 18 (recording is caused by the weak magnetic field leaking from the fourth magnetic film 127 to the first magnetic film 125). As is apparent from Fig. 18A, since the width of the fourth magnetic film 127 is wide (as seen from the cross section approaching the medium surface), adjacent information is lost when a recording operation occurs.

Therefore, in the present invention, the fourth magnetic film 127 is changed as shown in Fig. 18B. Specifically, the edge (angle) of the fourth magnetic film was prevented from appearing on the sliding surface by providing a curvature at an end portion near the sliding surface. At the edge, magnetic charge tends to concentrate, and inevitably the leakage magnetic field from this becomes strong. As shown in Fig. 18, when the fourth magnetic film 127 has a curvature, there is no concentration of magnetic charges, and no recording malfunction occurs in the adjacent track in question. In this case, the area of the fourth magnetic film 127 may be narrower than that of the second and third magnetic films when viewed from the sliding surface. Also, as shown in Fig. 18C, the end of the fourth magnetic film 12 is retracted from the sliding surface by α, so that the same effect is obtained even in the shape of not exposing the sliding surface. This can be understood that the recording operation is not performed because the edge of the fourth magnetic film is far from the medium surface.

Although the above embodiment was performed only with respect to the fourth magnetic film, it is of course possible to change the first magnetic film. However, it is not necessary to change the fourth magnetic film. By changing the shape of the fourth magnetic film, the distance between the opposite magnetic poles (the distance between the magnetic poles in the region 151 shown in Fig. 18A) can be widened, so that the leakage magnetic field is not affected by the adjacent track. Next, a method of manufacturing a magnetic head (of the present invention) provided with a nonmagnetic film having a single structure in contact with the second magnetic film and the third magnetic film will be described with reference to FIG. The processes are stated in the order according to the drawings.

FIG. 17A illustrates a state in which a frame pattern 171-1 for determining the shapes of the second magnetic film and the third magnetic film is formed after stacking the first magnetic layer 125 constituting the lower core on the base structure. Indicates. At this time, in order to simultaneously form a back contact pattern, the frame 171-2 is formed. These frame patterns 171-1 and 171-2 are polymer resins, such as a resist, silicon oxide, etc. The cross section of the frame pattern needs to be vertical and fine. For this reason, once a thin resist pattern is formed and transferred to an inorganic film, the polymer resin of the lower layer is etched using the thin film pattern as a mask. For this etching, anisotropic etching using oxygen, fluorine gas, or the like is preferable (a multilayer process used for semiconductor element fabrication is preferable).

Thereafter, as shown in Fig. 17B, a second magnetic film, a nonmagnetic conductive film (specifically Cu, Ta, etc.) forming a recording gap and a third magnetic film are laminated. Electrolytic plating (or electroless plating) is used for this film formation. Thereafter, the resist patterns 172-1 and 172-2 are superimposed on a region that can at least cover the frame patterns 171-1 and 171-2.

After the pattern is formed, a region which cannot be covered by the resist pattern is removed by a wet method. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 17C, the second magnetic film 132, the magnetic gap 110, the third magnetic film 133, the magnetic material 141 and 142, and the magnetic gap are removed by removing the frame and the resist pattern. 140 may be formed.

Here, the two-dimensional shape of the second magnetic film and the third magnetic film are the same. At this time, since pattern formation is completed at once, efficiency is good.

Thereafter, as shown in Fig. 17D, an insulating layer 131 made of an alumina film or the like was deposited covering the entire region of the first magnetic film. Thereafter, the surfaces of the third magnetic film 133 and the magnetic material 142 (back contact) were exposed. In this treatment, a planarization step (a resin is thickly applied and a step is smoothed) used to mechanically polish the surface or to fabricate a semiconductor device. Then, a dry etching method is desired while maintaining the smooth surface. Etching is carried out to thickness The method of exposing a part of a projection part on the smooth surface by maintaining the etching speed of resin and a projection part at 1: 1) was used. In any case, since the insulating layer can be selectively removed in a single step, the productivity can be excellent and the cost of the manufacturing apparatus can be reduced.

After that, as shown in FIG. 17E, the coil 126 was formed, and then the insulating layer 138 was formed. The insulating layer 138 has a taper toward the third magnetic film. In addition, an opening portion 134 was formed in the back contact portion (for exposing the surface of the material 142) and the contact portion between the coil 126 and the electrode.

Thereafter, the fourth magnetic film 127 was formed by ion milling or lift off. Thereafter, the production of the main portion (recording portion only) of the magnetic head was completed by connecting the electrode to the contact hole 134.

By the above-mentioned steps, the magnetic pole structure shown in FIG. 16 can be formed. The magnetic head slider was manufactured by forming the magnetic head on a wafer on which a sintered body of alumina and titanium carbide was machined.

In addition, the structure of FIG. 17C can be formed even if the third magnetic film is formed by an electroplating method and then the pattern is etched in a mask. As this etching, the ion milling method is preferable. In addition, in order to form a magnetic gap and a 2nd magnetic film by this method, it is a matter of course that the insulating film (constituting a recording gap) and a magnetic film, such as an alumina film, need to be laminated | stacked previously under a 3rd magnetic film. In addition, even if this magnetic film is the same material as the 1st magnetic film further located below, it will not interfere. This is a condition that the third magnetic film is located on the outflow end side with respect to the second magnetic film.

The magnetic head of the present invention formed from the above process was attached to the hanging member 117 as shown in FIG. The rotary actuator 53 was used to position the magnetic head 40 attached to the tip of the hanging member 117 at any place on the recording medium 51. It was used to couple the rotary actuator 53 and the suspension member 117. The presence of this arm 114 becomes unnecessary in a recording device of 2.5 inches or less.

In the magnetic recording apparatus equipped with the magnetic head of the above structure, a high hardness alumina film or the like is exposed on the sliding surface side, thereby making the apparatus highly reliable. In addition, since the track width (stimulus width) of the recording portion constituting the magnetic head is determined by the width of the third magnetic film, and the pattern can be formed by the electroplating method, magnetic recording corresponding to a narrow track of 1 μm or less is possible. The device can be easily manufactured.

In addition, by applying a material having a high specific resistance to the first magnetic film and the fourth magnetic film, a magnetic head driving at a frequency of 150 MHz or more is realized.

From the above effects, it is possible to realize a high-speed, high-density (10 Gb / in 2 or more) magnetic recording apparatus which is conventionally considered impossible. This is the result of optimization of the insulating film structure, optimization of the magnetic film, and the like. The magnetic recording apparatus (magnetic head) of the present invention having this feature can be manufactured at low cost because no complicated manufacturing means is required.

According to the present invention, a thin film magnetic head for recording having less ambiguity and a high recording magnetic field is obtained, and a remarkable effect of achieving a magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus having a surface recording density of 4 Gb / in ² or more is obtained.

Claims (14)

A thin film magnetic head having upper and lower magnetic films, and having a nonmagnetic gap film interposed therebetween, An upper magnetic film is formed on the end of the upper magnetic film and the upper magnetic film on one side of the nonmagnetic gap film, and a lower magnetic film is on the end of the lower magnetic film and on the lower magnetic film on the other side of the nonmagnetic gap film. Formed, The upper magnetic film, the lower magnetic film, and the nonmagnetic gap film define a boundary of a track width of a magnetic recording medium when combined, and at least one of the upper magnetic film and the lower magnetic film is an air bearing than at least one of the upper and lower magnetic films. Protrude more towards the air bearing surface, And the saturable magnetic flux density of the upper magnetic film and the lower magnetic film is higher than the saturable magnetic flux density of the upper and lower magnetic films. The method of claim 1, Each of the upper magnetic film and the lower magnetic film is made of a plated magnetic film having a saturable magnetic flux density of at least 1.5 tesla, and the thin film magnetic head performs a predetermined high density recording at a predetermined high driving frequency. And wherein the upper magnetic film is formed by plating or sputtering to have a width wider than the frame width of the plating magnetic film and a specific resistance of at least 50 μΩ · cm. The method of claim 2, And the upper magnetic film and the lower magnetic film have the same track width, the upper and lower magnetic films each have a width wider than the track width, and the upper magnetic film is a multilayer magnetic film. A recording / playback separation type magnetic head in which a recording head for recording information and a reproduction head for reading information are integrally formed, The recording head according to claim 7, wherein the recording head comprises a thin film magnetic head according to claim 7. The method of claim 4, wherein the regeneration head comprises a ferromagnetic layer having a magnetoresistive effect, and an anti-ferromagnetic layer to allow the ferromagnetic layer to show one-way anisotropy, wherein the anti-ferromagnetic layer is made of a Cr-Mn-based alloy Magnetic recording head, characterized in that the recording / playback. In the magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus, A thin film magnetic disk on which information is recorded; Rotating means for rotating the thin film magnetic disk; A recording / playback separation type magnetic head having a recording head attached to a floating type slider for recording information and a reproduction head for reading information; And Moving means for supporting said floating slider and accessing said thin film magnetic disk And The magnetic disk rotates at least 4000 rpm during recording / reproducing, and has a recording frequency of at least 45 MHz, The magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the recording / reproducing separate magnetic head comprises a recording / reproducing separation magnetic head according to claim 9. In the magnetic head, A coil conductor sandwiched by the first magnetic film and the fourth magnetic film; A second magnetic film magnetically connected to the first magnetic film; A third magnetic film magnetically connected to the fourth magnetic film; And Magnetic gap forming film sandwiched by the second magnetic film and the third magnetic film Provided with The widths of the second and third magnetic films and the magnetic gap forming film define a boundary of the track width of the magnetic recording medium upon bonding; The second and third magnetic films and the insulating nonmagnetic single film in contact with the magnetic gap forming film apply at least the first magnetic film and support the coil conductor, while bearing an end surface of the insulating nonmagnetic single film in error bearing. To be exposed towards the air bearing surface, The specific resistance of each of the first and fourth magnetic films is higher than the specific resistance of the third magnetic film. 8. The magnetic head of claim 7, wherein the volume of the third magnetic film is less than or equal to 10 ^-4 of the volumes of the first magnetic film and the fourth magnetic film. The method of claim 7, wherein the saturable magnetic flux density of the fourth magnetic film is Bs1 (T), the film thickness is t (µm), and the saturable magnetic flux density of the third magnetic film is Bs2 (T), When the overlapping length in the floating direction between the three magnetic films and the fourth magnetic film is expressed in Dg (µm), A magnetic head satisfying a relation of 0.8 <Bs1 x t / Bs2 x Dg <1.5. The magnetic head of claim 9, wherein the second magnetic film is formed of the same material as the first magnetic film. 10. The magnetic head as claimed in claim 9, wherein the second magnetic film is formed by etching a portion of the first magnetic film using the third magnetic film as a mask. 10. The magnetic flux density of claim 3, wherein the saturable magnetic flux density of the third magnetic film is lower than the second magnetic film under the condition that the third magnetic film is located on the outflow end side of the rotation direction of the magnetic recording medium. 2 A magnetic head characterized by being higher than the saturable magnetic flux density of a magnetic film. In the magnetic recording apparatus using the magnetic head according to claim 7, When the specific resistance of the first magnetic film and the fourth magnetic film is expressed as ρ (μΩ · cm), specific permeability at 5 MHz, and film thickness is expressed as t (μm), A magnetic recording apparatus satisfying a relational expression of ρ / (μ x t2)> 0.0064. 15. The magnetic film of claim 13, wherein each of the first magnetic film and the fourth magnetic film is formed by one of a multilayer film in which magnetic films and nonmagnetic films are stacked, and a high electrical-resistance amorphous alloy film having a specific resistance of at least 50 µΩ · cm. And the third magnetic film is an alloy film mainly composed of Co-Ni-Fe having a specific resistance of 20 μΩ · cm or less under the condition that the magnetic head performs a high density recording selected at a predetermined high driving frequency. Magnetic recording device.