U.S. patent application number 10/674657 was filed with the patent office on 2004-04-01 for perpendicular magnetic recording head having a flux focusing main pole.
This patent application is currently assigned to Seagate Technology LLC. Invention is credited to Crawford, Thomas McLendon, Crue, Billy Wayne, Khizroev, Sakhrat, Litvinov, Dmitri.
Application Number | 20040061973 10/674657 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 31190659 |
Filed Date | 2004-04-01 |
United States Patent
Application |
20040061973 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Crue, Billy Wayne ; et
al. |
April 1, 2004 |
Perpendicular magnetic recording head having a flux focusing main
pole
Abstract
A perpendicular recording head for use with magnetic storage
media includes a flux focusing main pole. The main pole includes a
layer of material having a high magnetic moment, and a second layer
of material having a low magnetic moment. The low moment material
is tapered towards the main pole's tip, so that all magnetic flux
is channeled into the high moment material before writing to the
magnetic storage medium.
Inventors: |
Crue, Billy Wayne;
(Pittsburgh, PA) ; Khizroev, Sakhrat; (Coral
Gables, FL) ; Litvinov, Dmitri; (Pittsburgh, PA)
; Crawford, Thomas McLendon; (Pittsburgh, PA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Alan G. Towner
Pietragallo, Bosick & Gordon
One Oxford Centre, 38th Floor
301 Grant Street
Pittsburgh
PA
15219
US
|
Assignee: |
Seagate Technology LLC
Scotts Valley
CA
|
Family ID: |
31190659 |
Appl. No.: |
10/674657 |
Filed: |
September 29, 2003 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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10674657 |
Sep 29, 2003 |
|
|
|
09809118 |
Mar 15, 2001 |
|
|
|
60189359 |
Mar 15, 2000 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
360/125.12 ;
29/603.01; 29/603.07; 360/125.13; 360/317; G9B/5.044 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y10T 29/49021 20150115;
Y10T 29/49032 20150115; G11B 2005/0029 20130101; G11B 5/3153
20130101; G11B 5/1278 20130101; G11B 5/187 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
360/126 ;
360/317; 029/603.07; 029/603.01 |
International
Class: |
G11B 005/147 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A perpendicular recording head for use with magnetic storage
media, said perpendicular recording head, comprising: a main pole;
and means for concentrating magnetic flux from said main pole onto
a small surface area of a magnetic recording medium.
2. A perpendicular recording head for use with magnetic storage
media, said perpendicular recording head comprising: a main pole
having a tip, said main pole including: a first layer of material
having a saturation magnetic moment; a second layer of material
having a lower saturation magnetic moment lower than said
saturation magnetic moment of said first layer; said second layer
of material tapering towards said tip.
3. The perpendicular recording head according to claim 2, wherein:
said perpendicular recording head further comprises a flux return
pole and a yoke, said yoke forming a magnetic coupling between said
flux return pole and said main pole; and said main pole's first
layer is adjacent to said yoke.
4. The perpendicular recording head according to claim 2, wherein
said first layer defines a leading edge of said main pole.
5. A perpendicular recording head according to claim 2, wherein
said second layer comprises alloys of CoZrNb, CoZrTa, NiFe, or
combinations thereof.
6. A perpendicular recording head according to claim 2, wherein
said second layer has a saturation magnetic field not exceeding
approximately 16 kG.
7. A perpendicular recording head according to claim 2, wherein
said first layer comprises alloys of FeAlN, FeTaN, CoFe, CoFeNi, or
combinations thereof.
8. A perpendicular recording head according to claim 2, wherein
said first layer has a saturation magnetic field of at least
approximately 16 kG.
9. A perpendicular recording head according to claim 8, wherein
said first layer has a saturation magnetic field of at least
approximately 20 kG.
10. A perpendicular recording head according to claim 2, wherein
said main pole has a width less than approximately 0.10 m.
11. A perpendicular recording head according to claim 2, wherein
said main pole has a thickness ranging from approximately 20 A to
approximately 5 .mu.m.
12. A perpendicular recording head according to claim 11, wherein
said main pole has a thickness ranging from approximately 1,000 A
to approximately 2,000 A.
13. A method of making a perpendicular recording head, comprising
the steps of: providing a substrate upon which a read element, flux
return pole, and yoke; depositing photoresist, thereby defining a
channel within said photoresist, said channel being dimensioned and
configured to define a shape of a main pole; depositing a first
layer of material within said channel; and depositing a second
layer of material within said channel.
14. The method according to claim 13, wherein said steps of
depositing a first layer and depositing a second layer further
comprise the steps of depositing a material having a first
saturation magnetic moment to form said first layer, and depositing
a material having a second saturation magnetic moment to form said
second layer, one of said saturation magnetic moments being low
relative to the other of said saturation magnetic moments.
15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising the step
of forming a taper within said material having a low saturation
magnetic moment at a tip of said main pole.
16. The method according to claim 15, wherein said step of forming
a taper within said material having a low saturation magnetic
moment at a tip of said main pole comprises the steps of:
depositing a bi-layer photoresist on said first layer at said tip,
said by-layer photoresist having a lower layer and an upper layer,
said upper layer extending beyond said lower layer; and depositing
said second layer.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Patent Application No. 60/189,359, filed Mar. 15, 2000.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present application relates to perpendicular recording
heads for use with magnetic storage media. More specifically, the
invention relates to the use of high saturation magnetic moment and
low saturation magnetic moment layers within the main pole to
produce high recording densities and low manufacturing costs.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] Recording heads for use with magnetic storage media have
typically been of the longitudinal type, utilizing a pair of
opposing write poles with their tips in close proximity to each
other at the bottom surface of the recording head. The two poles
are connected typically at the top by a yoke, typically made of the
same ferromagnetic material as the poles. A coil is located in
close proximity to one of the two opposing poles. When current
passes through the coil, magnetic flux is induced in the yoke which
produces a magnetic field with a bubble-like contour, across a gap
separating the two poles. A portion of the magnetic flux across the
write gap will pass through the magnetic storage medium, thereby
causing a change in the magnetic state within the magnetic storage
medium where the head field is higher than the media coercive
force. The media coercive force is chosen high enough so that only
the head fields across a narrow gap of a thin film inductive head,
flowing with a slider on a air bearing between the surfaces of the
disk and the slider, modify the bits of information on the storage
media.
[0006] The bits of information are recorded on the disk along
concentric tracks that are separated by guard bands. The width of
the track plus that of the guard-band in which no information is
stored defines the track density. The length of the bit along the
track defines the linear density. The total storage capacity is
directly proportional to the product of track density and linear
density. The increase in linear density also enhances the data
transfer rate. The demand for higher storage capacity and higher
data rates led to the redesign of various components of disk
drives.
[0007] The recording densities possible with longitudinal recording
are limited to approximately 50 to 100 G bit/inch.sup.2, because at
higher recording densities, superparamagnetic effects result in
magnetic instabilities within the magnetic storage medium.
[0008] Perpendicular recording has been proposed to overcome the
recording density limitations of longitudinal recording.
Perpendicular recording heads for use with magnetic storage media
typically include a pair of magnetically coupled poles, consisting
of a main write pole having a small bottom surface area, and a flux
return pole having a large bottom surface area. A coil is located
adjacent to the main write pole, for inducing a magnetic field
between that pole and a soft underlayer. The soft underlayer is
located below the recording layer of the magnetic storage medium
and enhances the amplitude of the field produced by the main pole.
This in turn allows the use of media with higher coercive force,
consequently, more stable bits can be stored in the media. In the
recording process, an electrical current in the coil energizes the
main pole, which produces a magnetic field. The image of this field
is produced in the soft underlayer, such that about double the
field strength is produced in the magnetic media. The flux density
that diverges from the tip into the soft underlayer returns to the
main pole through the return flux pole. The return pole is located
sufficiently far apart from the main pole, such that the soft
material of the return pole does not affect the magnetic flux of
the main pole, which is directed vertically into the hard layer and
soft underlayer. Strong magnetic recording fields permit the use of
high anisotropy magnetic recording media. Therefore, significantly
higher recording densities may therefore be used before magnetic
instabilities become an issue.
[0009] Presently available perpendicular recording systems use main
write poles having uniform magnetic properties (although some
presently available longitudinal write poles include material
having a high saturation magnetic moment on the surfaces facing
each other). Such write poles are therefore limited by the
difficulty in depositing material having a high magnetic moment to
form the main write pole. Additionally, presently available write
poles lack the ability to generate very localized magnetic
recording fields, which are important for minimizing the trackwidth
necessary to accommodate the skew angle.
[0010] Accordingly, there is a need for a perpendicular recording
head having a main write pole made from material having a high
magnetic moment, that is also easy to manufacture. Additionally,
there is a need for a perpendicular recording head having a main
write pole generating a highly localized magnetic recording
field.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] The preferred embodiments of the present invention is a
perpendicular recording head having a main pole with a layer of
high saturation magnetic moment material and a layer of low
saturation magnetic moment material. The low moment material is
tapered towards the pole tip, so that magnetic flux is focused into
the high moment material before writing to the magnetic storage
medium.
[0012] A typical perpendicular recording head includes a main pole,
a flux return pole magnetically coupled to the main pole through a
yoke, and an electrically conductive coil adjacent to the main
pole. The bottom of the flux return pole will typically have a
surface area greatly exceeding the surface area of the main pole's
tip. Electric current flowing through the coil creates a magnetic
flux through the main pole. The direction of the flux may be
reversed by reversing the direction of current through the
coil.
[0013] A typical magnetic storage medium includes a recording layer
having a plurality of magnetically permeable tracks separated by
guard bands. A magnetically permeable lower layer, which is
magnetically soft relative to the tracks, is located below the
recording layer.
[0014] The main pole includes a layer of material having a high
magnetic moment, and a layer of material having a low magnetic
moment. The high moment material may be located adjacent to the
yoke, with the low moment material located at the rearmost portion
of the main pole. The low moment material is tapered towards the
pole tip, so that the pole tip itself includes only high moment
material. Manufacturing such a recording head begins by providing a
substrate upon which a conventional read element and associated
shields, flux return pole, yoke, and coil have been deposited.
Photoresist is applied to the surface of the back of the recording
head defining the location of the main pole's high moment material.
It is very difficult to plate or deposit high thicknesses of high
moment material. Therefore, only a thin layer of photoresist is
necessary to define the location of the high moment material,
corresponding to the low thickness of the high moment material.
Therefore, the photoresist may be applied defining a location for
the main pole having a very narrow width, while maintaining a low
aspect ratio (depth divided by width) in the channel defined by the
photoresist, thereby facilitating accurate deposition of the
photoresist. The high moment material is then deposited in the
channel defined by the photoresist. After performing ion milling to
remove any excess high moment material, a bi-layer photoresist is
applied to define the shape and location of the low moment
material. The use of a bi-layer photoresist permits a "shelf" to be
formed within the upper layer of photoresist, thereby defining the
taper of the low moment material towards the pole tip as the low
moment material is being deposited. Depositing the low moment
material and removing the photoresist completes the recording
head.
[0015] To use the recording head, the recording head (or slider) is
separated from the magnetic storage medium by a distance known as
the flying height. The magnetic storage medium is moved past the
recording head so that the recording head follows the tracks of the
magnetic storage medium. Current is passed through the coil to
create magnetic flux within the main pole. The combination of low
moment and high moment material within the main pole provides a
sufficiently thick channel for the magnetic flux to generate a
strong magnetic field. The taper of the low moment material near
the pole tip will focus this magnetic flux into the high moment
material, thereby generating a strong magnetic field within the
narrow area defined by the high moment pole tip. This magnetic
field will cause the magnetic domains in the tracks to align with
the magnetic field of the main pole. Changing the direction of
current changes the direction of flux created by the recording
head, and therefore changes the magnetic fields within the magnetic
storage medium. A binary "0" is recorded by maintaining a constant
direction of magnetic flux through the main pole, and a binary "1"
is recorded by changing the direction of magnetic flux through the
main pole.
[0016] The strong magnetic fields provided by this main pole
structure permit the use of a magnetic storage media having a high
anisotropy, thereby limiting superparamagnetic instabilities at
high recording densities. Additionally, a narrow main pole may be
defined during manufacture due to the low thickness of material
deposited and resulting low aspect ratio of the channel within the
photoresist wherein the main pole will be deposited. Lastly, the
highly localized magnetic field defined by the small bottom surface
area of the high moment material at the pole tip, permits the use
of a narrower trackwidth while avoiding problems created by the
skew angle, because the trackwidth is required only to accommodate
the small bottom surface area of the high moment layer of the write
pole.
[0017] It is therefore an aspect of the present invention to
provide a perpendicular recording head having a main pole with one
layer having a high saturation magnetic moment, and a second layer
having a low saturation magnetic moment.
[0018] It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a
perpendicular recording head wherein magnetic flux within the main
pole is focused towards a layer having a high saturation magnetic
moment at the pole tip.
[0019] It is a further aspect of the present invention to provide a
perpendicular recording head having a main pole with a narrow
width, corresponding to a narrow trackwidth.
[0020] It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a
main pole for a perpendicular recording head having a sufficiently
wide path for a strong magnetic field throughout its body, while
focusing this magnetic field onto a narrow bottom surface area at
the pole tip.
[0021] It is a further aspect of the present invention to minimize
the effects of the skew angle upon the necessary trackwidth.
[0022] It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a
main pole for a perpendicular recording head that is easy and
cost-effective to manufacture.
[0023] These and other aspects of the present invention will become
apparent through the following description and drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0024] FIG. 1 is a top view of a typical hard disc drive for a
computer for which the present invention may be used, illustrating
the disc drive with its upper housing portion removed.
[0025] FIG. 2 is a partially sectioned, partially schematic,
isometric view of a recording head according to the present
invention.
[0026] FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view of a recording head
according to the present invention.
[0027] FIG. 4 is a bottom (air-bearing surface) view of a recording
head according to the present invention.
[0028] FIG. 5 is a back view of a main pole for a recording head of
the present invention.
[0029] FIG. 6 is an isometric view of the tip of a main pole for a
recording head according to the present invention.
[0030] FIG. 7 is a side cross-sectional view of a substrate, read
element and associated shields, flux return pole, yoke, and coil
for a recording head according to the present invention.
[0031] FIG. 8 is a side cross-sectional view of a substrate, read
element and associated shields, flux return pole, yoke, coil, and
the main pole's high moment layer for a recording head according to
the present invention.
[0032] FIG. 9 is a side cross-sectional view of a substrate, read
element and associated shields, flux return pole, yoke, coil and
main pole high moment layer for a recording head of the present
invention, showing photoresist deposited on the desired portion of
the high moment layer.
[0033] FIG. 10 is a side cross-sectional view of a substrate, read
element and associated shields, flux return pole, yoke, coil, and
main pole high moment layer for a recording head according to the
present invention, illustrating removal of excess high moment
material through ion milling.
[0034] FIG. 11 is a side cross-sectional view of a substrate, read
element and associated shields, flux return pole, yoke, coil, and
high moment main pole material for a recording head according to
the present invention illustrating the bi-layer photoresist used
for deposition of low moment material.
[0035] FIG. 12 is a side cross-sectional view of a substrate, read
element and associated shields, flux return pole, yoke, coil, high
moment main pole material, and material for the low moment portion
of the main pole for a recording head according to the present
invention.
[0036] FIG. 13 is a side view of a main pole tip and magnetic
storage medium for a recording apparatus according to the present
invention.
[0037] Like reference numbers denote like elements throughout the
drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0038] The preferred embodiments of the present invention are
perpendicular recording heads for use with magnetic storage media,
having a main pole with a first layer made from a first material
having a high saturation magnetic moment, and a second layer of a
second material having a low saturation magnetic moment. As used
herein, perpendicular recording means orienting the magnetic
domains within the magnetic storage medium substantially
perpendicular to the direction of travel of the recording head. As
used herein, recording head is defined as a head or slider capable
of performing read and/or write operations, although the present
invention is directed primarily towards the write portion of the
recording head.
[0039] The invention will most commonly be used within a fixed disc
drive 10 for computers, one of which is illustrated in FIG. 1. The
fixed disc drive 10 includes a housing 12 (with the upper portion
removed and the lower portion visible in this view for maximum
clarity) dimensioned and configured to contain and locate the
various components of the disc drive 10. The disc drive 10 includes
a spindle motor 14 for rotating at least one magnetic storage
medium 16 within the housing, in this case a magnetic disc. At
least one arm 18 is contained within the housing 12, with each arm
18 having a first end 20 with a recording head or slider 22, and a
second end 24 pivotally mounted to a bearing 26. An actuator motor
28, such as a movable coil DC motor, is located at the arm's second
end 24, pivoting the arm 18 to position the head 22 over a desired
sector of the disc 16. The actuator motor 28 is regulated by
controller which is not shown and which is well known.
[0040] Referring to FIGS. 2-4, a recording head 22 of the present
invention is illustrated. The recording head 22 includes a
magnetically permeable main pole 30, oriented substantially
perpendicular to the magnetic storage medium 16, and having a tip
32. The tip 32 includes a bottom surface 34. The top 36 of the main
pole 30 is magnetically coupled to a flux return pole 38, possibly
through a yoke 40. The flux return pole 38 includes a bottom
surface 42, having a substantially larger surface area than the
surface 34. An electrically conductive coil 44 is located adjacent
to the main pole 30, and is dimensioned and configured to induce a
magnetic flux in the main pole 30. The coil 44 is preferably
surrounded by insulating material, as is well known in the art.
[0041] FIGS. 2-4 also illustrates a read element 46, located
between a pair of electrical contacts 48, 50. The read element 46
and electrical contacts 48, 50 are located between a pair of
ferromagnetic shields 52, 54. The read element 46 may be any
conventional read element, for example, magnetoresistive, giant
magnetoresistive, spin valve, or tunnel magnetoresistive. If a
giant magnetoresistive read element is selected, a permanent magnet
56 may be located above the read element 46. The entire structure
is deposited upon a substrate 58, with an example substrate
material being silicon.
[0042] FIG. 2 also illustrates a magnetic storage medium 16 for use
with a recording head 22. The magnetic storage medium, here a disc,
includes a recording layer 60 having a plurality of magnetically
permeable tracks 62, which are divided into sectors, with each
sector further subdivided into magnetic domains (not shown, but
well understood). The tracks 62 are separated by guard bands 64.
The disc 16 includes a magnetically permeable lower layer 66, which
is magnetically soft relative to the tracks 62. In use, the disc 16
will be separated from the tip 32 of the main pole 30 by a flying
height A. The flying height A is sufficiently small so that a high
concentration of flux from the main pole 30 will pass through the
tracks 62, but sufficiently large to prevent damage to the disc 16
from contact with the recording head 22.
[0043] A main pole of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS.
3-6. Whereas prior art main poles are typically made from a single
material having a uniform magnetic moment, a main pole 30 of the
present invention is made from a first layer of material having a
first saturation magnetic moments, and a second layer of material
having a second saturation magnetic moment. It is generally
desirable to provide a sufficiently thick main pole 30 to provide a
sufficient channel for the magnetic flux for a strong magnetic
field. As used herein, the thickness, designated by the arrow B in
FIG. 2 refers to the dimension of the main pole 30 that is
substantially parallel to the track, and the main pole's width,
designated by the arrow C in FIG. 2, refers to the dimension of the
main pole 30 parallel to the trackwidth. It is also desirable to
have a main pole 30 having a high saturation magnetic moment
(M.sub.s), thereby resulting in a strong magnetic write field. A
strong magnetic write field permits use of a magnetic storage
medium 16 having a high anisotropy, thereby limiting
superparamagnetic instabilities at high recording densities.
However, these characteristics must be balanced against the need
for having a main pole 30 with a narrow width C, so that a narrow
trackwidth is possible, and having a main pole 30 with minimized
width C and thickness B, so that problems created by the skew angle
are minimized. It is well known that the skew angle is the angle
between the recording head 22, and the track 62 over which the
recording head 22 is performing a read or write operation, caused
by the pivoting of the arm 18 on the bearing 26 to align the
recording head 22 with the appropriate track 62. The trackwidth
must be selected not only to accommodate the main pole 30 and read
element 46 when they are aligned parallel to the track 62, but also
when they are aligned at any angle within the possible range of
skew angles for the particular disc drive 10 for which they are
used. Additionally, it is very difficult to deposit a sufficient
thickness of material having a high saturation magnetic moment to
form an appropriately dimensioned main pole 30. As is well known,
saturation magnetic moment is related to saturation magnetic field
according to the equation B.sub.s=4.pi.M.sub.s, where B.sub.s is
the saturation magnetic field, and M.sub.s is the saturation
magnetic moment. Referring back to the example of the main pole 30
illustrated in FIGS. 3-6, the first layer 68 of the main pole 30,
in this example located adjacent to the yoke 40, and/or adjacent to
an edge of the main pole 30, for example, the leading edge 70, is
made from material having a high saturation magnetic moment. The
second layer 72 of main pole 30, located opposite the yoke 40
and/or adjacent to an edge of the main pole 30, for example, the
trailing edge 74, is made from material having a low saturation
magnetic moment. The second layer 72 is tapered at the tip 32,
gradually decreasing in thickness as the bottom surface 34 is
approached, so that the bottom surface 34 of the main pole 30
includes only the first layer 68. Therefore, a sufficient thickness
of low moment material can be deposited forming a portion of the
main pole 30 to provide a suitably thick channel for a strong
magnetic field. At the same time, a high moment material within the
first layer 68 provides a strong, localized magnetic field, which
is focused by the tapered portion 76 of the second layer at the
main pole's tip 32. Examples of material that may be used to form
the first layer 68 include FeAlN alloys, FeTaN alloys, CoFe alloys,
CoFeNi alloys, and others. FeAlN and FeTaN typically have a B.sub.s
of approximately 19 to 20 kG. CoFe typically has a B.sub.s of
approximately 25 kG. CoFeNi typically has a B.sub.s equal to
approximately 20 kG. Examples of material that may be used to form
the second layer 72 include NiFe permalloy alloys, such as NiFe and
Ni.sub.45Fe.sub.55, CoZrNb alloys, CoZrTa alloys, and others.
Permalloy will typically have a saturation magnetic field (B.sub.s)
of approximately 10 kG. Ni.sub.45Fe.sub.55 will typically have a
B.sub.s of approximately 16 kG. CoZrNb and CoZrTa will typically
have a B.sub.s of approximately 12 to 14 kG.
[0044] A method of manufacturing a recording head 22 of the present
invention is illustrated in FIGS. 7-12. Referring to FIG. 7, a
substrate 58 has been provided, upon which the read element 46, its
associated electrical contacts 48, 50 and magnetic shields 52, 54,
the flux return pole 38, the yoke 40, and coil 44 have been
deposited. As is well known, the coil 44 is surrounded by
insulating material 78, for example, thermally cured photoresist.
Additionally, the surface upon which the shield 52 is deposited
above the read element 46 and electrical contacts 48, 50 is a gap
material 80, for example, alumina. Referring to FIG. 8, the first
layer 68 has been deposited upon the surface formed by the yoke 40
and insulation 78. The high moment material may have a thickness
ranging from 20 A to 5 .mu.m, and in the present example ranges
from approximately 1,000 A to approximately 2,000 A. Because a
relatively thin layer 68 of high moment material will typically be
deposited, manufacturing a main write pole with a narrow width C is
also facilitated. Before depositing the first layer 68, photoresist
will be applied to the surfaces of the yoke 40 and insulation 78,
with a channel in the photoresist defining the location of the high
moment material 68. Photoresist is applied to this surface by a
conventional process known as spinning. When defining a channel
within the photoresist within which material will be deposited, it
is easiest to form a channel having a low aspect ratio (depth
divided by width) than it is to form a channel having a high aspect
ratio. Therefore, the relatively low thickness of the first layer
68 permits a channel with a narrow width, which will ultimately
correspond to the main pole's width C, to be formed while
maintaining a low aspect ratio. Therefore, it is possible to
provide main pole widths, and therefore trackwidths, of less than
0.10 .mu.m,. and possibly as low as approximately 0.03 .mu.m.
[0045] Referring to FIG. 9, a layer of photoresist 82 has been
deposited on a first layer 68, permitting the removal by ion
milling of the excess material from the first layer 68 illustrated
in FIG. 10. Next, a bi-layer photoresist is applied at each end of
the first layer 68, thereby defining the shape and location of the
eventual second layer 72. The bi-layer photoresist 84 of the FIG.
11 includes a first photoresist layer 86 and a second photoresist
layer 88, with each of the layers 86, 88 having different
qualities, thereby enabling the upper layer 88 to extend beyond the
edge of the lower layer 86. The resulting overhang 90 of the upper
layer 88 will cause the second layer 72 to be deposited forming a
tapered portion 76 at the main poles' tip 32, as illustrated in
FIG. 12. Upon removal of the photoresist 84, the final recording
head 22 will have the structure of FIG. 3.
[0046] Writing to the magnetic storage medium 16 is best explained
referring to FIGS. 2 and 13. The disc 16 is rotated relative to the
recording head 22 so that the recording head 22 is located above
the appropriate sectors of the track 62. As recording progresses,
the disc 16 will move past the recording head 22. Current will be
supplied to the coil 44, thereby inducing a magnetic field within
the main pole 30. As a resulting magnetic flux will pass through
both the first layers 68 and second layer 72 of the main pole 30,
being focused entirely into the first layer 68 at the tip 32. As a
domain within a sector of the track 62 passes under the main pole
30, the orientation of its magnetic field will correspond to the
orientation of the magnetic field of the main pole 30. As the main
pole 30 passes over the disc 16, the direction of current passing
through the coil 44 will remain constant when a binary "0" is being
recorded, thereby creating consistent orientations of the magnetic
fields within the track 62. The current passing through the coil 44
will reverse directions when a binary "1" is being recorded,
thereby changing the orientation of a magnetic domain within the
tracks 62.
[0047] Reading from the magnetic storage medium 16 is accomplished
by passing the magnetic storage medium 16 under the recording head
22 so that a track 62 of the storage medium 16 passes under the
read element 46. The domain of the track 62 directly under the read
element 46 will be read. The magnetic fields within the track 62
directly underneath the read element 46 will be oriented either up
or down. Depending on the type of read element 46 used, the
magnetizations within at least some of the ferromagnetic layers
will rotate to correspond to the magnetizations within the domain
of the track 62 currently being read. The magnetizations within the
layers of the read element will therefore be oriented either
parallel (corresponding to minimum resistance) or anti-parallel
(corresponding to maximum resistance). A sensed current is applied
to test the resistance of the read element 46. A constant level of
resistance, regardless of whether that level of resistance is the
minimum or maximum level, is interpreted as a binary "0."
Similarly, a change in the level of resistance from the minimum to
maximum, or from maximum to minimum, is read as a binary "1."
[0048] While a specific embodiment of the invention has been
described in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the
art that various modifications and alternatives to those details
could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the
disclosure. Accordingly, the particular arrangements disclosed are
meant to be illustrative only and not limiting as to the scope of
the invention which is to be given the full breadth of the appended
claims and any and all equivalents thereof.
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