U.S. patent application number 13/224954 was filed with the patent office on 2013-03-07 for thin-film magnetic head, method of manufacturing the same, head gimbal assembly, and hard disk drive.
This patent application is currently assigned to SAE MAGNETICS (H.K.) LTD.. The applicant listed for this patent is Atsushi Iijima, Hiroyuki Ito, Yoshitaka Sasaki, Kazuki Sato, Shigeki Tanemura. Invention is credited to Atsushi Iijima, Hiroyuki Ito, Yoshitaka Sasaki, Kazuki Sato, Shigeki Tanemura.
Application Number | 20130057987 13/224954 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 47749023 |
Filed Date | 2013-03-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130057987 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Sasaki; Yoshitaka ; et
al. |
March 7, 2013 |
THIN-FILM MAGNETIC HEAD, METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME, HEAD
GIMBAL ASSEMBLY, AND HARD DISK DRIVE
Abstract
A thin-film magnetic head is constructed such that a main
magnetic pole layer, a write shield layer, a gap layer, and a
thin-film coil are laminated on a substrate. The thin-film magnetic
head has a leading shield part opposing the main magnetic pole
layer on the substrate side of the main magnetic pole layer. The
thin-film magnetic head has a substrate side coil layer disposed
between the main magnetic pole layer and the substrate. In the
thin-film magnetic head, a space between a lower end face of the
leading shield part and the substrate and a space between an upper
end face in the substrate side coil layer and the substrate are
formed equal to each other.
Inventors: |
Sasaki; Yoshitaka; (US)
; Ito; Hiroyuki; (US) ; Tanemura; Shigeki;
(US) ; Sato; Kazuki; (US) ; Iijima;
Atsushi; (US) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Sasaki; Yoshitaka
Ito; Hiroyuki
Tanemura; Shigeki
Sato; Kazuki
Iijima; Atsushi |
|
|
US
US
US
US
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
SAE MAGNETICS (H.K.) LTD.
Hong Kong
CA
HEADWAY TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Milpitas
|
Family ID: |
47749023 |
Appl. No.: |
13/224954 |
Filed: |
September 2, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
360/245.3 ;
29/603.07; 428/815.2; G9B/5.051; G9B/5.086; G9B/5.151 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G11B 5/3106 20130101;
Y10T 428/1186 20150115; G11B 5/3136 20130101; Y10T 29/49032
20150115; G11B 5/1278 20130101; G11B 5/3116 20130101; G11B 5/607
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
360/245.3 ;
428/815.2; 29/603.07; G9B/5.151; G9B/5.086; G9B/5.051 |
International
Class: |
G11B 5/31 20060101
G11B005/31; H04R 31/00 20060101 H04R031/00; G11B 5/33 20060101
G11B005/33; G11B 5/48 20060101 G11B005/48; G11B 5/187 20060101
G11B005/187 |
Claims
1. A thin-film magnetic head constructed such that a main magnetic
pole layer having a magnetic pole end face on a side of a
medium-opposing surface opposing a recording medium, a write shield
layer having a write shield end face disposed in the
medium-opposing surface, a gap layer formed between the main
magnetic pole layer and write shield layer, and a thin-film coil
wound around any of the main magnetic pole layer, the write shield
layer or a shield magnetic layer connected the main magnetic pole
layer are laminated on a substrate, the thin-film magnetic head
comprising: a leading shield part having a shield end face disposed
in the medium-opposing surface, and opposing the main magnetic pole
layer through a nonmagnetic thin-film on the substrate side of the
main magnetic pole layer, wherein the thin-film coil has a
substrate side coil layer disposed between the main magnetic pole
layer and the substrate, and wherein a space between a lower end
face disposed at a position closest to the substrate in the leading
shield part and the substrate and a space between an upper end face
disposed at a position most distanced from the substrate in the
substrate side coil layer and the substrate are formed equal to
each other.
2. The thin-film magnetic head according to claim 1, further
comprising: a lower front shield part disposed at a position closer
to the medium-opposing surface than is the substrate side coil
layer, and having an upper end face, disposed at a position most
distanced from the substrate, formed without level difference with
respect to the upper end face of the substrate side coil layer,
wherein the upper end face of the lower front shield part and the
lower end face of the leading shield part are directly
connected.
3. The thin-film magnetic head according to claim 1, further
comprising: a base insulating layer in contact with a lower end
face disposed at a position closest to the substrate in the main
magnetic pole layer, through the nonmagnetic thin-film, wherein the
upper end face of the substrate side coil layer is in direct
contact with the base insulating layer.
4. The thin-film magnetic head according to claim 2, further
comprising: an opposing insulating layer having a front end face
disposed in the medium-opposing surface, and disposed on the
medium-opposing surface side of the lower front shield part,
wherein the leading shield part is in direct contact with both the
opposing insulating layer and the lower front shield part.
5. The thin-film magnetic head according to claim 4, wherein an
upper end face disposed at a position most distanced from the
substrate in the opposing insulating layer is formed without level
difference with respect to the upper end face of the substrate side
coil layer and the upper end face of the lower front shield
part.
6. The thin-film magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein the
opposing insulating layer has an opposing depression formed by
disposing an upper end face thereof disposed at a position most
distanced from the substrate at a position closer to the substrate
than is the upper end face of the lower front shield part, and
wherein the leading shield part wraps around to an inside of the
opposing depression and thereby has an expansion structure in which
a height of a part thereof on the medium-opposing surface side in a
direction along the medium-opposing surface is expanded.
7. A thin-film magnetic head constructed such that a main magnetic
pole layer having a magnetic pole end face on a side of a
medium-opposing surface opposing a recording medium, a write shield
layer having a write shield end face disposed in the
medium-opposing surface, a gap layer formed between the main
magnetic pole layer and write shield layer, and a thin-film coil
wound around any of the main magnetic pole layer, the write shield
layer or a shield magnetic layer connected the main magnetic pole
layer are laminated on a substrate, the thin-film magnetic head
comprising: a leading shield part having a shield end face disposed
in the medium-opposing surface, and opposing the main magnetic pole
layer through a nonmagnetic thin-film on the substrate side of the
main magnetic pole layer, wherein the thin-film coil has a
substrate side coil layer disposed between the main magnetic pole
layer and the substrate, and an upper end face disposed at a
position most distanced from the substrate in the substrate side
coil layer is in contact with a lower end face disposed at a
position closest to the substrate in the main magnetic pole layer,
through the nonmagnetic thin-film.
8. The thin-film magnetic head according to claim 7, wherein a
lower end face disposed at a position closest to the substrate in
the leading shield part is disposed at a position closer to the
substrate than is a lower end face disposed at a position closest
to the substrate in the substrate side coil layer.
9. The thin-film magnetic head according to claim 7, wherein the
leading shield part has a lateral width reaching, from the
medium-opposing surface, the substrate side coil layer, and is
formed larger in height along the medium-opposing surface than the
substrate side coil layer.
10. The thin-film magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein the
write shield layer comprises an opposing shield part opposing the
main magnetic pole layer in the medium-opposing surface, and an
upper front shield part connected to the opposing shield part
without straddling the thin-film coil and disposed on the
medium-opposing surface side of the thin-film coil, and wherein the
upper front shield part comprises a shield front end face disposed
in the medium-opposing surface, a shield upper end face disposed at
a position distanced more from the substrate than is the shield
front end face and formed along an intersecting direction
intersecting the medium-opposing surface and distanced from the
medium-opposing surface, and a shield connecting part directly
connecting the shield front end face to the shield upper end
face.
11. The thin-film magnetic head according to claim 10, wherein the
upper front shield part is formed having a part on the
medium-opposing surface cut off such that the shield connecting
part has a receding tilt structure tilted to be distanced more from
the medium-opposing surface than is a flat surface connecting the
shield front end face and the shield upper end face at a shortest
distance.
12. A method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head constructed
such that a main magnetic pole layer having a magnetic pole end
face on a side of a medium-opposing surface opposing a recording
medium, a write shield layer having a write shield end face
disposed in the medium-opposing surface, a gap layer formed between
the main magnetic pole layer and write shield layer, and a
thin-film coil wound around any of the main magnetic pole layer,
the write shield layer or a shield magnetic layer connected the
main magnetic pole layer are laminated on a substrate; the method
comprising: a conductor layer forming step of forming a conductor
layer for forming a substrate side coil layer disposed between the
main magnetic pole layer and the substrate among coil layers
constituting the thin-film coil; a common flat surface forming step
of performing planarization processing on a surface of the
conductor layer to form a common flat surface including an upper
end face disposed at a position most distanced from the substrate
in the conductor layer; a magnetic layer forming step of forming,
directly on the common flat surface, a leading magnetic layer for
forming a leading shield part having a shield end face disposed in
the medium-opposing surface, and opposing the main magnetic pole
layer through a nonmagnetic thin-film on the substrate side of the
main magnetic pole layer; a leading shield part forming step of
forming the leading shield part by etching a surface of the leading
magnetic layer formed by the magnetic layer forming step according
to a shape of the main magnetic pole layer; and a main magnetic
pole layer forming step of forming the main magnetic pole layer
after formation of the nonmagnetic thin-film on a surface of the
leading shield part.
13. The method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head according
to claim 12, further comprising: a lower front magnetic layer
forming step of forming a lower front magnetic layer for forming a
lower front shield part disposed on a side of the medium-opposing
surface than the substrate side coil layer, wherein planarization
processing is performed on the lower front magnetic layer together
with the conductor layer by the planarization processing in the
common flat surface forming step such that a surface of the lower
front magnetic layer is included in the common flat surface.
14. The method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head according
to claim 13, wherein the magnetic layer forming step is performed
such that the leading magnetic layer is formed on the surface of
the lower front magnetic layer.
15. The method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head according
to claim 13, further comprising: an opposing insulating layer
forming step of forming an opposing insulating layer having a front
end face disposed in the medium-opposing surface, and disposed on
the medium-opposing surface side of the lower front shield part;
and an opposing depression forming step of performing etching
process on an upper end face disposed at a position most distanced
from the substrate in the opposing insulating layer to form an
opposing depression in the upper end face, wherein the magnetic
layer forming step is performed such that the leading magnetic
layer wraps around to an inside of the opposing depression.
16. A method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head constructed
such that a main magnetic pole layer having a magnetic pole end
face on a side of a medium-opposing surface opposing a recording
medium, a write shield layer having a write shield end face
disposed in the medium-opposing surface, a gap layer formed between
the main magnetic pole layer and write shield layer, and a
thin-film coil wound around any of the main magnetic pole layer,
the write shield layer or a shield magnetic layer connected the
main magnetic pole layer are laminated on a substrate; the method
comprising: a magnetic layer forming step of forming a leading
magnetic layer for forming a leading shield part having a shield
end face disposed in the medium-opposing surface, and opposing the
main magnetic pole layer through a nonmagnetic thin-film on the
substrate side of the main magnetic pole layer; a conductor layer
forming step of forming a conductor layer for forming a substrate
side coil layer disposed between the main magnetic pole layer and
the substrate among coil layers constituting the thin-film coil; a
planarization step of performing planarization processing on
surfaces of the conductor layer and the leading magnetic layer; a
leading shield part forming step of forming the leading shield part
by etching surfaces of the leading magnetic layer formed by the
magnetic layer forming step and the conductor layer formed by the
conductor layer forming step, according to a shape of the main
magnetic pole layer; and a main magnetic pole layer forming step of
forming the main magnetic pole layer after formation of the
nonmagnetic thin-film on surfaces of the leading shield part and
the conductor layer.
17. The method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head according
to claim 12, further comprising: an opposing shield part forming
step of forming, after the main magnetic pole layer is formed, an
opposing shield part constructing the write shield layer such that
the opposing shield part opposes the main magnetic pole layer in
the medium-opposing surface; a first shield part forming step of
forming, on the medium-opposing surface side of the conductor
layer, a first shield part for forming the write shield layer such
that the first shield part is connected to the opposing shield part
formed by the opposing shield part forming step and disposed in the
medium-opposing surface; a linking shield part forming step of
forming a linking shield part constructing the write shield layer
such that the linking shield part is connected to the first shield
part formed by the first shield part forming step, straddles the
thin-film coil, and is receded from the medium-opposing surface to
be distanced from the medium-opposing surface; and a trimming step
of cutting off a part on the medium-opposing surface side which is
not covered with the linking shield part of the first shield
part.
18. The method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head according
to claim 17, wherein in the trimming step, the part on the
medium-opposing surface side which is not covered with the linking
shield part of the first shield part is cut off using the linking
shield part formed by the linking shield part forming step as a
mask.
19. The method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head according
to claim 17, wherein the trimming step is performed in a manner to
leave a part of a front end face of the first shield part disposed
in the medium-opposing surface as a shield front end face.
20. A head gimbal assembly comprising a thin-film magnetic head
formed on a support and a gimbal for securing the support; wherein
the thin-film magnetic head is constructed such that a main
magnetic pole layer having a magnetic pole end face on a side of a
medium-opposing surface opposing a recording medium, a write shield
layer having a write shield end face disposed in the
medium-opposing surface, a gap layer formed between the main
magnetic pole layer and write shield layer, and a thin-film coil
wound around any of the main magnetic pole layer, the write shield
layer or a shield magnetic layer connected the main magnetic pole
layer are laminated on a substrate, the thin-film magnetic head
comprising: a leading shield part having a shield end face disposed
in the medium-opposing surface, and opposing the main magnetic pole
layer through a nonmagnetic thin-film on the substrate side of the
main magnetic pole layer, wherein the thin-film coil has a
substrate side coil layer disposed between the main magnetic pole
layer and the substrate, and wherein a space between a lower end
face disposed at a position closest to the substrate in the leading
shield part and the substrate and a space between an upper end face
disposed at a position most distanced from the substrate in the
substrate side coil layer and the substrate are formed equal to
each other.
21. A hard disk drive comprising a head gimbal assembly having a
thin-film magnetic head and a recording medium opposing the
thin-film magnetic head; wherein the thin-film magnetic head is
constructed such that a main magnetic pole layer having a magnetic
pole end face on a side of a medium-opposing surface opposing a
recording medium, a write shield layer having a write shield end
face disposed in the medium-opposing surface, a gap layer formed
between the main magnetic pole layer and write shield layer, and a
thin-film coil wound around any of the main magnetic pole layer,
the write shield layer or a shield magnetic layer connected the
main magnetic pole layer are laminated on a substrate, the
thin-film magnetic head comprising: a leading shield part having a
shield end face disposed in the medium-opposing surface, and
opposing the main magnetic pole layer through a nonmagnetic
thin-film on the substrate side of the main magnetic pole layer,
wherein the thin-film coil has a substrate side coil layer disposed
between the main magnetic pole layer and the substrate, and wherein
a space between a lower end face disposed at a position closest to
the substrate in the leading shield part and the substrate and a
space between an upper end face disposed at a position most
distanced from the substrate in the substrate side coil layer and
the substrate are formed equal to each other.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a thin-film magnetic head
which performs a magnetic recording action by a perpendicular
magnetic recording scheme, a method of manufacturing the same, a
head gimbal assembly, and a hard disk drive.
[0003] 2. Related Background Art
[0004] A hard disk drive has a large recording capacity and is used
as the heart of a storage device. The hard disk drive records and
reproduces data to/from a hard disk (recording medium) by a
thin-film magnetic head.
[0005] The thin-film magnetic heads can roughly be classified
according to their recording schemes into those of longitudinal
magnetic recording type and those of perpendicular magnetic
recording type. The longitudinal magnetic recording scheme records
data in a (longitudinal) direction within a recording surface of a
hard disk (recording medium), while the perpendicular magnetic
recording scheme records data such that the direction of recording
magnetization formed in the hard disk is made perpendicular to the
recording surface. The thin-film magnetic heads of perpendicular
magnetic recording type have been considered more promising than
those of longitudinal magnetic recording type, since they can
realize a much higher recording density than that in the
longitudinal magnetic recording scheme, while their recorded hard
disks are less susceptible to heat fluctuation.
[0006] Meanwhile, a conventional magnetic head of perpendicular
magnetic recording type (perpendicular magnetic recording head
which will also be referred to as "PMR" in the following) has a
magnetic pole layer and a thin-film coil. The PMR has a structure
of electromagnet which the thin-film coil are wound around the
magnetic pole layer.
[0007] As the conventional PMR, PMRs each including a shield layer
on a trailing side of a main magnetic pole layer are disclosed, for
example, in JP 2007-272958 (referred to also as Patent Document 1),
JP 2010-176732 (referred to also as Patent Document 2), JP
2010-157303 (referred to also as Patent Document 3), JP 2009-295262
(referred to also as Patent Document 4) and so on. A PMR 600
illustrated in FIG. 42 is one example of such PMRs.
[0008] The PMR 600 has a main magnetic pole layer 601 through which
a recording magnetic field along the direction perpendicular to the
recording medium passes, a thin-film coil 602 wound around the main
magnetic pole layer 601, a recording gap layer 603, and a shield
layer 604 opposite to the main magnetic pole layer 601 with the
recording gap layer 603 intervening therebetween. In this PMR 600,
a lower thin-film coil 612 is disposed between the main magnetic
pole layer 601 and a reproducing head 619.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] The conventional PMR causes a current to flow through the
thin-film coil, so as to generate a magnetic field, thereby
recording data onto the recording medium. In the case of the PMR
600, for example, a current is caused to flow through the thin-film
coil 602 so as to record data onto the recording medium.
[0010] However, the thin-film coil 602 generates heat when electric
current is passed therethrough, and the heat conducts to the
coil-insulating layer 605 around the thin-film coil 602. The
coil-insulating layer 605 is formed of an organic material such as
photoresist or the like and is thus larger in expansion coefficient
than the thin-film coil 602. For this reason, when heat is applied,
the coil-insulating layer 605 is likely to expand.
[0011] When the coil-insulating layer 605 expands, the end part on
the ABS 606 side of the shield layer 604 is pushed to the side
outer than the ABS 606 and protrudes.
[0012] The PMR is formed using the thin-film forming process on an
electronic part called slider. When data is recorded on a recording
medium using the PMR, the slider is flying from the recording
medium. The height of the slider frying from the recording medium
(the distance between the recording medium and the slider) is
called a frying height and known to be a very small distance of
about 7 to 10 nm. In order to achieve a high recording density of
about 650 to 850 GB/in.sup.2 (650 to 850 gigabytes per square
inch), the frying height needs to be set to 5 to 8 nm or less.
[0013] However, when the medium-opposing surface projects as in the
above-described PMR 600, the PMR collides with the recording medium
and becomes more likely to break. In order to avoid such breakage
of the
[0014] PMR, it is unavoidable to increase the frying height so as
to prevent the PMR from colliding with the recording medium. For
this reason, it is difficult to make the frying height smaller in
the conventional PMR. As a result, it is very difficult to increase
the recording density in the conventional PMR.
[0015] Such protrusion of the magnetic pole layer is mainly caused
by heat generation of the thin-film coil. Therefore, to suppress
the protrusion of the magnetic pole layer, it is sufficient to
suppress the heat generation of the thin-film coil. Generally, the
heat generated from the conductor through which the electric
current flows is called Joule heat and is known to be proportional
to the square of the magnitude of electric current and the electric
resistance of the conductor (Joule's law). Accordingly, to suppress
the heat generation of the thin-film coil, it is sufficient to
reduce the electric resistance of the thin-film coil.
[0016] The electric resistance of the thin-film coil is inversely
proportional to the sectional area of the thin-film coil (the area
of the section in the direction intersecting the direction in which
the electric current flows). Therefore, to reduce the electric
resistance of the thin-film coil, it is sufficient to increase the
sectional area of the thin-film coil. By reducing the number of
windings (also called the number of turns) wound around the
magnetic pole layer of the thin-film coil, the thin-film coil is
able to be made thick and the sectional area is able to be made
large. However, this reduces the intensity of the magnetic field
generated by the thin-film coil, causing a problem of decreasing
the writing characteristics of the PMR (for example, the overwrite
characteristics).
[0017] Further, the sectional area of the thin-film coil is able to
be increased also by widening the width of the thin-film coil or by
increasing the thickness of the thin-film coil without changing the
number of turns of the thin-film coil. For example, in the case of
the PMR 600, the sectional area of the thin-film coil is able to be
increased even by widening the width w602 of the thin-film coil 602
or increasing the thickness h602.
[0018] However, widening the width w602 makes it difficult to
shorten the magnetic path length. The magnetic path length is the
length of the magnetic pole layer which the thin-film coil is wound
around, and the size of the magnetic path length is affected mainly
by a width LX illustrated in FIG. 42.
[0019] Incidentally, alternating current is passed through the
thin-film coil, and the impedance during this time is proportional
to the frequency and the inductance. Therefore, when alternating
current having a high frequency is passed through the thin-film
coil in order to increase the recording density on the magnetic
recording medium, the impedance increases and thereby causes the
electric current to hardly flow. To avoid this situation, it is
effective to reduce the inductance and shorten the magnetic path
length. However, when the width of the thin-film coil is widened,
the magnetic path length needs to be increased, resulting in
increased inductance of the PMR. This makes it impossible to
increase the frequency of the recording signals, failing to
increase the recording density on the magnetic recording medium.
Besides, the magnetic path length needs to be increased even by
widening the thickness of the thin-film coil.
[0020] On the other hand, in the PMR 600, parts of the
coil-insulating layer 605 are formed as coil-insulating layers
605a, 605b at a position closer to the medium-opposing surface 606
than is the thin-film coil 602 and at a position distanced more
from the medium-opposing surface 606 than is the thin-film coil
602, respectively. Therefore, the width LX becomes larger by the
width of the coil-insulating layer 605a and the width of the
coil-insulating layer 605b (the widths in a direction intersecting
the medium-opposing surface 606 of about 1.5 .mu.m each, about 3
.mu.m in total).
[0021] As a PMR capable of solving the problems, for example, a PMR
700 illustrated in FIG. 43 has been conventionally known. A similar
PMR is described also in Patent Document 4. The PMR 700 has an
upper thin-film coil 708 and a main magnetic pole layer 710 similar
to that of the PMR 600. The PMR 700 has a lower thin-film coil 718,
a lower shield part 720 and insulating layers 731, 732.
[0022] In this PMR 700, an upper shield layer has an opposing
shield part 701 opposing the main magnetic pole layer 710, a front
shield part 703 disposed on a medium-opposing surface 706 side of
the upper thin-film coil 708, and a linking shield part 704
straddling the upper thin-film coil 708. Furthermore, a connecting
shield part 702 for the front shield part 703 and the opposing
shield part 701 is formed. In this PMR 700, a coil-insulating layer
709 is disposed between adjacent parts of the upper thin-film coils
708 but the coil-insulating layer 709 is not disposed outside the
upper thin-film coil 708. Therefore, the magnetic path length can
be made shorter than that of the above-described PMR 600.
[0023] On the other hand, in the PMR, there is restriction that the
read/write separation (referred also to as "RWS") that is the
spacing in the direction along the ABS between the main magnetic
pole layer and the reproducing head is made to keep within a range
of 4.5 .mu.m to 5 .mu.m. Thus, for example, when the lower
thin-film coil 612 is arranged between the main magnetic pole layer
601 and the reproducing head 619 as in the PMR 600, RWS needs to be
increased if the thickness of the lower thin-film coil 612 is
increased. Accordingly, given the relation with RWS, it is
difficult to increase the thickness of the thin-film coil.
[0024] Further, also in the PMR 700, the lower thin-film coil 718
that is a part of the thin-film coil 708 is disposed between the
main magnetic pole layer 710 and a reproducing head 719. For this
reason, also when the lower thin-film coil 718 is increased in
thickness, the RWS has to be made large. Accordingly, it is a very
difficult problem to reduce the electric resistance of the
thin-film coil within the restriction range of RWS even in the
conventional PMR 700 which is more advantageous than the PMR 600 in
terms of reduction in magnetic path length.
[0025] As described above, it has been difficult in the
conventional PMR to reduce the electric resistance of the thin-film
coil within the restriction range of RWS without increasing the
magnetic path length.
[0026] The present invention is made to solve the above problem,
and it is an object to reduce the electric resistance of a
thin-film coil within the restriction range of the read/write
separation without increasing the magnetic path length and suppress
protrusion of a part of the ABS in a thin-film magnetic head
performing magnetic recording operation in the vertical magnetic
recording system and a method of manufacturing the same and a head
gimbal assembly and a hard disk drive.
[0027] To solve the above problem, the present invention is a
thin-film magnetic head constructed such that a main magnetic pole
layer having a magnetic pole end face on a side of a
medium-opposing surface opposing a recording medium, a write shield
layer having a write shield end face disposed in the
medium-opposing surface, a gap layer formed between the main
magnetic pole layer and write shield layer, and a thin-film coil
wound around any of the main magnetic pole layer, the write shield
layer or a shield magnetic layer connected the main magnetic pole
layer are laminated on a substrate, the thin-film magnetic head
including: a leading shield part having a shield end face disposed
in the medium-opposing surface, and opposing the main magnetic pole
layer through a nonmagnetic thin-film on the substrate side of the
main magnetic pole layer, the thin-film coil has a substrate side
coil layer disposed between the main magnetic pole layer and the
substrate, and a space between a lower end face disposed at a
position closest to the substrate in the leading shield part and
the substrate and a space between an upper end face disposed at a
position most distanced from the substrate in the substrate side
coil layer and the substrate are formed equal to each other.
[0028] In case of this thin-film magnetic head, since the space
between the lower end face of the leading shield part and the
substrate and the space between the upper end face of the substrate
side coil layer and the substrate are formed equal to each other,
there is no gap formed between the lower end face and the upper end
face. Therefore, the RWS can be reduced, according to the reduction
of the RWS, and the height increasing space for accordingly
increasing the height of the thin-film coil can be secured.
[0029] In case of the above-described thin-film magnetic head, it
is preferable that the thin-film magnetic head further includes a
lower front shield part disposed at a position closer to the
medium-opposing surface than is the substrate side coil layer, and
having an upper end face, disposed at a position most distanced
from the substrate, formed without level difference with respect to
the upper end face of the substrate side coil layer, the upper end
face of the lower front shield part and the lower end face of the
leading shield part are directly connected.
[0030] In case of this thin-film magnetic head, the height
increasing space is secured while securing the connection state
between the leading shield part and the lower front shield
part.
[0031] In case of the thin-film magnetic head, it is preferable
that the thin-film magnetic head further includes a base insulating
layer in contact with a lower end face disposed at a position
closest to the substrate in the main magnetic pole layer, through
the nonmagnetic thin-film, the upper end face of the substrate side
coil layer is in direct contact with the base insulating layer.
[0032] In case of this thin-film magnetic head, the height
increasing space is used for increasing the height of the thin-film
coil.
[0033] Further, in case of the above-described thin-film magnetic
head, it is preferable that the thin-film magnetic head further
includes an opposing insulating layer having a front end face
disposed in the medium-opposing surface, and disposed on the
medium-opposing surface side of the lower front shield part, the
leading shield part is in direct contact with both the opposing
insulating layer and the lower front shield part.
[0034] Furthermore, in case of the above-described thin-film
magnetic head, it is preferable that an upper end face disposed at
a position most distanced from the substrate in the opposing
insulating layer is formed without level difference with respect to
the upper end face of the substrate side coil layer and the upper
end face of the lower front shield part.
[0035] Further, in case of the above-described thin-film magnetic
head, it is possible that the opposing insulating layer has an
opposing depression formed by disposing an upper end face thereof
disposed at a position most distanced from the substrate at a
position closer to the substrate than is the upper end face of the
lower front shield part, and the leading shield part wraps around
to an inside of the opposing depression and thereby has an
expansion structure in which a height of a part thereof on the
medium-opposing surface side in a direction along the
medium-opposing surface is expanded.
[0036] Further, the present invention provides a thin-film magnetic
head constructed such that a main magnetic pole layer having a
magnetic pole end face on a side of a medium-opposing surface
opposing a recording medium, a write shield layer having a write
shield end face disposed in the medium-opposing surface, a gap
layer formed between the main magnetic pole layer and write shield
layer, and a thin-film coil wound around any of the main magnetic
pole layer, the write shield layer or a shield magnetic layer
connected the main magnetic pole layer are laminated on a
substrate, the thin-film magnetic head including: a leading shield
part having a shield end face disposed in the medium-opposing
surface, and opposing the main magnetic pole layer through a
nonmagnetic thin-film on the substrate side of the main magnetic
pole layer, the thin-film coil has a substrate side coil layer
disposed between the main magnetic pole layer and the substrate,
and an upper end face disposed at a position most distanced from
the substrate in the substrate side coil layer is in contact with a
lower end face disposed at a position closest to the substrate in
the main magnetic pole layer, through the nonmagnetic
thin-film.
[0037] In case of the above-described thin-film magnetic head, it
is preferable that a lower end face disposed at a position closest
to the substrate in the leading shield part is disposed at a
position closer to the substrate than is a lower end face disposed
at a position closest to the substrate in the substrate side coil
layer.
[0038] Further, in case of the above-described thin-film magnetic
head, it is preferable that the leading shield part has a lateral
width reaching, from the medium-opposing surface, the substrate
side coil layer, and is formed larger in height along the
medium-opposing surface than the substrate side coil layer.
[0039] Further, in case of the above-described thin-film magnetic
head, it is preferable that the write shield layer includes an
opposing shield part opposing the main magnetic pole layer in the
medium-opposing surface, and an upper front shield part connected
to the opposing shield part without straddling the thin-film coil
and disposed on the medium-opposing surface side of the thin-film
coil, and the upper front shield part includes a shield front end
face disposed in the medium-opposing surface, a shield upper end
face disposed at a position distanced more from the substrate than
is the shield front end face and formed along an intersecting
direction intersecting the medium-opposing surface and distanced
from the medium-opposing surface, and a shield connecting part
directly connecting the shield front end face to the shield upper
end face.
[0040] Further, it is preferable that the upper front shield part
is formed having a part on the medium-opposing surface cut off such
that the shield connecting part has a receding tilt structure
tilted to be distanced more from the medium-opposing surface than
is a flat surface connecting the shield front end face and the
shield upper end face at a shortest distance.
[0041] Further, the present invention provides a method of
manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head constructed such that a
main magnetic pole layer having a magnetic pole end face on a side
of a medium-opposing surface opposing a recording medium, a write
shield layer having a write shield end face disposed in the
medium-opposing surface, a gap layer formed between the main
magnetic pole layer and write shield layer, and a thin-film coil
wound around any of the main magnetic pole layer, the write shield
layer or a shield magnetic layer connected the main magnetic pole
layer are laminated on a substrate; the method including the
following steps (1) to (5):
[0042] (1) a conductor layer forming step of forming a conductor
layer for forming a substrate side coil layer disposed between the
main magnetic pole layer and the substrate among coil layers
constituting the thin-film coil;
[0043] (2) a common flat surface forming step of performing
planarization processing on a surface of the conductor layer to
form a common flat surface including an upper end face disposed at
a position most distanced from the substrate in the conductor
layer;
[0044] (3) a magnetic layer forming step of forming, directly on
the common flat surface, a leading magnetic layer for forming a
leading shield part having a shield end face disposed in the
medium-opposing surface, and opposing the main magnetic pole layer
through a nonmagnetic thin-film on the substrate side of the main
magnetic pole layer;
[0045] (4) a leading shield part forming step of forming the
leading shield part by etching a surface of the leading magnetic
layer formed by the magnetic layer forming step according to a
shape of the main magnetic pole layer; and
[0046] (5) a main magnetic pole layer forming step of forming the
main magnetic pole layer after formation of the nonmagnetic
thin-film on a surface of the leading shield part.
[0047] The above-described method of manufacturing further
including the following steps (6), it is preferable that
planarization processing is performed on the lower front magnetic
layer together with the conductor layer by the planarization
processing in the common flat surface forming step such that a
surface of the lower front magnetic layer is included in the common
flat surface.
[0048] (6) a lower front magnetic layer forming step of forming a
lower front magnetic layer for forming a lower front shield part
disposed on a side of the medium-opposing surface than the
substrate side coil layer,
[0049] Further, it is preferable that the magnetic layer forming
step is performed such that the leading magnetic layer is formed on
the surface of the lower front magnetic layer.
[0050] The above-described method of manufacturing further
including the following steps (7), (8), it is preferable that the
the magnetic layer forming step is performed such that the leading
magnetic layer wraps around to an inside of the opposing
depression.
[0051] (7) an opposing insulating layer forming step of forming an
opposing insulating layer having a front end face disposed in the
medium-opposing surface, and disposed on the medium-opposing
surface side of the lower front shield part;
[0052] (8) an opposing depression forming step of performing
etching process on an upper end face disposed at a position most
distanced from the substrate in the opposing insulating layer to
form an opposing depression in the upper end face.
[0053] Further, the present invention provides a method of
manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head constructed such that a
main magnetic pole layer having a magnetic pole end face on a side
of a medium-opposing surface opposing a recording medium, a write
shield layer having a write shield end face disposed in the
medium-opposing surface, a gap layer formed between the main
magnetic pole layer and write shield layer, and a thin-film coil
wound around any of the main magnetic pole layer, the write shield
layer or a shield magnetic layer connected the main magnetic pole
layer are laminated on a substrate; the method including the
following steps (9) to (13):
[0054] (9) a magnetic layer forming step of forming a leading
magnetic layer for forming a leading shield part having a shield
end face disposed in the medium-opposing surface, and opposing the
main magnetic pole layer through a nonmagnetic thin-film on the
substrate side of the main magnetic pole layer;
[0055] (10) a conductor layer forming step of forming a conductor
layer for forming a substrate side coil layer disposed between the
main magnetic pole layer and the substrate among coil layers
constituting the thin-film coil;
[0056] (11) a planarization step of performing planarization
processing on surfaces of the conductor layer and the leading
magnetic layer;
[0057] (12) a leading shield part forming step of forming the
leading shield part by etching surfaces of the leading magnetic
layer formed by the magnetic layer forming step and the conductor
layer formed by the conductor layer forming step, according to a
shape of the main magnetic pole layer; and
[0058] (13) a main magnetic pole layer forming step of forming the
main magnetic pole layer after formation of the nonmagnetic
thin-film on surfaces of the leading shield part and the conductor
layer.
[0059] It is preferable that the above-described method of
manufacturing further including the following steps (14) to
(17):
[0060] (14) an opposing shield part forming step of forming, after
the main magnetic pole layer is formed, an opposing shield part
constructing the write shield layer such that the opposing shield
part opposes the main magnetic pole layer in the medium-opposing
surface;
[0061] (15) a first shield part forming step of forming, on the
medium-opposing surface side of the conductor layer, a first shield
part for forming the write shield layer such that the first shield
part is connected to the opposing shield part formed by the
opposing shield part forming step and disposed in the
medium-opposing surface;
[0062] (16) a linking shield part forming step of forming a linking
shield part constructing the write shield layer such that the
linking shield part is connected to the first shield part formed by
the first shield part forming step, straddles the thin-film coil,
and is receded from the medium-opposing surface to be distanced
from the medium-opposing surface;
[0063] (17) a trimming step of cutting off a part on the
medium-opposing surface side which is not covered with the linking
shield part of the first shield part.
[0064] Further, it is preferable that in the trimming step, the
part on the medium-opposing surface side which is not covered with
the linking shield part of the first shield part is cut off using
the linking shield part formed by the linking shield part forming
step as a mask.
[0065] Furthermore, it is preferable that the trimming step is
performed in a manner to leave a part of a front end face of the
first shield part disposed in the medium-opposing surface as a
shield front end face.
[0066] Further, the present invention provides a head gimbal
assembly including a thin-film magnetic head formed on a support
and a gimbal for securing the support; the thin-film magnetic head
is constructed such that a main magnetic pole layer having a
magnetic pole end face on a side of a medium-opposing surface
opposing a recording medium, a write shield layer having a write
shield end face disposed in the medium-opposing surface, a gap
layer formed between the main magnetic pole layer and write shield
layer, and a thin-film coil wound around any of the main magnetic
pole layer, the write shield layer or a shield magnetic layer
connected the main magnetic pole layer are laminated on a
substrate, the thin-film magnetic head including: a leading shield
part having a shield end face disposed in the medium-opposing
surface, and opposing the main magnetic pole layer through a
nonmagnetic thin-film on the substrate side of the main magnetic
pole layer, the thin-film coil has a substrate side coil layer
disposed between the main magnetic pole layer and the substrate,
and a space between a lower end face disposed at a position closest
to the substrate in the leading shield part and the substrate and a
space between an upper end face disposed at a position most
distanced from the substrate in the substrate side coil layer and
the substrate are formed equal to each other.
[0067] Further, the present invention provides a hard disk drive
including a head gimbal assembly having a thin-film magnetic head
and a recording medium opposing the thin-film magnetic head; the
thin-film magnetic head is constructed such that a main magnetic
pole layer having a magnetic pole end face on a side of a
medium-opposing surface opposing a recording medium, a write shield
layer having a write shield end face disposed in the
medium-opposing surface, a gap layer formed between the main
magnetic pole layer and write shield layer, and a thin-film coil
wound around any of the main magnetic pole layer, the write shield
layer or a shield magnetic layer connected the main magnetic pole
layer are laminated on a substrate, the thin-film magnetic head
including: a leading shield part having a shield end face disposed
in the medium-opposing surface, and opposing the main magnetic pole
layer through a nonmagnetic thin-film on the substrate side of the
main magnetic pole layer, the thin-film coil has a substrate side
coil layer disposed between the main magnetic pole layer and the
substrate, and a space between a lower end face disposed at a
position closest to the substrate in the leading shield part and
the substrate and a space between an upper end face disposed at a
position most distanced from the substrate in the substrate side
coil layer and the substrate are formed equal to each other.
[0068] The present invention will be more fully understood from the
detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying
drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are
not to be considered as limiting the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0069] FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the thin-film magnetic head
according to a first embodiment of the present invention taken
along the line 1-1 of FIG. 2, along by a direction intersecting its
air bearing surface;
[0070] FIG. 2 is a front view illustrating an ABS of the thin-film
magnetic head;
[0071] FIG. 3 is a plan view illustrating a lower thin-film
coil;
[0072] FIG. 4 is a plan view illustrating an upper thin-film
coil;
[0073] FIG. 5 is a plan view illustrating a principal part of the
lower thin-film coil;
[0074] FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating principal parts of
an opposing shield part, an upper front shield part and a linking
shield part;
[0075] FIG. 7 is a side elevation view illustrating a pre-trim
shield part and the upper front shield part;
[0076] FIG. 8 illustrates a modified example, in which (a) is a
side elevation view of the upper front shield part not having a
lateral flat part, in which (b) is a side elevation view of the
upper front shield part not having a longitudinal flat part;
[0077] FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating a neighborhood of
the ABS in the main magnetic pole layer 26 with a part thereof
omitted;
[0078] FIG. 10 is a sectional view illustrating a principal part of
FIG. 1;
[0079] FIG. 11 illustrates a step of manufacturing the thin-film
magnetic head illustrated in FIG. 1, in which (a) is a sectional
view corresponding to FIG. 1, in which (b) is a front view
corresponding to FIG. 2;
[0080] FIG. 12 illustrates a step subsequent to that of FIG. 11, in
which (a) is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1, in which (b)
is a front view corresponding to FIG. 2;
[0081] FIG. 13 illustrates a step subsequent to that of FIG. 12, in
which (a) is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1, in which (b)
is a front view corresponding to FIG. 2;
[0082] FIG. 14 illustrates a step subsequent to that of FIG. 13, in
which (a) is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1, in which (b)
is a front view corresponding to FIG. 2;
[0083] FIG. 15 illustrates a step subsequent to that of FIG. 14, in
which (a) is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1, in which (b)
is a front view corresponding to FIG. 2;
[0084] FIG. 16 illustrates a step subsequent to that of FIG. 15, in
which (a) is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1, in which (b)
is a front view corresponding to FIG. 2;
[0085] FIG. 17 illustrates a step subsequent to that of FIG. 16, in
which (a) is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1, in which (b)
is a front view corresponding to FIG. 2;
[0086] FIG. 18 illustrates a step subsequent to that of FIG. 17, in
which (a) is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1, in which (b)
is a front view corresponding to FIG. 2;
[0087] FIG. 19 illustrates a step subsequent to that of FIG. 18, in
which (a) is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1, in which (b)
is a front view corresponding to FIG. 2;
[0088] FIG. 20 illustrates a step subsequent to that of FIG. 19, in
which (a) is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1, in which (b)
is a front view corresponding to FIG. 2;
[0089] FIG. 21 illustrates a step subsequent to that of FIG. 20, in
which (a) is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1, in which (b)
is a front view corresponding to FIG. 2;
[0090] FIG. 22 illustrates a step subsequent to that of FIG. 21, in
which (a) is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1, in which (b)
is a front view corresponding to FIG. 2;
[0091] FIG. 23 illustrates a step subsequent to that of FIG. 22, in
which (a) is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1, in which (b)
is a front view corresponding to FIG. 2;
[0092] FIG. 24 is a sectional view of the thin-film magnetic head
according to a second embodiment of the present invention
corresponding to FIG. 1, along by a direction intersecting its
ABS;
[0093] FIG. 25 is a plan view illustrating a second coil layer
constituting the upper thin-film coil;
[0094] FIG. 26 is a plan view illustrating a first coil layer
constituting the upper thin-film coil;
[0095] FIG. 27 is a sectional view, corresponding to FIG. 1,
illustrates a step of manufacturing the thin-film magnetic head
according to a second embodiment of the present invention with a
part thereof omitted;
[0096] FIG. 28 is a sectional view illustrates a step subsequent to
that of FIG. 27;
[0097] FIG. 29 is a sectional view illustrates a step subsequent to
that of FIG. 28;
[0098] FIG. 30 is a sectional view illustrates a step subsequent to
that of FIG. 29;
[0099] FIG. 31 is a sectional view illustrates a step subsequent to
that of FIG. 30;
[0100] FIG. 32 is a sectional view illustrates a step subsequent to
that of FIG. 31;
[0101] FIG. 33 is a sectional view illustrates a step subsequent to
that of FIG. 32;
[0102] FIG. 34 is a sectional view illustrates a step of
manufacturing according to a modified example;
[0103] FIG. 35 is a sectional view illustrates a step subsequent to
that of FIG. 34;
[0104] FIG. 36 is a sectional view illustrates a step subsequent to
that of FIG. 35;
[0105] FIG. 37 is a sectional view of the thin-film magnetic head
according to a modified example corresponding to FIG. 1, along by a
direction intersecting its air bearing surface;
[0106] FIG. 38 is a sectional view of the thin-film magnetic head
according to an another modified example corresponding to FIG. 1,
along by a direction intersecting its air bearing surface;
[0107] FIG. 39 is a sectional view of the thin-film magnetic head
according to a third embodiment of the present invention
corresponding to FIG. 1, along by a direction intersecting its
ABS;
[0108] FIG. 40 is a perspective view illustrating a hard disk drive
equipped with a thin-film magnetic head according to an embodiment
of the present invention;
[0109] FIG. 41 is a perspective view illustrating a rear side of
HGA;
[0110] FIG. 42 is a sectional view illustrating an example of a
conventional thin-film magnetic head; and
[0111] FIG. 43 is a sectional view illustrating an another
conventional thin-film magnetic head.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
[0112] In the following, embodiments of the present invention will
be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the same
components will be referred to with the same numerals or letters,
while omitting their overlapping descriptions.
First Embodiment
(Structures of Thin-film Magnetic Head)
[0113] To begin with, the structure of a thin-film magnetic head of
perpendicular magnetic recording type according to the first
embodiment of the present invention will be explained with
reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 10. Here, FIG. 1 is a sectional view of
the thin-film magnetic head 300 according to a first embodiment of
the present invention taken along the line 1-1 of FIG. 2, along by
a direction intersecting its air bearing surface (which will
hereinafter be referred to as "ABS"), FIG. 2 is a front view
illustrating the ABS 30 of the thin-film magnetic head 300. FIG. 3
is a plan view illustrating a lower thin-film coil 11. FIG. 4 is a
plan view illustrating an upper thin-film coil 51. FIG. 5 is a plan
view illustrating a principal part of the lower thin-film coil 11.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating principal parts of an
opposing shield part 61, an upper front shield part 62 and a
linking shield part 63. FIG. 7 is a side elevation view
illustrating a pre-trim shield part and the front shield part. FIG.
8 illustrates a modified example, in which (a) is a side elevation
view of the upper front shield part 62 not having a lateral flat
part, in which (b) is a side elevation view of the upper front
shield part 62 not having a longitudinal flat part. FIG. 9 is a
perspective view illustrating a neighborhood of the ABS in the main
magnetic pole layer with a part thereof omitted. FIG. 10 is a
sectional view illustrating a principal part of FIG. 1.
[0114] The thin-film magnetic head 300 comprises a substrate 1 and
reproducing and recording heads laminated on the substrate 1, while
having the ABS 30 as a medium-opposing surface opposing a recording
medium. The following will explain structures of main parts of the
thin-film magnetic head 300, while structures of parts other than
the main parts will later be explained in manufacturing steps.
[0115] The reproducing head has an MR device 5, arranged near the
ABS 30, for detecting a magnetic signal. The reproducing head has
an insulating layer 2 formed on the substrate 1, a lower shield
layer 3 made of a magnetic material, and a shield gap film 4
shielding the MR device 5. The reproducing head further has an
upper shield layer 6 made of a magnetic material formed on the
shield gap film 4, and an insulating layer 7 formed on the upper
shield layer 6. The reproducing head is arranged in a position
closer to the substrate 1 than the recording head.
[0116] The MR device 5 is constituted by a magnetosensitive film
exhibiting a magnetoresistive effect, such as AMR (anisotropic
magnetoresistive), GMR (giant magnetoresistive), and TMR (tunneling
magnetoresistive) devices.
[0117] The upper shield layer 6 has an insulating part 6b in the
middle thereof. Further, a first shield part 6a is formed on the
lower side of the insulating part 6b and a second shield part 6c is
formed on the upper side of the insulating part 6b.
[0118] In the thin-film magnetic head 300, a heating part 8 is
formed in the insulating layer 2. The heating part 8 is also called
a DFH (Disk flying heater) and has a function of generating heat by
electric current flowing therethrough and conducting the heat to
the upper shield layer 6 and the like. Further, a heat sensing part
9 is formed in the insulating layer 7. The heat sensing part 9 is
also called an HDI (Head Disk Interlayer) sensor. The heat sensing
part 9 is formed using an element which senses heat (temperature)
near the upper shield layer 6 and changes in resistance value
according to the sensed heat.
[0119] Further, in the thin-film magnetic head 300, the heating
part 8 heats the upper shield layer 6 and the lower shield layer 3.
The upper shield layer 6 and the lower shield layer 3 expand in
volume by the heat received from the heating part 8. As a result,
assuming that the upper shield layer 6 and the lower shield layer 3
come into contact with a recording medium not illustrated in FIG.
1, parts of the upper shield layer 6 and the lower shield layer 3
near the ABS 30 become heated due to friction. In the thin-film
magnetic head 300, a judgment whether or not the upper shield layer
6 and the lower shield layer 3 have come into contact with the
recording medium is made by detecting the change in resistance
value of the heat sensing part 9 caused by the friction heat.
Further, the frying height is controlled while controlling the
current value flowing through the heating part 8 according to the
judgment result.
[0120] The recording head has a lower thin-film coil 11, a base
insulating layer 24, a main magnetic pole layer 26, a gap layer 29,
a shield magnetic layer 40, an upper thin-film coil 51, an write
shield layer 60, an upper yoke layer 65, a displacement suppression
layer 85 and protective insulating layer 90, which are laminated on
the substrate 1.
[0121] In the thin-film magnetic head 300, the lower thin-film coil
11 and the upper thin-film coil 51 form a continuous thin-film
coil. The lower thin-film coil 11 corresponds to a part of the
continuous thin-film coil, disposed between the main magnetic pole
layer 26 and the substrate 1. Therefore, the lower thin-film coil
11 corresponds to a substrate side coil layer according to the
embodiment of the present invention. Further, a part disposed at a
position most distanced from the substrate 1 in the lower thin-film
coil 11 is an upper end face 11x as illustrated in FIG. 10.
[0122] As illustrated in FIG. 3, the lower thin-film coil 11 has
three turn parts 11b, 11d, 11f. The turn parts 11b, 11d, 11f are
arranged between a later-described lower front shield part 41 and a
first rear shield part 44. The lower thin-film coil 11 has a
structure which the turn parts 11b, 11d, 11f align with each other
while interposing a photoresist layer 15 therebetween. Since the
turn part 11b is arranged at a closest position to the ABS 30 of
the turn parts 11b, 11d, 11f, the turn part 11b corresponds to a
front turn part. The turn part 11f corresponds to a rear turn
part.
[0123] The lower thin-film coil 11 has a loop part 11a extending
from a lead part 13A to the turn part 11b, a one-loop part 11c
extending from the turn part 11b to the turn part 11d, and a
one-loop part 11e extending from the turn part 11d to a turn part
11f, and a half-loop part 11g extending from the turn part 11f to a
connecting part 11h.
[0124] The lower thin-film coil 11 is constructed as a continuous
line from the lead part 13A to the connecting part 11, so as to be
wound as a flat spiral about the shield magnetic layer 40, thus
forming a three-turn loop as a whole. For convenience of
illustration, FIG. 1 illustrates only the turn parts 11b, 11d, 11f
and connecting part 11h in the lower thin-film coil 11. Each of the
turn parts 11b, 11d, 11f has a longitudinally long structure in
which the thickness (height in a direction (upper and lower
direction) along with the ABS 30) greater than the lateral width.
Note that the lateral width means width in a direction
(intersecting direction) intersecting the ABS 30, in this
embodiment.
[0125] In the lower thin-film coil 11, as illustrated in FIG. 5,
the one-loop part 11c has a variable width structure in which the
width gradually decreases toward the ABS 30 and becomes the
smallest at the position closest to the ABS 30. Namely, when widths
Wd1, Wd2, Wd0 are defined in the one-loop part 11c as illustrated
in FIG. 5, Wd1>Wd2>Wd0. The narrowest part in the one-loop
part 11c is the turn part 11d. The loop part 11a and the one-loop
part 11e have a variable width structure similar to that of the
one-loop part 11c, while the narrowest part is the turn part 11b,
11f. Here, the respective widths of the turn parts 11b, 11d, 11f
are Wb0 (about 0.9 .mu.m), Wd0 (about 0.9 .mu.m) and Wf0 (about 0.9
.mu.m).
[0126] The lower thin-film coil 11 forms a following continuous
3-turn loop. Namely, the lead part 13A is connected to the
connecting part 11h through the loop part 11a, the one-loop part
11c, one-loop part 11e and the half-loop part 11g, whereby the
3-turn loop is formed.
[0127] Note that the distance from a front side face 11bf of the
turn part 11b to the ABS 30 means a front distance of the lower
thin-film coil 11. Besides, the distance from a rear side face 11fr
of the turn part 11f to the ABS 30 means a rear distance of the
lower thin-film coil 11.
[0128] Next, the upper thin-film coil 51 will be explained. As
illustrated in FIG. 4, the upper thin-film coil 51 has three turn
parts 51g, 51e, 51c. The turn parts 51g, 51e, 51c are arranged
between a later-described upper front shield part 62 and an upper
rear shield part 64. The upper thin-film coil 51 has a structure
which the turn parts 51g, 51e, 51c align with each other while
interposing a photoresist layer 55 therebetween. Since the turn
part 51g is arranged at a closest position to the ABS 30 of the
turn parts 51g, 51e, 51c, the turn part 51g corresponds to a front
turn part. The turn part 51c corresponds to a rear turn part.
[0129] The upper thin-film coil 51 has a loop part 51b extending
from a connecting part 51a to the turn part 51c, a one-loop part
51d extending from the turn part 51c to the turn part 51e, and a
one-loop part 51f extending from the turn part 51e to a turn part
51g, and a half-loop part 51h extending from the turn part 51g to a
lead part 14A.
[0130] The upper thin-film coil 51 is constructed as a continuous
line from the connecting part 51a to the lead part 14A, so as to be
wound as a flat spiral about the write shield layer 60, thus
forming a three-turn loop as a whole. For convenience of
illustration, FIG. 1 illustrates only the turn parts 51g, 51e, 51c
and the connecting part 51a in the upper thin-film coil 51. Each of
the turn parts 51g, 51e, 51c has the longitudinally long structure
and the variable width structure similarly to the turn parts 11b,
11d, 11f. The narrowest part in the one-loop part 51f, one-loop
part 51d and the loop part 51b are the turn part 51g, 51e, 51c
respectively.
[0131] The upper thin-film coil 51 forms a following continuous
3-turn loop. Namely, the connecting part 51a is connected to the
lead part 14A through the loop part 51b, the one-loop part 51d,
one-loop part 51f and the half-loop part 51h, whereby the 3-turn
loop is formed.
[0132] Further, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the upper thin-film coil
51 has an upper end face 51A. The upper end face 51A is disposed at
a position most distanced from the substrate 1. The upper end face
51A is formed without level difference to a later-described shield
upper end face 62f to form a common flat surface 59 (see FIG. 21)
together with the shield upper end face 62f. Further, the upper
thin-film coil 51 is connected to an upper face of a
later-described upper yoke layer 65 via only the interlayer
insulating layer 32. The upper thin-film coil 51 is connected to
the upper yoke layer 65 without a magnetic layer made of a magnetic
material intervening therebetween.
[0133] In the thin-film magnetic head 300, the connecting part 11h
of the lower thin-film coil 11 is connected to the connecting part
51a of the upper thin-film coil 51. By this, the lower thin-film
coil 11 and the upper thin-film coil 51 form a series of coils. A
current corresponding to data to be recorded on a recording medium
is flowed through the lower thin-film coil 11 and the upper
thin-film coil 51, a recording magnetic field is generated by the
current.
[0134] Next, the main magnetic pole layer 26 will be explained. The
main magnetic pole layer 26 is formed using a magnetic material
made of a ferromagnetic body such as NiFe, CoNiFe, CoFe or the
like. The ferromagnetic body such as NiFe, CoNiFe, CoFe or the like
has a high magnetic permeability. Therefore, a magnetic flux is
likely to transmit through the main magnetic pole layer 26, much
more magnetic flux transmit through the main magnetic pole layer
26. For this reason, more strong magnetic flux corresponding to the
recording magnetic field is emitted from the main magnetic pole
layer 26 to the ABS 30.
[0135] The main magnetic pole layer 26 has a magnetic pole end face
26a on the ABS 30 side, as illustrated in FIG. 2, FIG. 9, FIG. 10.
The magnetic pole end face 26a has a bevel form which is wider on
the upper thin-film coil 51 side than on the lower thin-film coil
11 side and gradually decreases its width toward the lower
thin-film coil 11. The width of the magnetic pole end face 26a on
the upper thin-film coil 51 side defines the track width. The track
width is about 0.06 to 0.12 .mu.m, for example. The magnetic pole
end face 26a is positioned on the ABS 30.
[0136] The main magnetic pole layer 26 includes a track width
determining part having the magnetic pole end face 26a, a wider
part and a width extending part. The track width determining part
has a fixed width regardless of the distance from the ABS 30. The
wider part is arranged at a position distanced more from the ABS 30
than is the track width determining part and has a width greater
than that of the track width determining part. The wider part has
the same width as that of the track width determining part at the
boundary with the track width determining part, gradually increases
the width as it is distanced more from the ABS 30. The width
extending part has a fixed width greater than the wider part. In
this embodiment, a part from the magnetic pole end part 26a until
the width begins to increase is defined as the track width
determining part.
[0137] Further, as illustrated in FIG. 9, in the main magnetic pole
layer 26, a first upper tilted surface 26b and a second upper
tilted surface 26c and a first lower tilted surface 26h and a
second lower tilted surface 26e are formed in the track width
determining part.
[0138] Each of the first upper tilted surface 26b and the second
upper tilted surface 26c is formed in an ascending slope like shape
distanced more from the substrate 1 as it is distanced more from
the ABS 30. However, the tilt angle of the second upper tilted
surface 26c is larger than the tilt angle of the first upper tilted
surface 26b as seen from the direction intersecting the ABS 30.
Therefore, the upper face of the track width determining part is
formed in a two-stage tilt structure. The first upper tilted
surface 26b is connected to the magnetic pole end face 26a and the
second upper tilted surface 26c. The second upper tilted surface
26c is connected to the first upper tilted surface 26b and an upper
end face 26d of the wider part.
[0139] Each of the first lower tilted surface 26h and the second
lower tilted surface 26e is formed in a descending slope like shape
closer to the substrate 1 as it is distanced more from the ABS 30.
However, the tilt angle of the second lower tilted surface 26e is
larger than the tilt angle of the first lower tilted surface 26h as
seen from the direction intersecting the ABS 30. Therefore, the
lower end face of the track width determining part is also formed
in a two-stage tilt structure. The first lower tilted surface 26h
is connected to the magnetic pole end face 26a and the second lower
tilted surface 26e. The second lower tilted surface 26e is
connected to the first lower tilted surface 26h and a lower end
face 26f of the wider part. The lower end face 26f is disposed on
the nearest position to the substrate 1 in the main magnetic pole
layer 26.
[0140] In the main magnetic pole layer 26, nonmagnetic layers 27,
28 are laminated on a part of the upper end face 26d between an
opposing shield part 61 and the upper yoke layer 65 which will be
explained later.
[0141] The length of the track width determining part from the ABS
30 is referred to as neck height. The neck height is about 0.05 to
0.3 .mu.m, for example.
[0142] An opposing insulating layer 20 has a front end face 20a as
illustrated in FIG. 10. The entire front end face 20a is disposed
in the ABS 30. The opposing insulating layer 20 is disposed on the
ABS 30 side of the lower front shield part 41. Further, an upper
end face 20b of the opposing insulating layer 20 is formed in a
flat shape continuous from a later-described upper end face 41a and
the upper end face 11x without level difference therebetween.
[0143] A base insulating layer 24 is disposed at a position
distanced more from the ABS 30 than is a leading shield part 42.
The base insulating layer 24 is in contact with the lower end face
26f of the main magnetic pole layer 26 through a nonmagnetic
thin-film 25. Further, a heating part 23 is formed inside the base
insulating layer 24 as illustrated in FIG. 1. The upper end face
11x is in direct contact with the base insulating layer 24.
[0144] The gap layer 29 is formed along the first upper tilted
surface 26b, the second upper tilted surface 26c and the upper end
face 26d of the main magnetic pole layer 26 between the opposing
shield part 61, the insulating layer 31 and the main magnetic pole
layer 26, the nonmagnetic layers 27, 28. The gap layer 29 is formed
so as to cover the first upper tilted surface 26b, the second upper
tilted surface 26c and the upper end face 26d. The gap layer 29 is
made of an insulating material such as alumina (Al.sub.2O.sub.3),
nonmagnetic conductive material such as Ru, NiCu, Ta.
[0145] Subsequently, the shield magnetic layer 40 will be
explained. The shield magnetic layer 40 has a lower front shield
part 41, a leading shield part 42, a linking shield part 43, a
first rear shield part 44 and a second rear shield part 45. The
shield magnetic layer 40 is formed using a magnetic material made
of a ferromagnetic body such as NiFe, CoNiFe, CoFe or the like.
[0146] The lower front shield part 41 and the leading shield part
42 are arranged closer to the ABS 30 than are the lower thin-film
coil 11.
[0147] The leading shield part 42 has a shield end face 42a as
illustrated in detail in FIG. 10. The entire shield end face 42a is
disposed in the ABS 30. Further, the leading shield part 42 opposes
the main magnetic pole layer 26 through the nonmagnetic thin-film
25, at the first lower tilted surface 26h disposed on the substrate
1 side of the main magnetic pole layer 26.
[0148] The leading shield part 42 is in contact with the main
magnetic pole layer 26 through the nonmagnetic thin-film 25, at the
second lower tilted surface 26e and the lower end face 26f.
Further, the leading shield part 42 is formed such that the space
between a lower end face 42b and the substrate 1 is a height h1.
The height h1 is equal to the space between the above-described
upper end face 11x and the substrate 1. The lower end face 42b is
disposed at a position closest to the substrate 1 in the leading
shield part 42. The lower end face 42b is in direct contact with
both the upper end face 20b of the opposing insulating layer 20 and
the upper end face 41a of the lower front shield part 41.
Therefore, no gap is formed between the lower end face 42b, and the
upper end face 20b and the upper end face 41a.
[0149] Further, in the leading shield part 42, a v-groove part is
formed at a middle part in the width direction. The v-groove part
is formed in an almost v-shape in cross section. The bottom part of
the v-groove part has a two-stage tilt structure according to the
lower face of the track width determining part of the main magnetic
pole layer 26. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the later-described
nonmagnetic thin-film 25 and the track width determining part of
the main magnetic pole layer 26 are housed inside the v-groove
part. The nonmagnetic thin-film 25 is formed on an inner face
inside the v-groove part. A gap layer 29 is formed on the upper
side of the v-groove part in a manner to cover the v-groove
part.
[0150] Further, the leading shield part 42 has a cutout part. The
cutout part is formed on the rear side of the v-groove part. Inside
the cutout part, a part of the wider part of the main magnetic pole
layer 26 is housed.
[0151] Further, at the lower front shield part 41, its upper end
face 41a is formed in a flat shape continuous from the upper end
face 11x without level difference therebetween.
[0152] As illustrated in FIG. 1, the linking shield part 43 is
formed such as to straddle the turn parts 11b, 11d, 11f of the
lower thin-film coil 11, and connects the lower front shield part
41 and the first rear shield part 44 to each other. The linking
shield part 43 has a function as a return pole which backs the
magnetic flux emitted from the main magnetic pole layer 26.
[0153] The first and second rear shield parts 44,45 are arranged
farther from the ABS 30 than are the turn parts 11b, 11d, 11f of
the lower thin-film coil 11. Further, the second rear shield part
45 overlies the first rear shield part 44. The first and second
rear shield parts 44, 45 form a two-stage structure in which their
respective front side faces closer to the ABS 30 are equidistant
from the ABS 30. The first and second shield parts 44, 45 have a
function as a linking part which link the linking part 43 to the
main magnetic pole layer 26.
[0154] Next, the write shield layer 60 will be explained. The write
shield layer 60 has an opposing shield part 61, an upper front
shield part 62, a linking shield part 63 and an upper rear shield
part 64.
[0155] The opposing shield part 61 has front end face exposed at
the ABS 30. The opposing shield part 61 opposes the leading shield
part 42 within the ABS 30. Besides, a very small space which the
gap layer 29 is arranged is formed in the front end face of the
opposing shield part 61 exposed at the ABS 30. A part of ABS 30
side of the gap layer 29 is formed in the very small space. The
opposing shield part 61 is formed such as to oppose the main
magnetic pole layer 26, nonmagnetic layer 27, and nonmagnetic layer
28 sequentially from the ABS 30 side through the gap layer 29. The
opposing shield part 61 has a flat upper end face, to which the
upper front shield part 62 is connected.
[0156] The upper front shield part 62 is arranged closer to the ABS
30 than are the upper thin-film coil 51. This upper front shield
part 62 will be explained with reference to FIG. 6, FIG. 7.
[0157] The upper front shield part 62 has a shield front end face
62b, a shield upper end face 62f, a shield connecting part 62c, and
a shield lower end face 62r. The shield front end face 62b is
disposed in the ABS 30. The shield front end face 62b is exposed in
the ABS 30. In FIG. 6, a part with cross-hatching represents the
shield front end face 62b. The shield upper end face 62f is
disposed at a position distanced more from the substrate 1 than is
the shield front end face 62b. The side distanced more from the
substrate 1 is also called an upper side and the side closer to the
substrate 1 is also called a lower side. The shield upper end face
62f is connected to the linking shield part 63. The shield upper
end face 62f is formed along the direction intersecting the ABS 30.
In addition, the shield upper end face 62f is formed separated from
the ABS 30. The shield upper end face 62f has a size smaller than
that of the shield lower end face 62r.
[0158] The shield connecting part 62c is a part connecting the
shield front end face 62b to the shield upper end face 62f. The
whole part of the shield connecting part 62c excepting a connecting
part 62x with the shield front end face 62b is disposed at a
position distanced from the ABS 30.
[0159] The shield connecting part 62c has a tilt structure tilted
to be gradually distanced more from the ABS 30 as it gets closer,
starting from the connecting part 62x, to a connecting part 62y
connected to the shield upper end face 62f. The connecting part 62x
is disposed in the ABS 30, but the connecting part 62y is disposed
at a position distanced from the ABS 30 and thus receded from the
ABS 30.
[0160] Further, as illustrated in FIG. 7, considering an imaginary
flat surface 99 linking the connecting part 62x and the connecting
part 62y, the flat surface 99 is a flat surface linking the shield
front end face 62b and the shield upper end face 62f at a shortest
distance. The shield connecting part 62c has a receding tilt
structure tilted to be distanced more from the ABS 30 than is the
flat surface 99. Further, the shield connecting part 62c has a
lateral flat part 62c1, a longitudinal flat part 62c2, and a curved
part 62c3 and has a structure that they are smoothly linked
together into one body. The lateral flat part 62c 1 is generally
formed along the direction intersecting the ABS 30. The
longitudinal flat part 62c2 is generally formed along the ABS
30.
[0161] The shield lower end face 62r is formed along the direction
intersecting the ABS 30. The shield lower end face 62r has a size
reaching the ABS 30. The shield lower end face 62r has a size
larger than that of the shield upper end face 62f. The shield lower
end face 62r is connected with the opposing shield part 61 on the
ABS 30 side, and connected with the insulating layer 31 on the rear
side of the shield lower end face 62r distanced more from the ABS
30.
[0162] The upper front shield part 62 has the above-described
structure and therefore has an end face disposed in the ABS 30 that
is smaller in size and in volume than that of the pre-trim front
shield part 62A (the upper side in FIG. 7). The pre-trim front
shield part 62A is an upper front shield part immediately before it
is formed by performing a later-described trimming step. The
pre-trim front shield part 62A has the shield upper end face 62f
reaching the ABS 30 and has a pre-trim front end face 62a.
Comparing the sizes of the pre-trim front end face 62a and the
shield front end face 62b, the shield front end face 62b<the
pre-trim front end face 62a.
[0163] Next, the linking shield part 63 is formed such as to
straddle the turn part 51g, 51e, 51c of the upper thin-film coil
51. The linking shield part 63 is formed separated from the ABS 30.
The linking shield part 63 is connected to the upper front shield
part 62 and the upper rear shield part 64.
[0164] The upper rear shield part 64 is arranged at a position
distanced more from the ABS 30 than is the turn part 51g, 51e, 51c
of the upper thin-film coil 51. The upper rear shield part 64 is
connected to the linking shield part 63 and the upper yoke layer
65. A height of the upper rear shield part 64 is equal to a height
of the upper front shield part 62. Therefore, the upper rear shield
part 64 forms a common flat surface 59 together with the upper
thin-film coil 51 and shield upper end face 62f.
[0165] The upper yoke layer 65 is connected to a rear side of the
upper end face 26d in the main magnetic pole layer 26, distanced
more from the ABS 30 than is the nonmagnetic layers 27, 28. An
upper end face of the upper yoke layer 65 is formed without level
difference to an upper end face of the opposing shield part 61. The
end face of the upper yoke layer 65 forms a common flat surface 59A
(see FIG. 18) together with the upper end face of the opposing
shield part 61.
[0166] Moreover, the thin-film magnetic head 300 has a displacement
suppression layer 85. The displacement suppression layer 85 is
connected an upper end face of the linking shield part 63. The
displacement suppression layer 85 is formed from a nonmagnetic
material having a low coefficient of linear thermal expansion. For
example, the displacement suppression layer 85 is preferably made
of an inorganic or metal material, examples of which include SiC,
AIN, Si.sub.3N.sub.4, and W (tungsten). It will be preferred in
particular to use a nonmagnetic material having a high hardness for
the displacement suppression layer 85. For example, the
displacement suppression layer 85 is preferably made of SiC, which
has a Vickers hardness higher than that of alumina.
[0167] Further, the thin-film magnetic head 300 has a protective
insulating layer 90. The protective insulating layer 90 is formed
using an insulating material such as alumina (Al.sub.2O.sub.3). The
protective insulating layer 90 has an embedded part 90a and a cover
part 90b. The embedded part 90a and the cover part 90b are formed
in one body. The embedded part 90a comes in contact with an all of
the shield connecting part 62c, and is embedded with no space
between the shield connecting part 62c and the ABS 30. The cover
part 90b is formed so as to cover the linking shield part 63 and
the displacement suppression layer 85.
[0168] (Method of Manufacturing Thin-Film Magnetic Head)
[0169] A method of manufacturing the thin-film magnetic head 300
having the structure mentioned above will now be explained with
reference to FIG. 11(a), FIG. 11(b) to FIG. 23(a), FIG. 23(b)
together with FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 7, FIG. 10 mentioned above.
[0170] FIG. 11(a) to FIG. 23(a) is sectional view corresponding to
FIG. 1 in respective step of manufacturing the thin-film magnetic
head 300, while FIG. 11(b) to FIG. 23(b) is front view similarly
corresponding to FIG. 2.
[0171] First, the substrate 1 made of a ceramic material such as
aluminum oxide-titanium carbide (Al.sub.2O.sub.3.TiC) is prepared.
Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 11(a), FIG. 11(b), the
insulating layer 2 made of an insulating material such as alumina
(Al.sub.2O.sub.3) and the lower shield layer 3 made of a magnetic
material are successively formed on the substrate 1. The heating
part 8 is formed when the insulating layer 2 is formed.
[0172] Then, the shield gap film 4 is formed by an insulating
material such as to shield the MR device 5. Here, an undepicted
lead connected to the MR device 5 is formed, and the MR device 5
and the lead are covered with the shield gap film 4. Thereafter,
using a magnetic material and an insulating material, the upper
shield layer 6 (the first shield part 6a, the insulating part 6b,
the second shield part 6c) is formed on the shield gap film 4.
[0173] Next, the insulating layer 7 for separating the upper shield
layer 6 and a recording head to be formed later from each other is
formed by an insulating material such as alumina (Al.sub.2O.sub.3).
The heat sensing part 9 is formed when the insulating layer 7 is
formed. The foregoing steps yield a multilayer body for forming the
recording head. Thereafter, a magnetic layer (having a thickness of
about 0.6 .mu.m) for forming the linking shield part 43 is formed
by using a magnetic material such as NiFe or CoNiFe or the like, so
as to form an insulating layer on the surface of the multilayer
body, and the surface of the multilayer body is flattened by
chemical mechanical polishing (hereinafter, referred to as "CMP").
This forms an opposing insulating layer 17 and the linking shield
part 43. Here, the linking shield part 43 is formed such as to be
separated from the ABS 30 by 0.3 to 1 .mu.m (about 0.5 .mu.m in
this embodiment).
[0174] Subsequently, an insulating layer 18 (having a thickness of
about 0.1 to 0.3 .mu.m) made of alumina (Al.sub.2O.sub.3) is formed
on the whole surface of the multilayer body. Then, after applying a
photoresist to the whole surface of the multilayer body, patterning
is performed with a predetermined photomask, so as to form a resist
pattern (not depicted). Using this resist pattern as a mask,
etching such as RIE is performed, so as to selectively perforate
the insulating layer 18.
[0175] Then, a lower front magnetic layer forming step is
performed. In this step, as illustrated in FIG. 11(a), FIG. 11(b),
a lower front magnetic layer 41 A is formed. The lower front
magnetic layer 41 A is a magnetic layer to form the lower front
shield part 41. By frame plating method, using a magnetic material
made of a ferromagnetic body such as NiFe or CoNiFe or the like,
the lower front magnetic layer 41 A is formed by a thickness of
about 1.4-2.0 .mu.m. At this time, a magnetic layer 44A to form the
first rear shield part 44 is formed too.
[0176] Next, as illustrated in FIG. 12(a), FIG. 12(b), an
insulating layer 19 (having a thickness of about 0.02 .mu.m to 0.3
.mu.m, preferably about 0.1 .mu.m to 0.2 .mu.m) made of alumina
(Al.sub.2O.sub.3) is formed on the whole surface of the multilayer
body by CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) according to an atomic
layer method. The insulating layer 19 is formed so as to cover the
lower front magnetic layer 41A and the magnetic layer 44A.
[0177] Then, a conductor layer 70 is formed by performing a
conductor layer forming step. The conductor layer 70 is formed to
form the lower thin-film coil 11. In this step, first, a conductor
layer 70 is formed between the lower front magnetic layer 41A and
the magnetic layer 44A by frame plating method. The conductor layer
70 is formed such as to have two interstices 70a between the lower
front magnetic layer 41A and the magnetic layer 44A and come into
contact with the lower front magnetic layer 41A and the magnetic
layer 44A through the insulating layer 19 without gaps. The
conductor layer 70 is an intermittent conductor layer, since it is
provided with interstices 70a.
[0178] Next, as illustrated in FIG. 13(a), FIG. 13(b), a
photoresist layer 80 (having a thickness of about 1.5 .mu.m to 2.5
.mu.m) is formed so as to be embedded the two interstices 70a in
the conductor layer 70. Next, an insulating film 20 adapted to
cover the surface of the multilayer body is formed using alumina
(Al.sub.2O.sub.3) by a thickness of about 3 .mu.m to 4 .mu.m.
Subsequently, common flat surface forming step is performed. In
this step, planarization the surface of the multilayer body is
performed to form the above-described common flat surface 58. In
this case, the surface of the multilayer body is polished by CMP
until the lower front magnetic layer 41A and the magnetic layer 44A
emerge, so as to become flat.
[0179] Then, as illustrated in FIG. 14(a), FIG. 14(b),
planarization processing is performed on the lower front magnetic
layer 41A and the magnetic layer 44A together with the conductor
layer 70 to form a common flat surface 58 on the surface of the
multilayer body. The common flat surface 58 includes the
above-described upper end face 11x and includes the surface of the
lower front magnetic layer 41 A and the surface of the magnetic
layer 44A. Further, the planarization processing also forms the
lower thin-film coil 11. In this event, the opposing insulating
layer 20 is formed on the ABS 30 side of the lower front shield
part 41, and therefore the planarization processing includes an
opposing insulating layer forming step.
[0180] Then, as illustrated in FIG. 15(a), FIG. 15(b), the base
insulating layer 24 is formed on the common flat surface 58 using
an insulating material such as alumina (Al.sub.2O.sub.3) or the
like. The heating part 23 is formed when the base insulating layer
24 is formed. After that, the base insulating layer 24 is
selectively perforated.
[0181] Subsequently, magnetic layer forming step is performed. In
this step, the leading magnetic layer 42A is directly formed on the
surface of the opposing insulating layer 20 and the surface of the
lower front magnetic layer 41A in the common flat surface 58. The
leading magnetic layer 42A is a magnetic layer to form the leading
shield part 42. Further, in this magnetic layer forming step, a
magnetic layer to become the second rear shield part 45 and the
leading magnetic layer 42A are formed together respectively in a
thickness of 0.5 .mu.m to 1.0 .mu.m. These magnetic layers are
formed in the opened part of the base insulating layer 24 by the
frame plating method using a magnetic material made of a
ferromagnetic body such as NiFe or CoNiFe.
[0182] Next, a leading shield part forming step is performed. In
this step, the surface of the leading magnetic layer 42A, the
surface of the base insulating layer 24 and the surface of the
magnetic layer which will be the second rear shield part 45 are
etched as follows according to the shape on the lower end face side
of the main magnetic pole layer 26. Thus, the leading magnetic
layer 42A forms the leading shield part 42 as illustrated in FIG.
16(a), FIG. 16(b). Further, the base insulating layer 24 is reduced
in thickness and the second rear shield part 45 is also formed.
[0183] In this case, photoresist is applied on the surface of the
multilayer body and then patterned using a predetermined photomask
to form a resist pattern. This resist pattern is formed in a shape
exposing the surface of the leading magnetic layer 42A, the surface
of the base insulating layer 24 and the surface of the magnetic
layer to become the second rear shield part 45 into a shape
according to a shape of the main magnetic pole layer 26 in a lower
end face side. Using the resist pattern as a mask, reactive ion
etching (hereinafter, referred to as "RIE") is performed to remove
a part of the surface of the multilayer body which is not covered
with the resist pattern.
[0184] Thus, the v-groove part and the cutout part are formed in
the leading magnetic layer 42A, whereby the leading shield part 42
is formed. Besides, the base insulating layer 24 and the second
rear shield part 45 are also formed.
[0185] Then, a main magnetic pole layer forming step is performed.
In this case, as shown in illustrated in FIG. 17(a), FIG. 17(b), a
nonmagnetic thin-film 25 is formed on the surface of the leading
shield part 42 and base insulating layer 24. The nonmagnetic
thin-film 25 is formed by sputtering with a nonmagnetic metal
material such as Ru, NiCr, or NiCu, or an insulating material such
as alumina. The nonmagnetic thin-film 25 is also formed at v-groove
part of the leading shield part 42.
[0186] After that, a magnetic layer 75 is formed on the whole
surface of the multilayer body. This magnetic layer 75 is formed by
sputtering with a magnetic material made of a ferromagnetic body
such as CoNiFe, CoFe, NiFe by thickness of about 0.4 to 0.8 .mu.m.
The main magnetic pole layer 26 is formed later by this magnetic
layer 75. Further, the whole surface of the multilayer body is
polished by CMP, so as to become flat.
[0187] After that, a nonmagnetic layer 77 (having a thickness of
about 0.04 to 0.1 .mu.m) is formed on the whole surface of the
multilayer body by sputtering with a metal material such as Ru,
NiCr, or NiCu. The nonmagnetic layer 77 will partly be etched away
later, so as to become the above-mentioned nonmagnetic layer 27.
Further, using an inorganic insulating material such as alumina
(Al.sub.2O.sub.3) or silicon oxide, a nonmagnetic layer 78 (having
a thickness of about 0.1 to 0.3 .mu.m) is formed on the whole
surface of the multilayer body. The nonmagnetic layer 78 will
partly be etched away later, so as to become the above-mentioned
nonmagnetic layer 28.
[0188] Subsequently, after applying a photoresist to the whole
surface of the multilayer body, patterning with a predetermined
photomask is performed, so as to form a resist pattern 81 near the
ABS 30.
[0189] Next, using the resist pattern 81 as a mask, etching such as
RIE, for example, is performed, so as to remove a part of the
nonmagnetic layer 78. The etching in this case is performed such as
to stop at the time when the bottom part of a groove formed by
etching reaches the upper face of the nonmagnetic layer 77. To this
aim, a material yielding an etching rate lower than that of the
nonmagnetic layer 77 is used for the nonmagnetic layer 78.
[0190] After that, the resist pattern 81 is removed. Then, using
the remaining nonmagnetic layer 78 as a mask, a part of the
nonmagnetic layer 77 is etched away by IBE, for example. Further,
using the remaining nonmagnetic layer 77 as a mask, a part of the
nonmagnetic layer 75 is etched away by IBE, for example. This step
forms the first upper tilted surface 26b or the like on the ABS
side of the magnetic layer 75 and the main magnetic pole layer 26
is formed.
[0191] Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 18(a), 18(b), the gap
layer 29 is formed on the whole surface of the multilayer body by
sputtering or CVD with an insulating material such as alumina
(Al.sub.2O.sub.3) or a nonmagnetic conductive material such as Ru,
NiCu, or Ta.
[0192] Further, an undepicted stopper film is formed by sputtering,
for example, and a nonmagnetic film is formed thereon.
Subsequently, an undepicted photoresist is applied to the whole
surface of the multilayer body. Then, patterning with a
predetermined photomask is performed, so as to form an undepicted
resist pattern. Using this resist pattern as a mask, the
nonmagnetic film is etched by RIE, for example. This etching is
performed such as to stop when the bottom part of a groove formed
by etching reaches the upper face of the stopper film. Then, after
removing the resist pattern that is not depicted, the remaining
nonmagnetic film is used as a mask for partly etching the gap layer
29, nonmagnetic layer 77 and nonmagnetic layer 78 away by RIE or
the like. Here, the gap layer 29, nonmagnetic layer 77 and
nonmagnetic layer 78 are partly removed, so as to secure a space
for forming the above-mentioned upper yoke layer 65.
[0193] Subsequently, the opposing shield part 61 is formed by
performing an opposing shield part forming step. In this step,
first, a magnetic layer is formed on the whole surface of the
multilayer body. This magnetic layer is formed by plating method
using a magnetic material made of a ferromagnetic body such as
CoNiFe, CoFe, CoFeN, NiFe or the like by a thickness of about 0.5
to 1.2 .mu.m. This magnetic layer will later form the opposing
shield part 61 and the upper yoke layer 65.
[0194] Subsequently, an insulating layer (having a thickness of
about 1 to 3 .mu.m) is formed on the whole surface of the
multilayer body using an insulating material such as alumina
(Al.sub.2O.sub.3). Further, the whole surface of the multilayer
body is polished by CMP until the upper a surface of the magnetic
layer emerges, so as to be made flat. This forms the opposing
shield part 61, the upper yoke layer 65 and an insulating layer 31.
At this time, the surface of the multilayer body is polished such
that the opposing shield part 61 has a thickness of about 0.5 to
1.0 .mu.m.
[0195] Next, a first shield part forming step is performed. In this
step, as illustrated in FIG. 19(a), FIG. 19(b), at parts of the
surface of the multilayer body where the upper front shield part 62
and the upper rear shield part 64 will be formed, the pre-trim
front shield part 62A and the upper rear shield part 64 are formed
respectively. In this event, the pre-trim front shield part 62A is
disposed in the ABS 30 and therefore corresponds to the first
shield part according to the embodiment of the present invention.
In the first shield part forming step, the pre-trim front shield
part 62A and the upper rear shield part 64 are formed by, for
example, frame plating method using a magnetic material made of a
ferromagnetic body such as NiFe or CoNiFe. In this event, the space
between the pre-trim front shield part 62A and the upper rear
shield part 64 is made to range from about 3.0 .mu.m to about 3.5
.mu.m.
[0196] In addition, the pre-trim front shield part 62A is formed to
be connected to the opposing shield part 61 and disposed in the ABS
30. The pre-trim front shield part 62A has a shape illustrated on
the upper side in FIG. 7. In this pre-trim front shield part 62A,
the whole front end face 62a is disposed in the ABS 30.
[0197] Then, as illustrated in FIG. 20(a), FIG. 20(b), a conductor
layer 71 is formed between the first shield part (pre-trim front
shield part 62A) and the upper rear shield part 64. This conductor
layer 71 will later form the upper thin-film coil 51. The conductor
layer 71 is formed such as to have two interstices 71a and come
into contact with the first shield part (pre-trim front shield part
62A) and the upper rear shield part 64 through an interlayer
insulating layer 32 without gaps. The conductor layer 71 is an
intermittent conductor layer, since it is provided with interstices
71a.
[0198] After that, a photoresist layer 55 (having a thickness of
about 2 .mu.m to 3 .mu.m) is formed so as to cover the two
interstices 71a in the conductor layer 71, a cover insulating film
adapted to cover the surface of the multilayer body is formed using
alumina (Al.sub.2O.sub.3) by a thickness of about 3 .mu.m to 4
.mu.m. Subsequently, the surface of the multilayer body is polished
by CMP until the pre-trim front shield part 62A and the upper rear
shield part 64 emerge, so as to become flat.
[0199] This forms the upper thin-film coil 51 and the photoresist
layer 55, as illustrated in FIG. 21(a), FIG. 21(b). In this event,
flattening of the surface of the multilayer body is performed so
that the thickness of the upper thin-film coil 51 is about 1.0
.mu.m to 1.8 .mu.m. Besides, the above-described common flat
surface 59 is formed by the flattening of the surface of the
multilayer body.
[0200] Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 22(a), FIG. 22(b), an
insulating layer 34 is formed on the whole surface of the
multilayer body using an insulating material such as alumina
(Al.sub.2O.sub.3), and the insulating layer 34 is partially
perforate. After that, a linking shield part forming step is
performed. In this step, the linking shield part 63 is formed by
frame plating method using a magnetic material made of a
ferromagnetic body such as NiFe, CoNiFe or the like. The linking
shield part 63 is formed so as to be connected to the pre-trim
shield part 62A. The linking shield part 63 is formed so as to
straddle the turn parts 51g, 51e, 51c of the upper thin-film coil
51 through the insulating layer 34.
[0201] Further, the linking shield part 63 is receded from the ABS
30 and formed at a position distanced from the ABS 30. In other
words, the linking shield part 63 is formed at a position where a
receding space 63h is ensured between the linking shield part 63
and the ABS 30. The receding space 63h becomes an elongated part
having a width, for example, about 0.4 .mu.m to 0.7 .mu.m along the
ABS 30 and the same height as that of the linking shield part
63.
[0202] Next, a trimming step is performed. In this step, as
illustrated in FIG. 23(a), FIG. 23(b), IBE is performed by applying
ion beams IB from the upper direction using the linking shield part
63 as a mask to cut off the part of the pre-trim front shield part
62A which is not covered with the linking shield part 63. Since the
part of the pre-trim front shield part 62A on the ABS side is not
covered with the linking shield part 63, the part on the ABS side
of the pre-trim front shield part 62A is cut off by performing IBE.
In this event, IBE is performed in a manner to leave a part of the
pre-trim front end face 62a of the pre-trim front shield part 62A
disposed in the ABS 30. Thus, as shown in FIG. 7, the
above-described shield connecting part 62c is formed of the part of
the pre-trim front end face 62a which has not been cut off but
left. Further, IBE is performed in a manner to cause the shield
connecting part 62c having the above-described receding tilt
structure to appear.
[0203] Though the linking shield part 63 itself is used as a mask
in the above-described trimming step, a mask such as a photoresist
or the like covering the upper face of the linking shield part 63
may be used instead of using the linking shield part 63. More
specifically, a mask equal in size to the linking shield part 63
may be formed on the upper face of the linking shield part 63 using
photoresist or the like, and the part of the pre-trim front shield
part 62A which is not covered with the linking shield part 63 may
be cut off using the mask.
[0204] Further, with chemical action of gas plasma used in etching,
the etching can proceed not only in the vertical direction (the
longitudinal direction in FIG. 23) but also in the horizontal
direction (the lateral direction in FIG. 23) of the pre-trim front
shield part 62A. Therefore, it is preferable to perform non-active
IBE, namely, ion milling in the trimming step. Etching performed
utilizing physical impact when inactive ions are applied is also
called ion milling for distinction from reactive ion etching.
[0205] Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the displacement
suppression layer 85 is formed. After that, the protective
insulating layer 90 is formed by an insulating material such as
alumina (Al.sub.2O.sub.3) so as to cover the displacement
suppression layer 85, whereby the thin-film magnetic head 300 is
completed.
[0206] The protective insulating layer 90 is formed such as to come
into contact with an entire the shield connecting part 62c and be
embedded without gap between the shield connecting part 62c and the
ABS 30.
[0207] (Operation and Effect of Thin-film Magnetic Head 300)
[0208] As described above, the thin-film magnetic head 300 has the
leading shield part 42 and the lower thin-film coil 11. Further, in
the thin-film magnetic head 300, the leading shield part 42 and the
lower thin-film coil 11 are formed as follows. Namely, the space to
the substrate 1 about both of the lower end face 42b and the upper
end face 11x are equal to each other, and both of them are formed
so that the space with respect to the substrate 1 is the height hl
as illustrated in FIG. 10. Therefore, no gap is formed between the
lower end face 42b and the upper end face 11x.
[0209] On the other hand, in the conventional PMR 700 illustrated
in FIG. 43, the lower shield part 720 has the leading shield part
711, the first front shield part 713 and the linking shield part
714 and additionally has the second front shield part 712.
Therefore, it is necessary to form the second front shield part 712
in the manufacturing step. For this reason, the insulating layer
732 having a thickness corresponding to the second front shield
part 712 in addition to the insulating layer 731 is formed between
the main magnetic pole layer 710 and the lower thin-film coil 718.
The insulating layer 732 is formed to cover the surface of the
lower thin-film coil 718. Therefore, to increase the height of the
lower thin-film coil 718, it is necessary to shift the position of
the insulating layer 732 to the upper direction (the direction
toward the main magnetic pole layer 710).
[0210] This, however, requires that the position of the main
magnetic pole layer 710 is also shifted upward. This works to
increase the read/write separation and would break the restriction
that the read/write separation needs to keep within a predetermined
dimension. So, it is a very difficult problem to increase the
height of the lower thin-film coil 718 in the restriction range of
the read/write separation in the conventional PMR 700.
[0211] In the thin-film magnetic head 300, however, there is no gap
formed between the lower end face 42b and the upper end face 11x.
In short, the thin-film magnetic head 300 has a shape without the
second front shield part 712 and the insulating layer 732 existing
in the conventional PMR 700.
[0212] In the conventional PMR 700, the insulating layer 732 is
formed to cover the surface of the lower thin-film coil 718. The
insulating layer 732 is merely an obstruction in terms of the
increase in height of the lower thin-film coil 718.
[0213] However, by forming a configuring as in the thin-film
magnetic head 300 according to the embodiment of the present
invention in which the insulating layer 732 in the conventional PMR
700 does not exist, a space enabling the increase in height of the
lower thin-film coil 11 can be newly secured. The thin-film
magnetic head 300 is structured so that the space between both of
the lower end face 42b of the leading shield part 42 and the upper
end face 11x of the lower thin-film coil 11, and the substrate 1
are equal to each other, whereby the structure in which the
insulating layer 732 in the conventional PMR 700 does not exist is
implemented. Providing the structure achieves the effect of
decreasing the RWS by about 0.5 .mu.m as compared to the
conventional PMR 700, in the thin-film magnetic head 300.
Therefore, a height increasing space for increasing the height of
the lower thin-film coil 11 can be secured in the thin-film
magnetic head 300.
[0214] In the thin-film magnetic head 300, the height of the lower
thin-film coil 11 can be increased by using the height increasing
space. Accordingly, the cross-sectional area of the lower thin-film
coil 11 is increased to enable a decrease in the electric
resistance of the lower thin-film coil 11 within the restriction
range of RWS in the thin-film magnetic head 300.
[0215] In addition, the coil-insulating layer 55 is not disposed
outside the upper thin-film coil 51 as in the conventional PMR 700,
and therefore the magnetic path length can be made shorter than
that in the PMR 600.
[0216] Accordingly, it is possible to decrease the electric
resistance of the thin-film coil within the restriction range of
RWS without increasing the magnetic path length in the thin-film
magnetic head 300.
[0217] Further, in the thin-film magnetic head 300, the lower end
face 42b of the leading shield part 42 is directly connected to the
upper end face 41a of the lower front shield part 41. The structure
in which the insulating layer 732 in the conventional PMR 700 does
not exist can be a structure in which the second front shield part
712 does not exist. This could not achieve the connection state
between the leading shield part and the lower front shield part. In
the thin-film magnetic head 300, however, the leading shield part
42 with an increased depth is formed and its lower end face 42b is
directly connected to the upper end face 41a of the lower front
shield part 41. Accordingly, the height increasing space is secured
while securing the connection state between the leading shield part
42 and the lower front shield part 41.
[0218] Further, the upper end face 11x of the lower thin-film coil
11 is in direct contact with the base insulating layer 24 in the
thin-film magnetic head 300. This results in that the height
increasing space is used for increasing the height of the lower
thin-film coil 11 and not allocated to other components. Thus, the
height of the lower thin-film coil 11 is surely increased.
[0219] Further, since the leading shield part 42 is connected to
both the opposing insulating layer 20 and the lower front shield
part 41, the leading shield part 42 serves both as the functions of
the leading shield part 711 and the second front shield part 712 in
the conventional PMR 700. Accordingly, the height increasing space
is secured while securing the connection state between the leading
shield part 42 and the lower front shield part 41.
[0220] In addition, the thin-film magnetic head 300 is structured
such that only the upper front shield part 62 is formed as the
magnetic layer which is to be disposed between the opposing shield
part 61 and the linking shield part 63. Therefore, as compared to
the case where the two magnetic layers such as the front shield
part 703 and the connecting shield part 702 are formed between the
opposing shield part 701 and the linking shield part 704 as in the
above-described conventional PMR 700, the length of the magnetic
path along the top-down direction is shorter so that the magnetic
path length is able to be reduced in the thin-film magnetic head
300.
[0221] Hence, the thin-film magnetic head 300 is able to improve
the flux rise time, non-linear transition shift (NLTS)
characteristic, overwrite characteristic, and the like of the
recording head, and follow rapid changes in recording signals
having a high frequency and changing fast. This makes the thin-film
magnetic head 300 suitable as a recording head for hard disk drives
mounted to servers in particular.
[0222] In addition, the upper front shield part 62 has a lateral
width capable of reaching, from the ABS 30, the upper thin-film
coil 51 via the interlayer insulating layer 32. Therefore, even
though the write shield layer 60 has a different-distance
structure, the upper front shield part 62 is surely connected to
both of the opposing shield part 61 and the linking shield part 63.
Accordingly, the opposing shield part 61 opposing the main magnetic
pole layer 26 and the linking shield part 63 straddling the turn
parts 51g, 51e, 51c of the upper thin-film coil 51 are liked
together as a continuous line and are able to form the magnetic
circuit as a continuous line. Note that the different-distance
structure means a structure that the respective distances of the
opposing shield part 61 and the linking shield part 63 from the ABS
30 are different because the opposing shield part 61 is disposed in
the ABS 30 and the linking shield part 63 is receded from the ABS
30.
[0223] A structure is discussed here which is intended to surely
connect both of the opposing shield part 61 and the linking shield
part 63 by the upper front shield part 62 in the different-distance
structure of the write shield layer 60. Since the sizes of the
upper end face and the lower end face are maximum when the whole
front end face is disposed in the ABS 30 as in the pre-trim front
shield part 62A, it is preferable that the whole front end face is
disposed in the ABS 30 like the pre-trim front shield part 62A in
order to realize the aforementioned structure.
[0224] However, this causes the pre-trim front end face 62a to be
largely exposed in the ABS 30. The upper front shield part 62 and
the pre-trim front shield part 62A are formed of a magnetic
material made of a ferromagnetic body such as CoNiFe, CoFe, CoFeN,
NiFe or the like. Therefore, if the whole pre-trim front end face
62a is exposed in the ABS 30 like the pre-trim front shield part
62A, the pre-trim front shield part 62A will be affected more
strongly when the photoresist layer 55 expands due to the heat
generation of the upper thin-film coil 51.
[0225] Since the frying height is very small, collision between the
thin-film magnetic head 300 and the recording medium can occur even
when only a limited and small part of the pre-trim front end face
62a projects. That the whole pre-trim front end face 62a is exposed
in the ABS 30 means that many such small parts which will project
exist in the ABS 30, which means that there are accordingly many
projecting forms which can collide with the recording medium and
collision between the thin-film magnetic head 300 and the recording
medium is more likely to occur.
[0226] Hence, in the thin-film magnetic head 300, the upper front
shield part 62 having the structure illustrated on the lower side
in FIG. 7 is formed. Thus, the part exposed in the ABS 30 is the
shield front end face 62b.
[0227] Further, in the upper front shield part 62, the shield upper
end face 62f is disposed at a position distanced more from the
substrate 1 than is the shield front end face 62b, and the upper
front shield part 62 has the shield connecting part 62c connecting
the shield front end face 62b to the shield upper end face 62f. In
such a structure, the front end face disposed in the ABS 30 is
smaller in size than that when the shield upper end face 62f
reaches the ABS 30, namely, the pre-trim front shield part 62A as
illustrated on the upper side in FIG. 7. Therefore, provision of
the upper front shield part 62 makes it possible to suppress the
situation that the thin-film magnetic head 300 collides with the
recording medium.
[0228] Hence, the thin-film magnetic head 300 is able to restrain
the write shield layer 60 from projecting as the upper thin-film
coil 51 generate heat especially. Consequently, the thin-film
magnetic head 300 is very unlikely to be damaged by the protrusion
of the recording head and thus can approach recording media.
[0229] While the thin-film magnetic head 300 is incorporated in an
undepicted slider, the flying height of the slider from the
recording medium surface can be reduced. Therefore, the thin-film
magnetic head 300 is able to enhance the resolution of recording
and reproducing heads, thereby improving their signal-to-noise
ratio. This can also increase the recording density of the
thin-film magnetic head 300.
[0230] On the other hand, the upper front shield part 62 is formed,
after the formation of the linking shield part 63, by cutting off a
part thereof on the ABS 30 side where the linking shield part 63 is
not in contact therewith. For this reason, though the part exposed
in the ABS 30 is small, the shield upper end face 62f is surely
ensured, resulting in a structure in which the upper front shield
part 62 and the linking shield part 63 can be surely connected.
[0231] Further, when cutting off the part of the upper front shield
part 62 on the ABS 30 side, the shield front end face 62b is
ensured so that a part of the pre-trim front end face 62a is left
as the shield front end face 62b without cutting off the whole
pre-trim front end face 62a. If IBE proceeds to the degree that the
shield front end face 62b is not ensured when cutting off the part
of the pre-trim front shield part 62A on the ABS 30 side, the
shield lower end face 62r can also be cut off. In this case, the
part which is to be connected to the opposing shield part 61
becomes smaller, so that the connection between the opposing shield
part 61 and the upper front shield part 62 can be insufficient.
However, there is no such possibility in the thin-film magnetic
head 300.
[0232] Further, the upper front shield part 62 has the shield
connecting part 62c, and the shield connecting part 62c has the
tilt structure. Therefore, the upper front shield part 62 has a
structure which can be surely formed by the above-described IBE
from the upper direction.
[0233] Without the tilt structure, for example, when a surface part
extending from the shield front end face 62b to the shield upper
end face 62f is bent in an S-shape, it is difficult to form the
upper front shield part 62 by IBE. However, in the thin-film
magnetic head 300, there is no such possibility and the upper front
shield part 62 is able to be surely formed by IBE from the upper
direction.
[0234] Further, since the shield connecting part 62c has the
receding tilt structure, the volume of the upper front shield part
62 is reduced as compared to the case without the receding tilt
structure. This further suppresses the possibility of projection of
the upper front shield part 62.
[0235] Further, the shield connecting part 62c has the lateral flat
part 62c 1. The lateral flat part 62c 1 is generally formed along
the direction intersecting the ABS 30. Accordingly, the shield
connecting part 62c is able to surely receive the pressure received
in the longitudinal direction from the embedded part 90a of the
protective insulating layer 90 as compared to the case without the
lateral flat part 62c1. Accordingly, in the thin-film magnetic head
300, the embedding state of the protective insulating layer 90 is
stable.
[0236] Additionally, the shield connecting part 62c has the
longitudinal flat part 62c2. The longitudinal flat part 62c2 is
generally formed along the ABS 30. Accordingly, the upper front
shield part 62 has a structure which can be surely formed by IBE
from the upper direction or the like to the pre-trim front shield
part 62A.
[0237] As has been described, in the thin-film magnetic head 300,
the magnetic path length can be reduced and projection of a part of
the ABS 30 can be suppressed, so that both of the suppression of
projection of a part of the medium-opposing surface and the
reduction in magnetic path length can be realized. Accordingly, the
thin-film magnetic head 300 is configured such that the projection
of a part of the ABS 30 can be suppressed without affecting the
reduction in magnetic path length.
[0238] Since the lower thin-film coil 11 and upper thin-film coil
51 have the variable width structures as mentioned above, current
flows are less likely to be obstructed, whereby the resistance
value is able to be restrained from rising. Accordingly, generation
of heat from the lower thin-film coil 11 and the upper thin-film
coil 51 are able to be suppressed effectively in the thin-film
magnetic head 300.
Modified Example 1
[0239] The thin-film magnetic head 300 may have a shield magnetic
layer 140 and an opposing insulating layer 120 as illustrated in
FIG. 38 in place of the above-described shield magnetic layer 40
and opposing insulating layer 20. The shield magnetic layer 140 is
different in that it has a leading shield part 142 in place of the
leading shield part 42, as compared with the shield magnetic layer
40. The leading shield part 142 is different in the following point
as compared with the leading shield part 42. Namely, in the leading
shield part 142, its ABS 30 side part 142a wraps around to the
inside of a later-described opposing depression 120a within the ABS
30. The leading shield part 142 has an expansion structure
implemented by the wraparound of the ABS 30 side part 142a. The
expansion structure means the structure in which the height of the
ABS 30 side part 142a in the direction along the ABS 30 is
expanded.
[0240] The opposing insulating layer 120 is different in that it
has an opposing depression 120a, as compared with the opposing
insulating layer 20. The opposing depression 120a is a depression
formed by disposing the upper end face 20b at a position closer to
the substrate 1 than is the upper end face 41a of the lower front
shield part 41.
[0241] In the thin-film magnetic head 300, the area of the leading
shield part 142 exposed to the ABS 30 is larger than that of the
leading shield part 42 because the leading shield part 142 has the
expansion structure. Therefore, it is possible to effectively take
in the magnetic flux emitted from the main magnetic pole layer 26
and more effectively prevent the decreased in writing property.
Modified Example 2
[0242] The above-described thin-film magnetic head 300 may have the
upper front shield part 62B as illustrated in FIG. 8 (a) in place
of the above-described upper front shield part 62. The upper front
shield part 62B is different in that it has a shield connecting
part 62d in place of the shield connecting part 62c, as compared
with the upper front shield part 62. The shield connecting part 62d
is different in that it is not have the lateral flat part 62c1, as
compared with the shield connecting part 62c.
[0243] The thin-film magnetic head 300 may have the upper front
shield part 62D as illustrated in FIG. 8 (b) in place of the upper
front shield part 62. The upper front shield part 62D is different
in that it has a shield connecting part 62e in place of the shield
connecting part 62c, as compared with the upper front shield part
62. The shield connecting part 62e is different in that it is not
have the longitudinal flat part 62c2, as compared with the shield
connecting part 62c.
[0244] In both of the case where the upper front shield part 62B is
provided and the case where the upper front shield part 62D is
provided, the shield front end face 62b is disposed in the ABS 30
and the size of the part thereof exposed in the ABS 30 is reduced
as compared to that of the pre-trim front shield part 62A.
Therefore, the possibility of projection of the upper front shield
parts 62B, 62D is surely suppressed as compared to the pre-trim
front shield part 62A. Accordingly, both of the suppression of
projection of a part of the medium-opposing surface and the
reduction in magnetic path length can be realized in both of the
case where the upper front shield part 62B is provided and the case
where the upper front shield part 62D is provided.
Second Embodiment
[0245] The thin-film magnetic head of perpendicular magnetic
recording type according to the second embodiment of the present
invention will now be explained with reference to FIG. 24 to FIG.
26. Here, FIG. 24 is a sectional view of the thin-film magnetic
head 310 according to a second embodiment of the present invention
corresponding to FIG. 1, along by a direction intersecting ABS 30.
FIG. 25 is a plan view illustrating the second coil layer 53
constituting an upper thin-film coil 50. FIG. 26 is a plan view
illustrating the first coil layer 52.
[0246] As in the thin-film magnetic head 300, the thin-film
magnetic head 310 comprises the substrate 1 and reproducing and
recording heads laminated on the substrate 1, while having the ABS
30. Since the thin-film magnetic head 310 includes configurations
identical to those of the thin-film magnetic head 300,
configurations of the thin-film magnetic head 310 different from
those of the thin-film magnetic head 300 will mainly be explained
in the following, while omitting or simplifying their common
configurations.
[0247] As in the thin-film magnetic head 300, the reproducing head
includes the insulating layer 2, the lower shield layer 3, the
shield gap film 4, the MR device 5, the upper shield layer 6, the
insulating layer 7, the heating part 8 and the heat sensing part 9
which are formed on the substrate 1.
[0248] The recording head of the thin-film magnetic head 310 is
different in that it has the upper thin-film coil 50 in place of
the upper thin-film coil 51, and that it has the write shield layer
160 in place of write shield layer 60, as compared with the
recording head of the thin-film magnetic head 300. Besides, the
recording head of the thin-film magnetic head 310 is different in
that it has a continuous insulating film 39, and that it has the
protective insulating layer 91 and the protective insulating layer
92 in place of the protective insulating layer 90, as compared with
the recording head of the thin-film magnetic head 300.
[0249] In the above-described thin-film magnetic head 300, both of
the lower thin-film coil 11 and the upper thin-film coil 51 have a
single-layer structure. A structure that the turn parts are
arranged in the direction intersecting the ABS 30 and not
overlapped in the direction along the ABS 30 is the single-layer
structure. However, in the thin-film magnetic head 301, the lower
thin-film coil 11 has the single-layer structure, whereas the upper
thin-film coil 50 has an overlapping structure by two layers.
[0250] The upper thin-film coil 50 has the first coil-layer 52 and
second coil-layer 53 arranged at positions separated from the ABS
30, while an upper conductor group is constituted by the first
coil-layer 52 and second coil-layer 53.
[0251] Further, the first coil-layer 52 and second coil-layer 53
arranged in the direction (up and down direction) along the ABS 30.
The second coil-layer 53 overlies the first coil-layer 52 while
interposing the coil interlayer insulating layer 84 therebetween.
The upper thin-film coil 50 has the overlapping structure by two
layers. The upper thin-film coil 50 has an equidistant two-stage
structure in which the first and second coil-layers 52, 53 have the
same front distance and the same rear distance.
[0252] The first coil-layer 52 have the turn parts 52c as
illustrated in FIG. 26. The turn parts 52c is arranged between the
first upper front shield part 62 and the first upper rear shield
part 64. The first coil-layer 52 has a loop part 52d extending from
a connecting part 52a connected to the second coil-layer 53 to the
turn part 52c, and a half-loop part 52b extending from the turn
part 52c to a connecting part 52e. The first coil-layer 52 is
constructed as a continuous line from the connecting part 52a to
the connecting part 52e, so as to be wound as a flat spiral about
the write shield layer 160, thus forming a one-turn loop as a
whole.
[0253] The second coil-layer 53 has two turn parts 53b, 53d. The
turn parts 53b, 53d are arranged between a later-described second
upper front shield part 66 and a second upper rear shield part 67.
The second coil-layer 53 has a structure which the turn parts 53b,
53d align with each other while interposing a photoresist layer 56
therebetween.
[0254] As illustrated in FIG. 25, the second coil-layer 53 has a
half-loop part 53e extending from a connecting part 53f connected
to the first coil-layer 52 to the turn part 53d, a one-loop part
53c extending from the turn part 53d to the turn part 53b, and a
half-loop part 53a extending from the turn part 53b to a lead part
13a.
[0255] The second coil-layer 53 is constructed as a continuous line
from the connecting part 53f to the lead part 13a, so as to be
wound as a flat spiral about the write shield layer 160, thus
forming a two-turn loop as a whole. For convenience of
illustration, FIG. 24 illustrates only the connecting part 53f and
the turn parts 53b, 53d, in the second coil-layer 53. Each of the
turn parts 53b, 53d has the vertically long structure similarly to
the turn parts 11b, 11d, 11f. Besides, the second coil-layer 53 has
the variable width structure similarly to the lower thin-film coil
11.
[0256] The first coil-layer 52 and the second coil-layer 53 connect
with each other as follows, whereby the upper thin-film coil 50
forms a continuous 3-turn loop. Namely, the connecting part 52e is
connected to the connecting part 52a through the half-loop part
52b, the turn part 52c and the loop part 52d, while the connecting
part 52a is connected to the connecting part 53f. The connecting
part 53f is further connected to the lead part 13a through the
half-loop part 53e, turn part 53d, one-loop part 53c, turn part 53b
and half-loop part 53a, whereby the 3-turn loop is formed.
[0257] Namely, the upper thin-film coil 50 has a (1+2) turn
structure in which the first coil-layer 52 forms a 1-turn loop, and
the second coil-layer 53 positioned directly thereabove forms a
2-turn loop, thereby yielding a 3-turn loop. The (A+B) turn
structure in this embodiment refers to an overlapping structure in
which a coil-layer having "B" turns overlies a coil-layer having
"A" turns.
[0258] The write shield layer 160 is different in that it has the
second upper front shield part 66 and the second upper rear shield
part 67, as compared with the write shield layer 60.
[0259] The second upper front shield part 66 is connected to the
first upper front shield part 62 and the linking shield part 63.
The entire second upper front shield part 66 is arranged at
positions separated from the ABS 30. The second upper front shield
part 66 is connected to the first upper front shield part 62
without straddling the turn parts 53b, 53d of the second coil-layer
53. Besides, the second upper front shield part 66 is arranged
closer to the ABS 30 than are the second coil-layer 53 constituting
the upper thin-film coil 50.
[0260] The second upper front shield part 66 has the lateral width
corresponding to the shield upper end face 62f of the first upper
front shield part 62. Further, the second upper front shield part
66 is formed such that the lateral width thereof along the
intersecting direction is equal to the lateral width along the
intersecting direction of the shield upper end face 62f. Further, a
front end face 66a on the ABS 30 side is a flat front end face. The
front end face 66a is formed flat along the ABS 30. Further, the
front end face 66a is connected without level difference to the
shield connecting part 62c. The front end face 66a is illustrated
in FIG. 31.
[0261] The second upper rear shield part 67 is connected to the
first upper rear shield part 64 and the linking shield part 63. The
second upper rear shield part 67 has the lateral width
corresponding to the first upper rear shield part 64.
[0262] The continuous insulating film 39 is continuously formed
extending from the front end face 66a to the shield connecting part
62c on the surface of the front end face 66a and the shield
connecting part 62c.
[0263] (Method of Manufacturing Thin-Film Magnetic Head)
[0264] A method of manufacturing the thin-film magnetic head 310
having the structure mentioned above will now be explained with
reference to FIG. 27 to FIG. 33 together with FIG. 24 mentioned
above.
[0265] FIG. 27 to FIG. 33 is sectional view corresponding to FIG. 1
in respective step of manufacturing the thin-film magnetic head
310. In case of forming the thin-film magnetic head 310, as
illustrated in FIG. 27, steps of manufacturing are performed until
the first shield part forming step by a procedure similar to the
procedure for manufacturing the thin-film magnetic head 300.
However, the first upper front shield part 62 and the first upper
rear shield part 64 is formed so as to be reduced slightly an
interval of them by an interval of about 2.5 .mu.m to 2.9
.mu.m.
[0266] After that, as illustrated in FIG. 27, an insulating layer
38 is formed on the whole surface of the multilayer body using an
alumina (Al.sub.2O.sub.3).
[0267] Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 28, a conductor layer
72 is formed between a first shield part (the first upper front
shield part 62) and the first upper rear shield part 64, on the
surface of the multilayer body.
[0268] This conductor layer 72 will later become the first
coil-layer 52. The conductor layer 72 is formed such as to come
into contact with the first shield part (the first upper front
shield part 62) and the first upper rear shield part 64 through the
insulating layer 38 without gaps. Then, the surface of the
multilayer body is polished by CMP until the first upper front
shield part 62 and the first upper rear shield part 64 emerge, so
as to become flat. This forms the first coil-layer 52, as
illustrated in FIG. 29.
[0269] Next, a second shield layer forming step is performed. In
this step, as illustrated in FIG. 30, an insulating layer (having a
thickness of about 0.1 .mu.m to 0.15 .mu.m) made of alumina
(Al.sub.2O.sub.3) is formed on the whole surface of the multilayer
body. After that, the insulating layer is selectively perforated.
This insulating layer will later become a coil-interlayer
insulating layer 84. Then, the second shield layer (the second
upper front shield part 66) and the second upper rear shield part
67 are formed to overlie in the opened part each in a thickness of
1.0 .mu.m to 2.0 .mu.m by the frame plating method using a magnetic
material such as NiFe or CoNiFe.
[0270] Then, a mask 88 is formed using a photoresist. The mask 88
is formed, as illustrated in FIG. 30, in a manner to recede from
the ABS 30 so as to expose a part of the second upper front shield
part 66 on the ABS 30 side. In other words, the mask 88 is formed
at a position to ensure a receding space 66h on the upper face of
the second upper front shield part 66. The receding space 66h is an
elongated part having a width, for example, about 0.4 .mu.m to 0.7
.mu.m like the receding space 63h.
[0271] Subsequently, a trimming step is performed. In this trimming
step, as illustrated in FIG. 31, IBE is performed by applying ion
beams IB from the upper direction to collectively cut off a part of
the second upper front shield part 66 on the ABS 30 side and a part
of the first upper front shield part 62 on the ABS 30 side. In this
event, IBE is performed in a manner to cut off the whole front end
face of the upper second front shield part 66 disposed on the upper
side but to leave a part of the front end face of the first upper
front shield part 62 on the lower side. This forms the
above-described shield connecting part 62c in the first upper front
shield part 62. Further, IBE is performed such that the shield
connecting part 62c having the above-described receding tilt
structure appears.
[0272] Next, as illustrated in FIG. 32, the insulating film 39 made
of alumina (Al.sub.2O.sub.3) is formed on the entire surface of the
multilayer body. A part of the insulating film 39 formed extending
from the front end face of the first upper front shield part 62 to
the front end face of the second upper front shield part 66 will
become the continuous insulating film 39.
[0273] Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 33, a conductor layer
73 having one interstice is formed between the second shield layer
(the second upper front shield part 66) and the second upper rear
shield part 67, on the surface of the multilayer body. This
conductor layer 73 will later become the second coil-layer 53. The
conductor layer 73 is formed such as to come into contact with the
second shield layer (the second upper front shield part 66) and the
second upper rear shield part 67 through the insulating layer 39
without gaps.
[0274] After that, a photoresist layer 86 is formed at the
interstice in the conductor layer 73, and an protective insulating
film 91 adapted to cover the surface of the multilayer body is
formed using alumina (Al.sub.2O.sub.3) by a thickness of about 3
.mu.m to 4 .mu.m. Then, the surface of the multilayer body is
polished by CMP until the second upper front shield part 66 and the
second upper rear shield part 67 emerge, so as to become flat.
Then, the displacement suppression layer 85 and the protective
insulating layer 92 are formed by performing steps similar with the
thin-film magnetic head 300. By this, the thin-film magnetic head
310 is obtained.
[0275] (Operation and Effect of thin-film magnetic head 310)
[0276] The thin-film magnetic head 310 has the leading shield part
42 and the lower thin-film coil 11 as in the thin-film magnetic
head 300 and therefore has the structure in which the insulating
layer 732 in the conventional PMR 700 does not exist as in the
thin-film magnetic head 300. Accordingly, it is possible to
decrease the electric resistance of the lower thin-film coil 11
within the restriction range of RWS also in the thin-film magnetic
head 310.
[0277] The thin-film magnetic head 310 has the lower thin-film coil
11 and the upper thin-film coil 50. Both of the lower thin-film
coil 11 and the upper thin-film coil 50 have three turns
respectively. However, the upper thin-film coil 50 has an
overlapping structure by the first coil-layer 52 and the second
coil-layer 53. Therefore, the upper thin-film coil 50 is able to
secure 3 turns, while having only 1 or 2 turns per plane.
Accordingly, the thin-film magnetic head 310 is able to reduce the
depth from the ABS 30.
[0278] In addition, the thin-film magnetic head 310 has a first
upper front shield part 62 similar to that of the thin-film
magnetic head 300. This first upper front shield part 62 also has a
shield front end face 62b, a shield upper end face 62f, and a
shield connecting part 62c as in the thin-film magnetic head 300,
and a part exposed in the ABS 30 is the shield front end face 62b.
Therefore, in the thin-film magnetic head 310, the front end face
disposed in the ABS 30 is smaller in size than the pre-trim front
end face 62a as illustrated on the upper side in FIG. 7.
Accordingly, the possibility of projection of the first upper front
shield part 62 can be suppressed. Therefore, the thin-film magnetic
head 310 is configured such that the projection of a part of the
ABS 30 can be suppressed without affecting the reduction in
magnetic path length as in the thin-film magnetic head 300.
[0279] Further, the front end face 66a of the second upper front
shield part 66 is a flat front end face and connected without level
difference to the shield connecting part 62c. Therefore, it is
possible to surely form the continuous insulating film 39 on the
second upper front shield part 66 and the first upper front shield
part 62. Further, in the trimming step, since the parts of the
second shield layer and the first shield part on the ABS 30 side
are collectively cut off, a continuous flat face without level
difference can be surely formed. In addition, it is unnecessary to
align the second upper front shield part 66 with the shield upper
end face 62f of the first upper front shield part 62, so that the
manufacturing steps are able to be accordingly simplified.
Modified Example 1
[0280] The thin-film magnetic head 310 is able to form as follows.
Steps until the first coil-layer 52 is formed are performed with
the same procedure as the above case. After that, as illustrated in
FIG. 34, a mask 83 is formed using a photoresist. The mask 83 is
formed such that the first upper front shield part 62 on the ABS 30
side is partly exposed. In other words, the mask 83 is formed at a
position where a receding space 62h is ensured on the upper face of
the first upper front shield part 62.
[0281] Subsequently, a trimming step is performed. In this trimming
step, as illustrated in FIG. 34, IBE is performed by applying ion
beams IB from the upper direction to cut off a part of the first
upper front shield part 62 on the ABS 30 side. In this event, IBE
is performed in a manner to leave a part of the front end face of
the first upper front shield part 62. This forms the
above-described shield front end face 62b, by the front end face
left in the first upper front shield part 62. Further, IBE is
performed such that the shield connecting part 62c having the
above-described receding tilt structure appears.
[0282] Next, after the mask 83 is removed, an insulating layer
(having a film thickness of about 0.1 .mu.m to about 0.15 .mu.m)
made of alumina (Al.sub.2O.sub.3) is formed on the entire surface
of the multilayer body as illustrated in FIG. 35, and then the
insulating layer is selectively perforated. This insulating layer
will be a coil interlayer insulating layer 84 afterwards. In this
case, since the part on the ABS 30 side of the first upper front
shield part 62 has already been cut off by the trimming step, a
part of the coil interlayer insulating layer 84 is formed also on
the shield connecting part 62c.
[0283] Then, the second shield layer (the second upper front shield
part 66) and the second upper rear shield part 67 are formed to
overlie in the opened part each in a thickness of 1.0 .mu.m to 2
.mu.m by the frame plating method using a magnetic material such as
NiFe or CoNiFe. Further, the insulating layer 39 made of alumina
(Al.sub.2O.sub.3) is formed on the whole surface of the multilayer
body. When subsequent steps are performed with the same procedure
as the above case, as illustrated in FIG. 36, the thin-film
magnetic head 311 is obtained. In this thin-film magnetic head 311,
a structure of an insulating layer arranged on ABS side of the
upper thin-film coil 50 is different from the thin-film magnetic
head 310, however, another structure are same with the thin-film
magnetic head 310.
Modified Example 2
[0284] Next, the thin-film magnetic head 315 will now be explained
with reference to FIG. 37. The thin-film magnetic head 315 is
different in that it has a lower thin-film coil 12 in place of the
lower thin-film coil 11, and that it has the upper thin-film coil
150 in place of the upper thin-film coil 50, as compared with the
above-described thin-film magnetic head 311.
[0285] The lower thin-film coil 12 is different in that it has four
turns, as compared with the lower thin-film coil 11. Namely, the
lower thin-film coil 12 has a turn part 11i in addition to the turn
part 11b, 11d, 11f. Besides, the upper thin-film coil 150 is
different in that it has a first coil-layer 54 in place of the
first coil-layer 52. The first coil-layer 54 has two turns as with
the second coil-layer 53.
[0286] This thin-film magnetic head 315 has also the leading shield
part 42 and the lower thin-film coil 11, therefore, it reduces the
electric resistance of the lower thin-film coil 11 within the
restriction range of the RWS, as in the thin-film magnetic head
300.
[0287] Further, the upper thin-film coil 150 has the overlapping
structure, and therefore the depth from the ABS 30 can be reduced.
Further, the thin-film magnetic head 315 has the first upper front
shield part 62, so that the possibility of projection of the first
upper front shield part 62 can be suppressed. Accordingly, the
thin-film magnetic head 315 is configured such that the projection
of a part of the ABS 30 can be suppressed without affecting the
reduction in magnetic path length as in the thin-film magnetic head
310.
Third Embodiment
[0288] The thin-film magnetic head of perpendicular magnetic
recording type according to the third embodiment of the present
invention will now be explained with reference to FIG. 39. FIG. 39
is a sectional view of the thin-film magnetic head 301 according to
a third embodiment of the present invention corresponding to FIG.
1, along by a direction intersecting ABS 30. The thin-film magnetic
head 301 is different in that it has a shield magnetic layer 49 in
place of the shield magnetic layer 40, and that it does not have
the base insulating layer 24, as compared with the thin-film
magnetic head 300. In the thin-film magnetic head 300, the lower
front shield part 41 of the shield magnetic layer 40 recedes from
the ABS 30. However, in the thin-film magnetic head 301, the
leading shield part 141 closer to the ABS 30 than is the thin-film
coil 11 is exposed in ABS 30 without receding from the ABS 30.
[0289] The shield magnetic layer 49 is different in that it has the
leading shield part 141 in place of the leading shield part 42 and
the lower front shield part 41, and that it does not have the
second rear shield part 45.
[0290] The leading shield part 141 has a shield end face 141a. The
shield end face 141a is disposed in the ABS 30. Further, the
leading shield part 141 opposes the main magnetic pole layer 26
through the nonmagnetic thin-film 25, at the first lower tilted
surface 26h. Further, the leading shield part 141 has a height
reaching, from the nonmagnetic thin-film 25, the linking shield
part 43 and a lateral width reaching, from the ABS 30, the turn
part 11b through the insulating layer 19. The leading shield part
141 is formed to have a height in the direction along the ABS 30
larger than the height in the direction along the ABS 30 of the
lower thin-film coil 11.
[0291] Further, in the thin-film magnetic head 301, the upper end
face 11x is in contact with the lower end face 26f of the main
magnetic pole layer 26 through the nonmagnetic thin-film 25.
Further, the lower end face 141b of the leading shield part 141 is
disposed at a position closer to the substrate 1 than is a lower
end face 11y of the lower thin-film coil 11. The lower end face 11y
is disposed at a position closest to the substrate 1 in the lower
thin-film coil 11.
[0292] In such a thin-film magnetic head 301, the upper end face
11x is in contact with the lower end face 26f of the main magnetic
pole layer 26 through the nonmagnetic thin-film 25 and therefore
only the nonmagnetic thin-film 25 exists between the main magnetic
pole layer 26 and the lower thin-film coil 11. If an insulating
layer exists between the main magnetic pole layer 26 and the lower
thin-film coil 11, the insulating layer would be an obstruction in
terms of the increase in height of the lower thin-film coil 11.
However, since the thin-film magnetic head 301 has a structure in
which such an insulating layer does not exist, the height of the
lower thin-film coil 11 can be made as large as possible within the
restriction range of the read/write separation.
[0293] Further, since the lower end face 141b is disposed at a
position closer to the substrate 1 than is the lower end face 11y,
the size of the magnetic layer exposed in the ABS 30 (the size of
the shield end face 141a) is made larger than that in the thin-film
magnetic head 300. Therefore, the thin-film magnetic head 301 can
more effectively absorb the magnetic flux emitted from the main
magnetic pole layer 26.
[0294] Also in such a thin-film magnetic head 301, both of the
suppression of projection of a part of the medium-opposing surface
and the reduction in magnetic path length can be realized, as in
the thin-film magnetic head 300, because the write shield layer 60
has the above-described upper front shield part 62.
[0295] In particular, since the thin-film magnetic head 301 has a
structure in which the opposing shield part 61 and the linking
shield part 63 can be connected by the upper front shield part 62,
the magnetic path length can be made shorter than that of the
conventional thin-film magnetic head 700. Therefore, the inductance
of the thin-film magnetic head 301 can be reduced. Accordingly, it
is possible to pass recording signals having a high frequency
through the thin-film coil and increase the recording density on
the recording medium.
[0296] (Method of Manufacturing Thin-Film Magnetic Head)
[0297] A method of manufacturing the thin-film magnetic head 301
having the structure mentioned above will now be explained with
reference to FIG. 39 mentioned above.
[0298] The steps until the common flat surface 58 is formed are
performed substantially similarly to the case of the thin-film
magnetic head 300. However, the steps for manufacturing the
thin-film magnetic head 301 are different in the following point
from those when manufacturing the thin-film magnetic head 300. The
conductor layer forming step is performed as in the case of the
thin-film magnetic head 300.
[0299] A magnetic layer forming step is performed instead of the
lower front magnetic layer forming step in the case of the
thin-film magnetic head 300, and a planarization step is performed
instead of the common flat surface forming step. By performing the
magnetic layer forming step, a leading magnetic layer for forming
the leading shield part 141 is formed instead of the lower front
magnetic layer 41A. The leading magnetic layer is different in that
it is disposed in the ABS 30, as compared with the lower front
magnetic layer 41A. Further, by performing the planarization step,
planarization processing is performed on the surfaces of the
conductor layer and the leading magnetic layer.
[0300] Next, the leading shield part forming step is performed as
follows. Namely, the leading shield part 141 is formed by etching
the surfaces of the leading magnetic layer and the conductor layer
according to the shape of the main magnetic pole layer 26. The
etching in this case only needs to be performed as in the case of
the thin-film magnetic head 300 except that the upper end face 11x
of the lower thin-film coil 11 is included in the etching target.
Thereafter, the main magnetic pole layer forming step is performed
as in the case of the thin-film magnetic head 300, whereby the
thin-film magnetic head 301 can be manufactured.
[0301] For manufacturing the thin-film magnetic head 301, the upper
end face 11x of the lower thin-film coil 11 is included in the
etching target, so that the height of the lower thin-film coil 11
can be reduced by the amount thereof etched. However, only the
nonmagnetic thin-film 25 exists between the upper end face 11x of
the lower thin-film coil 11 and the main magnetic pole layer 26 and
other insulating layers do not exist between them. Thus, the height
of the completed lower thin-film coil 11 can be made large, and
therefore it is sufficient to form the lower thin-film coil 11
before etching large in height.
[0302] (Embodiments of Head Gimbal Assembly and Hard Disk
Drive)
[0303] Next, embodiments of the head gimbal assembly and hard disk
drive will now be explained with reference to FIG. 41 to FIG.
42.
[0304] FIG. 41 is a perspective view illustrating a hard disk drive
201 equipped with the above-mentioned thin-film magnetic head 300.
FIG. 42 is a perspective view illustrating a rear side of HGA 210.
As illustrated in FIG. 41, the hard disk drive 201 includes a hard
disk (magnetic recording medium) 202 rotating at a high speed and a
head gimbal assembly (HGA) 210. The hard disk drive 201 is an
apparatus which actuates the HGA 210, so as to record/reproduce
data onto/from recording surfaces of the hard disk 202. The hard
disk 202 has a plurality of (4 in the drawing) platters. Each
platter has a recording surface opposing its corresponding
thin-film magnetic head 300.
[0305] The hard disk drive 201 positions a slider 208 illustrated
in FIG. 42 on a track by an assembly carriage device 203. The
thin-film magnetic head 300 is formed on this slider 208. Further,
the hard disk drive 201 has a plurality of drive arms 209. The
drive arms pivot about a pivot bearing shaft 206 by means of a
voice coil motor (VCM) 205, and are stacked in a direction along
the pivot bearing shaft 206. Further, an HGA 210 is attached to the
tip of each drive arm.
[0306] Further, the hard disk drive 201 has a control circuit 204
controlling recording/reproducing.
[0307] The HGA 210 will now be described with reference to FIG. 42.
In the HGA 210, the slider 208 is fixed to a tip portion of a
suspension 220. Further, in the HGA 210, one end portion of a
wiring member 224 is electrically connected to a terminal electrode
of the slider 208.
[0308] The suspension 220 has a load beam 222, a base plate 221
provided at a base portion of the load beam 222, a flexure 223
fixed to and supported on the load beam 222 from the tip end side
to the front side of the base plate 221 and having elasticity, and
the wiring member 224. The wiring member 224 has a lead conductor
and connection pads electrically connected to both ends of the lead
conductor.
[0309] In the hard disk drive 201, when the HGA 210 is rotated, the
slider 208 moves in a radial direction of the hard disk 202, i.e.,
a direction traversing track lines.
[0310] Such HGA 210 and hard disk drive 201 have the thin-film
magnetic head 300, so that the projection of a part of the
medium-opposing surface can be suppressed without affecting the
reduction in magnetic path length. Therefore, it is possible to
reduce the frying height from the surface of the hard disk 202 and
to put the slider 208 closer to the hard disk 202.
[0311] Especially, in the hard disk drive 201 having the thin-film
magnetic head 300, the sectional area of the lower thin-film coil
11 can be made large than the hard disk drive 201 having the
conventional thin-film magnetic head 700. Accordingly, it is
possible to reduce the electric resistance of a thin-film coil
within the restriction range of the read/write separation without
increasing the magnetic path length and suppress protrusion of a
part of the ABS.
[0312] In the each above-described embodiments, the thin-film
magnetic head having the displacement suppression layer is
explained by way of example. The present invention is also
applicable to thin-film magnetic head not having the displacement
suppression layer. Besides, the thin-film coil is wound as a flat
spiral about the shield magnetic layer 40, the write shield layer
60, but the thin-film coil may be wound about the main magnetic
pole layer 26.
[0313] This invention is not limited to the foregoing embodiments
but various changes and modifications of its components may be made
without departing from the scope of the present invention. Besides,
it is clear that various embodiments and modified examples of the
present invention can be carried out on the basis of the foregoing
explanation. Therefore, the present invention can be carried out in
modes other than the above-mentioned best modes within the scope
equivalent to the following claims.
* * * * *