Hgst Netherlands, B.v.

Western Digital Technologies, Inc.

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.v.

Eiki Oosawa

Tatsumi Tsuchiya

Tatsushi Yoshida

Yuhsuke Matsumoto

Naoki Suzuki

Yuichi Mori

Kenichi Murata

Hideto Imai

Yusuke Matsumoto

A solder ball bonding tool includes a nozzle having an inner bore having a plurality of columnar surfaces and interposed retention structures that are positioned within the nozzle to retain a solder ball therein. A projection or projected shape formed by intersecting the retention structures may be generally circular, having a diameter less than the diameter of the solder balls for which the retention structures are positioned to retain. The nozzle may comprise a cemented carbide having less than or equal to a cumulative 4.5% of cobalt and gold serving as a binder.

Solder ball jet nozzle having improved reliability

An apparatus for interconnecting two connection pads in a head-gimbal assembly. The apparatus includes a conveyer for conveying a metallic slug, and a nozzle for ejecting the metallic slug toward the two connection pads. The nozzle includes a receiving portion for receiving the metallic slug from the conveyer, and a straight guide disposed downstream of the receiving portion. The straight guide has a maximum inner diameter that is smaller than a minimum inner diameter of the receiving portion. The apparatus also includes a laser for applying a laser beam from an inlet side of the nozzle to the metallic slug as the metallic slug passes along a path that includes a first portion through said straight guide and a second portion between the straight guide and the two connection pads. The laser is configured to melt the metallic slug for attaching the metallic slug to the two connection pads.

Apparatus for interconnecting connection pads of a head-gimbal assembly and manufacturing method for the head-gimbal assembly

A head gimbal assembly for a hard disk drive includes a head slider having a head element part which performs reading and/or writing of data to/from a magnetic disc and a suspension on which the head slider is mounted. Bonding pads formed on the head slider are formed on a side surface of the head slider except for an air bearing surface (ABS) which faces the magnetic disc and a back surface on a side opposite to the ABS. End peripheries of the bonding pads are arranged to be in contact with an end periphery of the side surface of the head slider which abuts on the back surface of the head slider.

Head gimbal assembly, slider, and method of manufactuing a head gimbal assembly with reduced lead length

A head-gimbal assembly (HGA) with a suspension-lead pad having a form that is configured to inhibit formation of an inter-pad solder bridge. The HGA includes a gimbal, a head-slider and a plurality of suspension-lead pads. The head-slider is coupled with the gimbal, and includes a plurality of head-slider pads. The plurality of suspension-lead pads is coupled with the plurality of head-slider pads by a plurality of solder bonds. A suspension-lead pad comprises a first lateral side, a second lateral side, a proximal side, disposed in proximity to a respective head-slider pad, and a distal side. A first width of the suspension-lead pad closer to the proximal side is substantially larger than a second width of the suspension-lead pad further from the proximal side than the first width. A disk drive including the HGA, and a head-slider with a head-slider pad having similar form to the suspension-lead pad are also provided.

Head-gimbal assembly with a suspension-lead pad having a form that is configured to inhibit formation of an inter-pad solder bridge

A method for manufacturing a head-gimbal assembly. The head-gimbal assembly includes a head-slider bonded to a suspension. The method includes placing the head-slider and the suspension in a superposed manner with a photo-thermosetting adhesive applied between the head-slider and the suspension. The method also includes heating the suspension from a side of the suspension opposite to a side of the suspension in contact with the photo-thermosetting adhesive with a heated gas-stream. In addition, the method includes irradiating the photo-thermosetting adhesive with light at least partly in a time period during which the suspension is heated by the gas-stream.

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Kanagawa, Japan

Eiki Oosawa