Headway Technologies, Incorporated

Hgst Netherlands, B.v.

Western Digital (fremont), Inc.

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.v.

Fenglin Liu

Cherng-Chyi Han

Min Li

Yingjian Chen

Kyusik Shin

Qiping Zhong

Mao-Min Chen

Liubo Hong

Honglin Zhu

Zhigang Bai

Wen-Chien David Hsiao

Lijie Guan

Yi Zheng

Feng Q Liu

Jiun-Ting Lee

Chen-Jung Chien

Po Kang Wang

Donald Giles Allen

Andrew Chiu

Weimin Si

Katalin Pentek

Shiwen Huang

Edward H P Lee

Kunliang Zhang

Aron Pentek

Yugang Wang

Tao Pan

Hong Zhang

Ying Hong

Amanda Baer

Min Zheng

Samuel Weisan Yuan

Xiaomin Liu

Xiaoyu Yang

Yunhe Huang

Jikou Zhou

Ling Wang

Yuan Yao

Iulica Zana

A magnetic transducer has an ABS, a pole, coil(s) and a trailing shield. The pole includes a trailing surface having first and second portions. The first portion adjoins the ABS and is oriented at a first bevel angle from perpendicular to the ABS. The first bevel angle is nonzero and acute. The second portion adjoins the first portion, is recessed from the ABS and oriented at a second bevel angle from perpendicular to the ABS. The second bevel angle is less than the first bevel angle and nonzero. The trailing shield has a pole-facing surface part of which adjoins the ABS and is oriented at the first bevel angle. A write gap is between the trailing shield and the pole. The write gap has a constant thickness for the first portion of the trailing surface and a thickness that increases with increasing distance from the ABS for the second portion.

Magnetic recording write transducer having an improved trailing surface profile

The present disclosure describes a method for manufacturing a full wraparound shield damascene write head through the implementation of a three layered (tri-layered) hard mask. According to an embodiment of the invention, the various layers of hard mask are used for different purposes during the formation of a write head. The wraparound shield head of the present invention exhibits improved physical characteristics that further result in improved performance characteristics. Use of the hard mask layers according to the present invention allows for use of manufacturing processes that can be more closely controlled than those processes used in other processes. For example, smaller dimension lithographic techniques can be used. Also, reliance on certain CMP processes is not necessary where the use of CMP processes is not as well-controlled as deposition or lithographic techniques as is possible using the present invention.

Method for manufacturing wraparound shield write head using hard masks

A method for fabricating a magnetic recording transducer having a magnetic writer pole with a short effective throat height is provided. In an embodiment, a writer structure comprising a magnetic writer pole having a trailing bevel and a nonmagnetic stack on the top surface of the writer pole is provided. A dielectric write gap layer comprising alumina is deposited over the trailing bevel section and the nonmagnetic stack; and at least one etch stop layer is deposited over the dielectric write gap layer. A layer of nonmagnetic fill material is deposited over the etch stop layer and to form a nonmagnetic bevel by performing a dry etch process. The etch stop layer(s) are removed from the short throat section; and a trailing shield is deposited over the short throat section, nonmagnetic bevel, and nonmagnetic stack top surface.

Process for manufacturing a perpendicular magnetic recording writer pole with nonmagnetic bevel

A magnetic write head having a tapered trailing edge and having a magnetic layer formed over a trailing edge of the write pole at a location recessed from the ABS, the magnetic layer being separated from the trailing edge of the write pole by a thin non-magnetic layer. The thin non-magnetic layer is preferably sufficiently thin that the magnetic layer can function as a portion of the write pole in a region removed from the ABS. A trailing magnetic shield is formed over the write pole and is separated from the write pole by a non-magnetic trailing gap layer. A non-magnetic spacer layer can be formed over the magnetic layer to provide additional separation between the magnetic layer and the trailing magnetic shield.

Magnetic write head manufactured by an enhanced damascene process producing a tapered write pole with a non-magnetic spacer and non-magnetic bump

Methods for fabrication of leading edge shields and tapered magnetic poles with a tapered leading edge are provided. The leading edge shield may be formed by utilizing a CMP stop layer. The CMP stop layer may aid in preventing over polishing of the magnetic material. For the tapered magnetic poles with a tapered leading edge, a magnetic material is deposited on a planarized surface, a patterned resist material is formed, and exposed magnetic material is etched to form at least one tapered surface of the magnetic material.

Process to make PMR writer with leading edge shield (LES) and leading edge taper (LET)

A perpendicular write head having a wrap around shield and a conformal side gap. In fabricating the write head, the leading edge shield may be chemical mechanical polished down to a level that is substantially even with a chemical mechanical polishing stop layer. Because the leading edge shield and the chemical mechanical polishing stop layer are used as RIE stop for trench RIE, a fully conformal side shield may be formed with a LTE/LES.

Perpendicular write head with wrap around shield and conformal side gap

A magnetic pole suitable for perpendicular magnetic recording is described. This write pole is symmetrically located relative to its side shields and has at least three additional surfaces that are disposed to lie in planes that are normal to the substrate's top surface.

Self-aligned full side shield PMR and method to make it

A laminated high moment film with a non-AFC configuration is disclosed that can serve as a seed layer for a main pole layer or as the main pole layer itself in a PMR writer. The laminated film includes a plurality of (B/M) stacks where B is an alignment layer and M is a high moment layer. Adjacent (B/M) stacks are separated by an amorphous layer that breaks the magnetic coupling between adjacent high moment layers and reduces remanence in a hard axis direction while maintaining a high magnetic moment and achieving low values for Hch, Hce, and Hk. The amorphous material layer may be made of an oxide, nitride, or oxynitride of one or more of Hf, Zr, Ta, Al, Mg, Zn, Ti, Cr, Nb, or Si, or may be Hf, Zr, Ta, Nb, CoFeB, CoB, FeB, or CoZrNb. Alignment layers are FCC soft ferromagnetic materials or non-magnetic FCC materials.

Laminated high moment film for head applications

A method for manufacturing a magnetic write head having a leading magnetic shield and a trailing magnetic shield that are arranged to prevent the lost of magnetic write field to the trailing magnetic shield. The write head includes a non-magnetic step layer that provides additional spacing between the trailing magnetic shield and the write pole at a region removed from the air bearing surface.

Method for manufacturing a magnetic write head having a wrap around shield that is magnetically coupled with a leading magnetic shield

A perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) head has a pole tip shielded laterally by a separated pair of bottom side shields and shielded from above by an upper shield. The bottom side shields surround a lower portion of the pole tip while the upper portion of the pole tip is surrounded by non-magnetic layers. The bottom shields and the non-magnetic layer form a wedge-shaped trench in which the pole tip has been formed by a self-aligned plating process. A write gap layer and an upper shield is formed above the side shields and pole. The resulting structure substantially eliminates track overwrite while maintaining good track definition.

Perpendicular magnetic recording head with a bottom side shield

A perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) head is fabricated with a self-aligned pole tip shielded laterally by a separated pair of side shields and shielded from above by an upper shield. The side shields are formed from a shield layer by a RIE process characterized by a mask and gases producing a variety of etch rates. The differential in etch rates maintains the opening dimension within the mask and allows the formation of a wedge-shaped trench within the shield layer that then separates the layer into two shields. The pole tip is then plated within the trench and an upper shield is formed above the side shields and pole.

Method to make a perpendicular magnetic recording head with a side write shield

A process for forming the write pole of a PMR head is described. This write pole is symmetrically located relative to its side shields, This is accomplished, not through optical alignment, but by coating the pole with a uniform layer of non-magnetic material of a predetermined and precise thickness, followed by the formation of the shield layer around this.

Method for manufacturing a self-aligned full side shield PMR

A perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) head is fabricated with a pole tip shielded laterally by a separated pair of bottom side shields and shielded from above by an upper shield. The bottom side shields surround a lower portion of the pole tip while the upper portion of the pole tip is surrounded by non-magnetic layers. The bottom shields and the non-magnetic layer form wedge-shaped trench in which the pole tip is formed by a self-aligned plating process. The wedge shape is formed by a RIE process using specific gases applied through a masking layer formed of material that has a slower etch rate than the non-magnetic material or the shield material. A masking layer of Ta, Ru/Ta, TaN or Ti, formed on a non-magnetic layer of alumina that is formed on a shield layer of NiFe and using RIE gases of CHOH, CO or NHor their combinations, produces the desired result. A write gap layer and an upper shield is then formed above the side shields and pole. The resulting structure substantially eliminates track overwrite while maintaining good track definition.

Method to make a perpendicular magnetic recording head with a bottom side shield

A perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) head is fabricated with a pole tip shielded laterally by a separated pair of side shields and shielded from above by an upper shield. The side shields are formed by a RIE process using specific gases applied to a shield layer through a masking layer formed of material that has a slower etch rate than the shield material. A masking layer of Ta, Ru/Ta, TaN or Ti, formed on a shield layer of NiFe and using RIE gases of CHOH, CO or NHor their combinations, produces the desired result. The differential in etch rates maintains the opening dimension within the mask and allows the formation of a wedge-shaped trench within the shield layer that separates the layer into two shields. The pole tip is then plated within the trench and, being aligned by the trench, acquires the wedge-shaped cross-section of the trench. An upper shield is then formed above the side shields and pole.

Perpendicular magnetic recording head with a side write shield

Growing community of inventors

Milpitas, CA, United States of America

Fenglin Liu