Seagate Technology Incorporated

Other

Gordon Merle Jones

Marc Ronshaugen

Joel William Hoehn

Joseph Michael Stephan

Yuhong Xiong

Paul E Gallup

Mark James Schaenzer

Lance Eugene Stover

Richard A Strom

John L Brand

Jianxin Zhu

Kevin Jon Schulz

David Allen Sluzewski

Robert E Chapin

David Gordon Qualey

Christopher Unger

Douglas Hampton Cole

Jumna P Ramdular

Keefe Russell

Kevin Lamber Mayer

Kenneth J Altshuler

Mohamed Salah H Khlif

Richard L Segar

Edwin Frank Redja

Stephen John Miller

Jennifer A Engebrit

Mohomed-Salah H Khlif

One or more slider bars are attached to at least one component of a multi-component carrier device. The multi-component carrier device is attached to a lapping arm of a lapping machine and the one or more slider bars attached to the carrier device are lapped. The at least one component of the multi-component carrier device is attached to a grinding/cutting machine. At least one of a grinding operation or a cutting operation is performed on the one or more slider bars.

Method and assembly for grinding and/or cutting a slider bar on a lapping carrier

A slider bar extender to removably connect one or more slider bars to a processing machine or tool is disclosed. In illustrated embodiments, the extender is coupled to a holder structure through a tongue and groove connection. In illustrated embodiments, the tongue is formed on the holder structure and the groove is formed on the extender. In illustrated embodiments, the extender includes a plurality of reduced thickness strips. The reduced thickness strips are orientated lengthwise to control or transfer bending to one or more bars connected to a proximal edge surface of the extender.

Lapping assembly or process utilizing a bar stack extender

An assembly includes a carrier device having proximal and distal ends. The carrier device includes a workpiece platform along the proximal end. The workpiece platform supports one or more slider bars. The carrier device attaches to a lapping machine. An adaptive component, including at least one spring, has a first portion that couples to the carrier device and a second portion that couples to a grinding-slicing machine.

Universal carrier device and adaptive components for the carrier device

A slider comprising a body having an air bearing surface (ABS), wherein the ABS extends between a leading edge and a trailing edge of the body. The slider comprises a transducer supported by the body and positioned near the trailing edge, wherein the transducer comprises a pole tip partially extending from the body. The slider comprises a surface defined in the body and forming the trailing edge, wherein the surface comprises a plurality of segments. A first segment of the plurality of segments extends from the ABS and is offset from a portion of the pole tip recessed within the body. The first segment is offset from the pole tip portion by a lesser extent than any other of the plurality of segments.

Method of shaping a trailing edge of a slider

A head structure for a lapping assembly including a lapping control feature is disclosed. The lapping control feature includes a raised contact surface elevated from a front surface of the head structure of the lapping assembly. A relative position of the workpiece and raised contact surface are aligned to control workpiece thickness and other lapping parameters. In illustrated embodiments, the relative position of the workpiece and raised contact surface are aligned via an adjustment mechanism on the head structure. In illustrated embodiments, the adjustment mechanism is configured to adjust a position of the workpiece relative to the raised contact surface.

Lapping device with lapping control feature and method

Disclosed is an embodiment of a suspension for a disk drive having a slider configured for bonding with a gimbal using an adhesive. Embodiments of the slider include one or more cavities in a portion of a slider mounting surface of the slider. The one or more cavities are configured for increasing a volume of the adhesive between the slider mounting surface and the gimbal. A method of forming the one or more cavities on the slider mounting surface, and bonding together the gimbal and the slider is disclosed.

Slider cavity feature for gimbal attachment

The present invention includes an improved suspension assembly comprises a suspension including a load beam and a gimbal, a FOS having a polymer portion (or flex circuit) and a trace portion, wherein the FOS is connected to the suspension. The present invention further includes a slider that is electrically connected to a ground trace and the ground trace is further electrically connected to the suspension. The present invention also includes a plateau gimbal, which comprises of a portion of the ground trace positioned between the flex circuit and the slider thereby elevating the slider to the level of the bond pads on the FOS.

HGA plateau gimbal design

A bond pad is elevated from a slider body by a conductive post. The bond pad is disposed atop the post, which typically possesses a cross-sectional area smaller than the surface are of the bond pad. Thus, rather than having the entire surface of the bond pad in contact with the slider body, only the cross-sectional area of the conductive post is in contact therewith. Alternatively, a bond pad may be split into two electrically coupled pads: one pad used for housing a permanent bond, and a second pad used for housing a temporary bond. The pad used to house the temporary wire bond may be disposed atop a sacrificial layer. After a lapping process, the sacrificial layer may be etched away, thereby permitting the temporary pad to be removed.

Thermal pole-tip recession/slide shape variation reduction

A slider scale package assembly in a head gimbal assembly (HGA) for electrically coupling a slider/magnetic recording (MR) head to a head interconnect circuit in a disc drive includes a flex circuit attached to the back of the slider/MR head which turns the slider/MR head into the slider scale package with at least one repositioned interconnect pad disposed at the back of the slider/MR head. The flex circuit further includes a conductive material, one end of which is electrically bonded to a bond pad of the slider/MR head, and the other end is electrically bonded to a conductive material of the head interconnect circuit via the interconnect pad. A plurality of flex circuits can be made in a sheet format and dividable into a plurality of individual flex circuits to be attached to a plurality of slider/MR heads. The bonding of the conductive material of the flex circuit to the slider/MR head and the bonding of the interconnect pad of the flex circuit to the conductive material of the head interconnect circuit can be done in a separate automated process.

Head gimbal assembly with flex circuit arrangement between slider and head interconnect assembly

A curved surface is formed between first and second a substantially planar surfaces that are normal to each other, such as the bottom and side surfaces of a slider for a disc drive. A laser beam has a center with a focus and a power distribution, such as a Gaussian distribution, such that the laser power is greatest at the center of the beam and is weaker radially from the center of the beam. The laser beam is directed at the first surface along a first path substantially normal to the first surface so that a center of the laser beam is substantially contiguous to the second surface. The laser beam is moved along a second path substantially parallel to the second surface to ablate the slider at the first surface adjacent the second surface to ablate the material and form a continuous curved surface between and tangential to the first and second surfaces. Optionally, the laser beam is moved along a third path substantially contiguous to the third surface to form a second continuous curved surface between and tangential to the first and third surfaces.

Unitary crystalline slider with edges rounded by laser ablation

A method is used for forming sliders for use in a disc drive actuation system. The method comprises providing a wafer formed of a substrate having a base coat and an overcoat. Wafer-level notch lanes having a first width extend across the wafer in a first direction. The overcoat is removed from the wafer-level notch lanes. The wafer is sliced along a portion of the wafer-level lanes through the base coat to form a channel. The wafer is mechanically sliced through the substrate along slice lanes that extend across the wafer in the first direction to differentiate the wafer into bars. The bars are cut in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction to form the sliders.

Laser-assisted slicing of notched wafer

A disc head slider includes a slider body having a disc-facing surface and a leading surface adjacent to the disc facing surface. The disc facing surface has leading-most edge and first and second side edges. A bearing surface is formed on the disc facing surface. A debris deflection surface is formed along the leading surface, which is spaced vertically from the leading-most edge with respect to the disc facing surface and has a tangent that forms an angle with the bearing surface of less than ninety degrees.

Slider having leading surface for contaminant deflection

A clock head assembly intended for vertical engagement to a disc in a disc drive for purposes of providing an arrangement of precise timing marks on the disc for use by a servo-writer. The clock head assembly includes a slider of the 50% or 30% size and a spacer adhesively attached to the upper surface thereof. In order to minimize stresses induced in the slider by the adhesive bonding, and to ensure that the clock head is capable of correct flying performance relative to the disc, the present invention envisions that the spacer surface bonded to the slider, or slider bonding surface, has dimensions substantially half the size of the dimensions of the surface of the slider to which the spacer is bonded. In another aspect of the invention, the spacer is designed to be suitable for large batch production. In another aspect of the invention, the spacer includes, adjacent the surface opposite the slider bonding surface, an overhanging rim portion, which acts not only as a readily optimized surface for bonding the spacer/slider assembly to the head suspension of the clock head assembly, but also as a visual aid to correctly orient the spacer relative to the slider during bonding of the two together.

Clock head with spacer

A process of dicing a bar to form a plurality of sliders having air bearing surfaces commences with defining a dice lane having a nominal surface between adjacent slider portions on the bar, opposite edges of the dice lane defining respective edge surfaces of adjacent slider portions. The dice lane is cut away with a blade to form an edge surface of the slider. A barrier trench is formed in the nominal surface along each edge of the dice lane. The barrier trench has a width that extends a predetermined distance into the slider portion of the bar from the edge of the dice lane and a predetermined depth to eliminate ridges in the air bearing surface of the slider. The barrier trench is formed either before or after the dicing of the slider. The slider thus formed is characterized by an absence of ridges in the air bearing surface.

Growing community of inventors

Eagan, MN, United States of America

Gordon Merle Jones