Western Digital Technologies, Inc.

Western Digital (fremont), Inc.

Kurt Charles Ruthe

Sean P Leary

Sataporn Sittisak

Guilherme Parente Souza

A method and system to detect thickness variation of a subject material are described. In an aspect, tribological wear is assessed for a disk drive memory system at the pole tip region of a magnetic head. Images are obtained of a first region and a second region of a subject material utilizing scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The SEM images are image processed to obtain a differential contrast between the first region and the second region. An image intensity variation is determined between masked SEM images of the first region and the second region by obtaining a surface profiler image of the first region and the second region, and overlaying and calibrating the SEM images with the surface profiler images. In an aspect, image intensity variation is converted to quantified thickness utilizing a fitted relation obtained from the calibration of the surface profiler images with the SEM images.

Detecting thickness variation and quantitative depth utilizing scanning electron microscopy with a surface profiler

A dual/beam FIB/SEM system and method for operating such a system are provided. A micrograph of a throat height view of a magnetic writer is obtained through iterative milling and repeated evaluation of the leading bevel angle or pole length. In some cases, the milling depth for a next iteration may be modified based on evaluation of the leading bevel angles of the current iteration.

Automated active feedback slice and view milling of magnetic head cross-sections

Methods for spatially resolved alignment of independent spectroscopic data from scanning transmission electron microscopes (STEMs) are provided. One such method includes performing a first scan of a first area of a first sample using a STEM configured to capture a first signal having a first image profile, performing a second scan of a second area of a second sample using the STEM configured to capture a second signal having a second image profile, selecting a subset region from one of the first and second profiles, correlating the selected subset region from the one of the first and second profiles and the other of the first and second profiles, and selecting, based on the correlating, a portion of the other of the first and second profiles such that the selected subset region and the portion of the other of the first and second profiles are about equal.

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Bangkok, Thailand

Kurt Charles Ruthe