Hutchinson Technology Corporation

Reed T Hentges

Peter Francis Ladwig

Kurt C Swanson

Jacob D Bjorstrom

Jeffry S Bennin

Zachary A Pokornowski

Richard Rodger Jenneke

Craig A Leabch

Mark Steven Lewandowski

Michael E Roen

John A Theget

Alexander J Rice

Michael T Hofflander

Gregory J VanHecke

Shawn P Bopp

Brian D Schafer

Brian J Stepien

John E Theisen

John L Wagner

Mark A Miller

John D Pro

Lance Nevala

Ryan Kariniemi

Mark M Kiviahde

Paritosh C Panchal

Ramesh K Dandu

A stainless steel dual stage actuated disk drive head suspension baseplate including a plated electrical contact area having nickel and gold. The baseplate can be heat treated. The nickel and gold can be in a mixture.

Low resistance ground joints for dual stage actuation disk drive suspensions

Stable, low resistance conductive adhesive ground connections between motor contacts and a gold-plated contact area on a stainless steel component of a dual stage actuated suspension. The stainless steel component can be a baseplate, load beam, hinge, motor plate, add-on feature or flexure.

Jumper constructions for an integrated lead flexure for a disk drive head suspension include a conductive base layer, an insulating layer over the base layer, a plurality of traces arranged on the insulating layer, and an isolated conductor layer arranged under the insulating layer. The plurality of traces include a first trace and a second trace and the isolated conductor layer is electrically isolated from the conductive base layer and electrically connects the first and second traces.

Trace jumpers for disc drive suspensions

Multi-layer ground plane structures and methods of manufacture for integrated lead suspension flexures. A flexure in accordance with one embodiment of the invention includes an insulating layer, a plurality of traces on the insulating layer and a stainless steel base layer on the side of the insulating layer opposite the traces. The stainless steel base layer includes one or more void portions with voids in the base layer opposite the insulating layer from the traces and one or more backed portions with the base layer backing the traces. A plurality of patterned and transversely-spaced first conductive ground planes are located opposite the insulating layer from the traces at the void portions and backed portions of the stainless steel base layer. A continuous gold second conductive ground plane is located opposite the insulating layer and the first ground planes from the side of the insulating layer adjacent to the traces at the void portions and backed portions of the stainless steel base layer. The gold ground plane can be used as an etch stop during formation of the voids in the base layer.

Method for manufacturing an integrated lead suspension

An integrated lead head suspension flexure includes a mounting region, a gimbal extending distally from the mounting region and having bond pads, and a tail extending proximally from the mounting region and having terminal pads. First trace sections having a first structural configuration, such as interleaved traces, are electrically connected to the terminal pads and extend across the tail and mounting region. Second trace sections having a second structural configuration different than the first structural configuration, such as ground plane traces, are electrically connected to the bond pads and extend across the gimbal. Transition structures electrically connect the first trace sections to the second trace sections. The first and second trace sections impedance match the different impedances at the bond pads and terminal pads.

Integrated lead suspension with multiple trace configurations

Multi-layer ground plane structures and methods of manufacture for integrated lead suspension flexures. A flexure in accordance with one embodiment of the invention includes an insulating layer, a plurality of traces on the insulating layer and a stainless steel base layer on the side of the insulating layer opposite the traces. The stainless steel base layer includes one or more void portions with voids in the base layer opposite the insulating layer from the traces and one or more backed portions with the base layer backing the traces. A plurality of first conductive ground planes are located between the stainless steel base layer and the insulating layer opposite the insulating layer from the traces at the backed portions of the stainless steel base layer. A continuous second conductive ground plane is located opposite the insulating layer from the traces at the void portions and backed portions of the stainless steel base layer.

Multi-layer ground plane structures for integrated lead suspensions

An integrated lead head suspension component comprising a spring metal layer, a first conductor layer, a first dielectric layer between at least portions of the spring metal and the first conductor layers, a second conductor layer and a second dielectric layer between at least portions of the first and second conductor layers. The head suspension component includes stacked traces having first and second traces in the first and second conductor layers, respectively. The stacked traces comprise base sections having first widths and gimbal sections having second widths that are less than the first widths. The second dielectric layer can have a generally constant thickness on the base and gimbal sections or, alternatively, a gimbal section thickness that is less than a base section thickness.

Disk drive head suspension flexure with stacked traces having differing configurations on gimbal and beam regions

A method for manufacturing an integrated lead suspension component. One or more first conductive ground planes are formed on a stainless steel base layer. One or more second conductive ground planes, including portions on the surface of the first conductive ground planes, are formed at void portions and backed portions of the stainless steel base layer. The material of the second conductive ground planes is non-reactive to a first etchant. An insulating layer is formed on the second ground planes on the side opposite the stainless steel base layer and on the stainless steel base layer. Traces are formed on the insulating layer. Voids are formed in void portions of the stainless steel base layer using the first etchant and the second conductive ground planes at the void portions as etch stops.

Method for manufacturing an integrated lead suspension component

An integrated lead head suspension flexure including a spring metal base layer, an insulating layer on the base layer and traces on the insulating layer. The traces include first and second adjacent and co-planar write traces and first and second shield traces. The shielding traces are on opposite sides of the write traces, electrically interconnected and generally co-planar with the write traces. Portions of the stainless steel layer below the traces include windows. The shield traces can be connected to ground and/or to the spring metal base layer.

Co-planar shielded write traces for disk drive head suspensions

A disk drive head suspension flexure having a gimbal region and a tail includes a metal base layer, an insulation layer over the base layer and two or more pairs of adjacent traces extending over the insulation layer from the gimbal region to the tail. Each trace includes terminals on the gimbal region and tail. Two or more conductive metal signal transmission planes are embedded within the insulation layer and extend from the gimbal region to the tail between the pairs of traces and metal base layer. Each of the embedded signal transmission planes has a width extending across a width of a pair of the traces. Terminals on the gimbal region and tail are coupled to the signal transmission planes by connection vias extending through the insulation layer.

Split embedded signal transmission planes in integrated lead disk drive suspensions

A flexure for attachment to a load beam in an integrated lead disk drive suspension assembly. The flexure includes a spring metal layer having slider mounting region, a first surface and a second surface opposing the first surface. A first group of conductive leads extends along at least a portion of the first surface and is separated from the spring metal layer by a first dielectric layer. A second group of conductive leads extends along at least a portion of the second surface and is separated from the spring metal layer by a second dielectric layer. A conductive interconnection extends between a conductive lead from the first group of conductive leads and a conductive lead from the second group of conductive leads. One or more leads from each of the first and second groups of conductive leads can be attached to a magnetic head.

Growing community of inventors

Buffalo, MN, United States of America

Reed T Hentges