Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.v.

International Business Machines Corporation

Hgst Netherlands, B.v.

Western Digital Technologies, Inc.

Tatsumi Tsuchiya

Tatsushi Yoshida

Yoshio Uematsu

Yuhsuke Matsumoto

Takuya Satoh

Hiroyasu Tsuchida

Yasuhiro Mita

Takaaki Murokawa

Naoki Fujii

Yukihiro Nakamura

Hiroyoshi Yokome

Hiromi Ishikawa Ishikawa

Tadaaki Tomiyama

Hideto Imai

Eiki Oosawa

Takao Kidachi

Hisashi Ohyama

Surya Narayan Pattanaik

Toshiki Hirano

Naoki Suzuki

Haruhide Takahashi

Kenichi Murata

Hiroo Inoue

Seiji Nakagawa

Nobuyuki Hashi

Shigeo Nakamura

Tatsuya Tanaka

Irizo Naniwa

Yuichi Mori

Hideo Yamakura

Takuma Muraki

Kiyonori Shiraki

Yohtaroh Ichimura

Kenji Itoh

Masanori Tanabe

Yusuke Matsumoto

Naoki Kurosu

Kenjirou Watanabe

Masaaki Nanba

Kohichiroh Naka

Akio Takatsuka

Lan Shi

Toru Koike

Masashi Fujimori

Yurika Shimozawa

Tasushi Yoshida

Tamaki Ushimoto

Akiko Hayashi

A magnetic storage device comprising a magnetic disk and a carriage arm rotatably movable relative to the magnetic disk. A suspension assembly of the magnetic storage device is coupled to the carriage arm and comprising a flexure. The magnetic storage device additionally comprises a slider comprising a read-write head. The flexure comprises a fixed portion co-movably fixed relative to the carriage arm and a hinge portion to which the slider is co-movably fixed. The hinge portion is swayable relative to the fixed portion. An actuator system of the magnetic storage device is coupled to the fixed portion of the flexure and the hinge portion of the flexure. The actuator system is operable to sway the hinge portion relative to the fixed portion. The magnetic storage device includes a repolarization enhancing feature adjacent the actuator system.

Flexure and actuator system for magnetic recording device

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

A head gimbal assembly for a hard disk drive comprises a flexure having a planar surface and a standoff structure extending from the planar surface, where the standoff structure includes a monolithic element. A head slider in which a read-write head is housed is adhered to the flexure with an adhesive, such that the adhesive surrounds the monolithic element so that the monolithic element may absorb strain energy caused by curing of the adhesive.

Suspension standoff geometry for slider crown change reduction

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

Approaches to an electrical contact to electrically connect a laser module and a suspension that houses a head slider, in the context of a hard disk drive, involves a laser sub-mount electrical contact that includes a metal barrier layer underneath an electrode layer, where the barrier layer material has a lower heat transfer coefficient than the sub-mount material. Consequently, during the soldering process the diffusion of heat to the sub-mount is inhibited and the wettability of the solder is improved.

Electrical contact for an energy-assisted magnetic recording laser sub-mount

A head gimbal assembly having a stage fixed to a head-slider. A piezoelectric element which comprises; an upper surface, a first side surface, a second side surface, a lower surface, a first electrode, a second electrode, and a gap between the first and second electrodes on the lower surface, the piezoelectric element moving the stage by extension or contraction thereof according to a voltage applied to the first and second electrodes. A transmission wiring part which has a connection pad for the piezoelectric element. A cross-connector for physically and electrically cross-connecting the first electrode and the connection pad. An adhesive fixing part which is formed from an insulating adhesive and adhesively fixes the lower surface of the piezoelectric element to the transmission wiring part, between an end of the second electrode at the gap and the cross-connector.

Head gimbal assembly and disk drive with a piezoelectric element

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 head-gimbal assembly. The head-gimbal assembly includes a suspension, a microactuator disposed on the suspension, and a head-slider bonded to the microactuator. The head-gimbal assembly further includes a connection pad disposed on the suspension, a connection pad disposed on the microactuator and formed over an edge between a side surface and a top surface of the microactuator to have a bend portion with an obtuse angle, and a metallic interconnection joint for interconnecting the connection pad of the suspension with the connection pad of the microactuator.

Head-gimbal assembly, microactuator, and manufacturing method of the microactuator

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.

Method and apparatus for manufacturing a head-gimbal assembly

Approaches for helping to decrease the amount of inactive gas necessary for reflow to interconnect connection terminals of a head slider and a suspension. Inactive gas is blown from a nozzle of a reflow apparatus toward interconnection joints of a head slider and a suspension. The head slider is bonded onto a gimbal tongue. The nozzle comprises a duct through which the inactive gas passes and a porous member fitted in an ejection outlet of the tube. Placing the porous member close to the head slider achieves effective reduction of oxygen concentration around solder balls.

Approaches for manufacturing a head gimbal assembly

A thermally insulating bonding pad for solder reflow is described. The bonding pad includes a structure. The structure forms the bonding pad. The bonding pad further includes an insulator formed on the structure. The insulator is configured to be interposed between the structure and a substrate of a component onto which said bonding pad is to be disposed. The bonding pad provides thermal insulation for said substrate when said bonding pad is subject to a solder reflow process being performed thereon.

Thermally insulating bonding pad structure for solder reflow connection

A magnetic head assembly in which a slider can be removed with deformation of a suspension suppressed and the posture angle of a magnetic head can be maintained stably and a magnetic disk drive mounted with the magnetic head assembly. A head gimbal assembly (HGA) according to an embodiment includes a suspension, a magnetic head slider provided with a magnetic head element section, and a gimbal retaining the slider and connected to the suspension. The gimbal includes a spacer formed around a conductive adhesive application area. A nonconductive adhesive application area having a planar dimension not larger than that of the conductive adhesive application area is formed outside the spacer. The gimbal and the slider are brought into conduction through a conductive adhesive applied to the conductive adhesive application area and are adhered to each other with a nonconductive adhesive applied to the nonconductive adhesive application area.

Magnetic head assembly that facilitates recovery of a magnetic head slider

Embodiments of the invention provide techniques to prevent, when a bonding pad and a lead wiring pad are to be connected using a solder ball, the solder ball from deviating from a centerline and a soldering problem from occurring. In one embodiment, a head suspension assembly includes a solder ball disposed between a lead wiring pad provided for a flexure and a bonding pad provided for a slider. The solder ball is then melted for making a soldered joint between the lead wiring pad and the bonding pad. A through slot is provided at a position near a centerline on a front surface of the lead wiring pad. The solder ball is dropped into the through slot by gravity from the front surface of the lead wiring pad. A contact area in contact with the solder ball is thereby secured on a side of the slider.

Rotating disk storage device and integrated wire head suspension assembly

In the case of employing the wire bonding for the actual element detection in the air bearing surface polishing process and the solder bonding for the connection between the terminals in the assembly process, it has been virtually impossible to satisfy requirements of both of the wire bonding and the solder bonding. According to the embodiment of the invention an MR head and a write head are stacked on an element formation surface of a slider. A lead line connected to electrodes of the MR head is connected to MR element terminalsvia a copper stud. An outgoing line from coils of the write head is connected to write element terminals via a copper stud. The stacked body of the MR head and the read head, the lead line, and the coil outgoing line are covered with an alumina protection film. The MR element terminals and the write element terminals are formed on the alumina protection film. Each of the MR element terminals and the write element terminals has a slit and is sectioned in a height direction of the slider by the slit.

Thin film magnetic head and head gimbal assembly

Embodiments of the invention relate to making reconnection when a soldered connection fails in a head/slider used in a magnetic disk drive. In one embodiment, a solder mass deposited on a slider pad of a head/slider is separated from a lead pad and a solder ball connection is yet to be made between the slider pad and the lead pad. A shaping tip is heated to a temperature near a melting point of a solder. The shaping tip is moved in parallel with a surface of the slider pad toward the side of the lead pad to soften the solder mass. The solder mass is thereafter irradiated with a laser beam so as to form a solder fillet, thereby making a soldered connection between the lead pad and the slider pad.

Head gimbal assembly method with solder fillet formed by laser irradiating a shaped solder mass

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Kanagawa, Japan

Tatsumi Tsuchiya