Hgst Netherlands, B.v.

Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.v.

Tetsuya Matsusaki

Hidekazu Kohira

Kazuhito Miyata

Hidetoshi Anan

Harukazu Miyamoto

Hideaki Tanaka

Cherngye Hwang

Katsuro Watanabe

Hiroyuki Hoshiya

Yoshihiro Shiroishi

Takanori Yamazaki

Kiyoshi Hashimoto

Masaaki Matsumoto

Junguo Xu

Shigeru Tadokoro

Yuki Shimizu

Teruyoshi Higashiya

Jianhua Li

Takateru Seki

Yongjian Sun

Yukihiro Isono

Nobuto Yasui

Akira Matsuda

Sunao Yonekawa

Atsuko Okawa

Kentaro Namikawa

Tomomitsu Inoue

Eiji Nakanishi

Roberto Cabral Frias

Mario Garcia De La Cruz

Omar E Montero Camacho

Masao Matsushita

A heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) air-bearing slider has an optically-transparent protective film over the near-field transducer (NFT) to protect the NFT from excessive heat caused by the accumulation of carbonaceous material on the slider's overcoat. The NFT is thus separated from the overcoat by the protective film. The protective film does not cover the write pole end, which is covered only by the overcoat, so there is no spacing loss between the write pole end and the recording layer on the disk. In one embodiment the protective film is coplanar with the recording-layer-facing surface of the slider and the overcoat covers both the protective film and the write pole end. In another embodiment the overcoat has a window that surrounds the protective film, with the protective film being substantially coplanar with the air-bearing surface (ABS) of the slider. In both embodiments the smooth topography of the slider's ABS is maintained.

Heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) write head with recessed near-field transducer and optically transparent protective film

A method for reducing the height of a defect associated with an air bearing surface of a hard disk drive slider is disclosed. The technology initially ion mills for a first period of time at a first angle relative to an air bearing surface of a disk drive slider to remove a first portion of the air bearing surface. Then the technology ion mills for a second period of time at a second angle relative to an air bearing surface of the disk drive slider to remove a second portion of the air bearing surface. The second portion of the air bearing surface comprises a defect wherein the ion milling at the second angle reduces the height of the defect with respect to the air bearing surface.

Reducing the height of a defect associated with an air bearing surface

Embodiments of the present invention provide a slider that may suppress contamination from being attached to the flying surface of the slider without influence on reduction of the flying height of the slider. Ions exerting an effect of decreasing surface energy are implanted in the whole surface of a flying surface of a magnetic head slider except for a front rail surface and a center rail surface. According to this, contamination is prevented from being attached to a front step bearing surface, a side step bearing surface, a center step bearing surface and a negative pressure groove where contamination is particularly liable to be attached in the flying surface of the magnetic head slider, so as to suppress destabilization in flying of the slider.

Head slider

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method of fabricating a magnetic head slider realizing high-recording density at high-yields by preventing formation of a short circuit on the air-bearing surface of a magnetic head slider and preventing formation of an oxidized layer with significant film thickness which increases the effective magnetic spacing, on the air-bearing surface of the magnetic head slider. According to one embodiment, after air-bearing surface mechanical lapping of a row bar or a magnetic head slider, cleaning is performed by ion beam bombardment to remove a conductive smear. Oxygen exposure is performed to recover a damaged region which was formed by ion beam bombardment at the end face of an intermediate layer of a magnetoresistive film. Thereafter, air-bearing surface protection films are formed and followed by rail formation. If the processes are performed on the row bar, the row bar is cut into individual separated magnetic head sliders.

Method for fabricating magnetic head slider

Protrusion of head elements to an air bearing surface is effectively reduced and their contact with a recording medium is thereby prevented by forming a level gap (concave) of about 3 nm in a multilayered protective film on the air bearing surface in a part matching an inductive write thin film head in a recording/reproducing separated type magnetic head and thereby offsetting protrusion of the head elements to the air bearing surface due to thermal deformation of the heads.

Recording/reproducing separated magnetic head with concave portion formed in air bearing protective film

A magnetic disk device, which is provided with a magnetic head slider mounted with a magnetic head and a magnetic disk, and of which the magnetic head slider has the possibility of contacting the magnetic disk at the vicinity of the magnetic head. The magnetic head slider has the size of 1.25 mm or less in length, 1 mm or less in width and 0.3 mm or less in thickness, and the friction force exerted between the magnetic head slider and the magnetic disk is 10 mN or less. The magnetic head comprises four substantially parallel surfaces and the depth from a first surface which is the most adjacent surface to the magnetic disk to a second surface is 10 nm to 50 nm, the depth from the second surface to a third surface is 50 nm to 200 nm, and the depth from the third surface to a fourth surface is 400 nm to 1 &mgr;m.

Magnetic disk device and magnetic head slider

Growing community of inventors

Odawara, Japan

Tetsuya Matsusaki