Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.v.

Western Digital (fremont), Inc.

International Business Machines Corporation

Western Digital Technologies, Inc.

Tsung Yuan Chen

Jinqiu Zhang

Yimin Hsu

Hongping Yuan

David Patrick Druist

Kim Yang Lee

Yinshi Liu

Mustafa Pinarbasi

Quang Le

Ming Jiang

Kuok San Ho

Edward Hin Pong Lee

Liubo Hong

Howard Gordon Zolla

Yong Shen

Chun-Ming Wang

Hung-Chin Guthrie

Hai Sun

Yufeng Hu

Amanda Baer

Honglin Zhu

Min Zheng

Shawn M Tanner

Jinwen Wang

Mingjun Yu

Kris Vossough

Kyung Lee

Xiaokai Zhang

Armen Kirakosian

Robert G Biskeborn

Yimin Guo

Vladimir Nikitin

James Mac Freitag

Wen-Chien David Hsiao

Aron Pentek

Ching Hwa Tsang

Wipul Jayasekara

Ut Tran

Sue Siyang Zhang

Changqing Shi

Patrick Rush Webb

Steven C Rudy

Frederick Hayes Dill

Peter VanderSalm Koeppe

Guanxiong Li

James Devereaux Jarratt

Michael J Doscher

Yinshi Lui

A method and system provides a near-field transducer (NFT) for a heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) transducer. The method and system include forming the disk of the NFT and forming the pin of the NFT. The disk is formed from a first material. The pin is formed from a second material different from the first material. The pin contacts the disk. At least a portion of the pin is between the disk and an air-bearing surface (ABS) location.

Near-field transducer (NFT) for a heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) device

A magnetic write apparatus includes a pole and a near field transducer. The pole extends in a yoke direction from a media facing surface where the yoke direction extends perpendicular to the media facing surface. The near field transducer includes a near field transducer cap and a near field transducer nose. The near field transducer nose is separated from the pole by the near field transducer cap and a dielectric gap and the near field transducer nose comprises a bevel surface that forms a bevel angle with a plane extending in the yoke direction.

Heat assisted magnetic recording head having near-field transducer with a sloped nose

Method for providing a near-field transducer (NFT) for a heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) device

A method for fabricating a near-field transducer (NFT) for a heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) write apparatus is described. The HAMR write apparatus is coupled with a laser for providing energy and has a media-facing surface (MFS) configured to reside in proximity to a media during use. The method includes providing a stack on an underlayer. The stack includes an endpoint detection layer, an optical layer and an etchable layer. The optical layer is between the etchable and endpoint detection layers. The etchable layer is patterned to form a mask. A portion of the optical layer is removed. A remaining portion of the optical layer has a bevel at a bevel angle from the MFS location. The bevel angle is nonzero and acute. The NFT is provided such that the NFT has an NFT front surface adjoining the bevel and at the bevel angle from the MFS location.

Method for providing heat assisted magnetic recording write apparatus having a near-field transducer with a sloped nose

A method for providing a perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) head is disclosed. The method comprises: providing an insulating layer; covering the insulating layer with a hard mask material; forming a pre-defined shape in the hard mask material; forming a pole trench and a yoke area in the insulating layer by a first reactive ion etching (RIE) process in which the yoke area includes a loading prevention pattern; performing a wet etching process to remove the hard mask material from the pole trench and the yoke area; performing a second RIE process to remove the loading prevention pattern of the yoke area, wherein the pole trench and the remainder of the yoke area are not removed and remain having similar side wall angles; and providing a PMR pole in which at least a portion of the PMR pole resides in the pole trench.

Method to eliminate reactive ion etching (RIE) loading effects for damascene perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) fabrication

A method and system for providing a PMR pole in a magnetic recording transducer including an intermediate layer are disclosed. The method and system include providing a mask on the intermediate layer. The mask includes a line having at least one side. A hard mask layer is provided on the mask. At least a portion of the hard mask layer resides on the side(s) of the line. At least part of the hard mask layer on the side(s) of the line is removed. Thus, at least a portion of the line is exposed. The line is then removed, providing an aperture in the hard mask corresponding to the line. The method also includes forming a trench in the intermediate layer under the aperture. The trench top is wider than its bottom. The method further includes providing a PMR pole, at least a portion of which resides in the trench.

Method and system for providing a perpendicular magnetic recording head

A perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) head comprises a PMR pole having at least one side, a bottom, and a top wider than the bottom, a first portion of the at least one side being substantially vertical, a second portion of the at least one side being nonvertical, the top portion having a width not greater than one hundred fifty nanometers. The PRM head further comprises a nonmagnetic layer surrounding the bottom and the at least one side of the PMR pole, an intermediate layer substantially surrounding at least the second portion of the at least one side of the PMR pole, and a hard mask layer adjacent to the first portion of the at least one side of the PMR pole.

Perpendicular magnetic recording head

A method and system for providing a pole of magnetic transducer having an air-bearing surface (ABS) are described. Leading shield and planarization stop layers are provided. Portions of the planarization stop and shield layers distal from the ABS location are removed, providing a depression forming a bevel. The bevel has an angle greater than zero and less than ninety degrees. An intermediate layer having a top surface substantially perpendicular to the ABS location is provided. Part of the intermediate layer is removed, forming a trench having a bottom corresponding to the leading shield and a location and profile corresponding to the pole. A nonmagnetic layer is provided at least partially in the trench. The pole with a leading edge bevel corresponding to the bevel is provided in the trench. A capping layer covering the pole is provided, at least part of the intermediate layer removed, and a wrap-around shield provided.

Method and system for providing a perpendicular magnetic recording pole having a leading edge bevel

A method and system for providing a PMR pole in a magnetic recording transducer including an intermediate layer are disclosed. The method and system include providing a mask including a line on the intermediate layer. The method further include providing a hard mask layer on the mask and removing the line. Thus, an aperture in the hard mask corresponding to the line is provided. The method and system also include forming a trench in the intermediate layer under the aperture. The trench has a bottom and a top wider than the bottom. The method further includes providing a PMR pole, at least a portion of which resides in the trench.

A magnetic write head for perpendicular magnetic data recording having a trailing shield with a two step throat height. The trailing shield is formed over a non-magnetic bump that forms a notch in the leading edge of the trailing shield. This notch defines a first, smaller throat height closest to the write pole and a larger throat height away from the write pole. The smaller throat height near the write pole prevents excess magnetic flux from leaking to the write pole, thereby ensuring efficient strong write field. The larger trailing shield throat height away from the write pole prevents magnetic saturation of the trailing shield and also greatly facilitates manufacturing avoiding problems related to variations and deviations in manufacturing processes used to define the trailing shield.

Perpendicular magnetic recording head having a notched trailing shield

A method for providing a perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) head is disclosed. The method comprises: providing a stop layer; providing an insulating layer over the stop layer; forming a pole trench in the insulating layer by performing a reactive ion etching (RIE) process in the insulating layer over the stop layer; forming an electronic lapping guide (ELG) in the insulating layer by performing the RIE process in the insulating layer over the stop layer; and providing a PMR pole in which at least a portion of the PMR pole resides in the pole trench.

Method for simultaneous electronic lapping guide (ELG) and perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) pole formation

A method of fabricating a single-pole perpendicular magnetic recording head to contain a bevel angle promotion layer that facilitates the fabrication of the bevel angle in a trapezoidal main pole. The bevel angle promotion layer is made of a non-magnetic material that is softer than the material (e.g., AlO) that normally underlies the main pole. In one embodiment, the bevel angle promotion layer is formed between an end of the yoke and the air bearing surface (ABS), with the top surface of the bevel angle promotion layer being substantially coplanar with the top surface of the yoke. In other embodiment the bevel angle promotion layer is integrated with a leading edge taper material, which is formed of a magnetic material, to broaden the magnetic flux path between the yoke and the main pole.

Methods of fabricating single-pole recording head having trapezoidal main pole and bevel angle promotion layer

In a perpendicular recording head, a notch is formed in the top write gap at a location on top of the main pole. A perpendicular head with this notched top write gap structure has less transition curvature and better writability while reducing the adjacent track interference (ATI). Also, the process used to fabricate the head ensures that the trailing edge (writing edge) of the main pole is extremely flat with no corner rounding.

Perpendicular magnetic recording head including wrap around shield with notched top write gap and method of fabricating the same

A method for fabricating a magnetic head with a trapezoidal shaped pole piece tip is described. The body of the main pole piece is deposited; then one or more layers for the pole piece tip are deposited. A bed material is deposited over the pole piece tip material. A void is formed in the bed material over the area for the pole piece tip. The void is filled with an ion-milling resistant material such as alumina preferably using atomic layer deposition or atomic layer chemical vapor deposition. The excess ion-milling resistant material and the bed material are removed. The result is an ion-milling mask formed over the area for the pole piece tip. Ion milling is then used to remove the unmasked material in the pole piece tip layer and to form a beveled pole piece tip and preferably a beveled face on the main pole piece.

Magnetic transducer with milling mask

A method for controlling the formation of the trailing shield gap during perpendicular head fabrication and head formed thereby are disclosed. The in-situ trailing shield gap deposition process removes the pre-sputter process that can damage the write pole material. Further, a seed pre-layer is formed on top of the trailing shield gap to absorb any non-uniformity of the trailing shield gap and to control issues resulting from the pre-sputter process originating from the trailing shield seed deposition.

Method for controlling the formation of the trailing shield gap during perpendicular head fabrication and head formed thereby

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Tsung Yuan Chen