The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 08, 2003
Filed:
Jun. 14, 2000
Jila Tabib, San Jose, CA (US);
Yiping Hsiao, San Jose, CA (US);
Richard Hsiao, San Jose, CA (US);
Richard T. Campbell, Campbell, CA (US);
Ciaran A. Fox, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
Provided is a reactive ion etching (RIE) method for use in altering the flatness of a slider, whereby a slider or row of sliders is placed within a RIE apparatus. The apparatus comprises essentially an electrode within a chamber having an inlet and an outlet. The electrode is controlled by a bias power source. A source power is provided to the chamber to generate the plasma, wherein a gas or gas mixture is first introduced to the chamber and the source power is adjusted to maximize the plasma composition of ions and reactive neutral species. The ions and reactive neutral species are generated from reactive chemical species such as CHF and other F-containing species. An inert gas such as Argon may also be present. Typically, TiC within the Al O matrix of the slider substrate surface is etched at a faster rate than other substrate species.