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:
Apr. 30, 2013
Filed:
Feb. 04, 2008
Shuuichi Kojima, Kanagawa, JP;
Satoru Okamoto, Kanagawa, JP;
Nobuo Yoshida, Kanagawa, JP;
Katsuro Watanabe, Ibaraki, JP;
Shuuichi Kojima, Kanagawa, JP;
Satoru Okamoto, Kanagawa, JP;
Nobuo Yoshida, Kanagawa, JP;
Katsuro Watanabe, Ibaraki, JP;
HGST Netherlands B.V., Amsterdam, NL;
Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention help to reduce etching damage at end parts of a magnetoresistive sensor in ion beam etching. According to one embodiment, ion beam etching (IBE) is used in a magnetoresistive sensor track width forming step. This IBE irradiates Ar ion beam to a substrate in a state that the substrate is inclined and further rotates the substrate about its normal as a rotational axis. In a conventional track width forming step, the IBE irradiates the Ar ion beam to the substrate all the time while the IBE is rotating the substrate. By contrast, the IBE according to embodiments of the present invention irradiates the Ar ion beam to the substrate only in a predetermined specific angular range.