Laser cutting method for forming magnetic recording head sliders

Abstract

A method for cutting a ceramic wafer to form individual sliders for use in supporting the read/write heads in magnetic recording disk drives uses multiple parallel scans of a pulsed laser to ablate the ceramic material. After the wafer has been cut into individual rows, a pulsed laser beam is directed to that surface of the row that will become the disk sides of the sliders (i.e., the sides of the sliders that will face the disks in the disk drive). The laser is pulsed as the laser spot is moved along a first scan line across the surface of the wafer row to form a generally V-shaped trench. The laser spot is then moved in a direction generally perpendicular to the first scan line a distance less than the laser beam diameter, and then pulsed while the laser spot is scanned along a second line generally parallel to the first scan line. This slight offset of the laser beam during the second scan blends the edges of the wafer surface at the trench to remove protrusions formed at those edges by the first laser scan. The laser is then moved to the other side of the first scan line a distance less than the laser beam diameter and a third scan is made to blend the other edge. One of more subsequent laser scans can be made along the first scan line to either cut deeper or to cut completely through the wafer row to completely separate the sliders.