Method of and apparatus for recording/reproducing an information signal, recording/reproducing head device, memory medium, and head element

A method of manufacturing a micro-head element, comprising:

• a first step of forming a sacrifice layer made from a resist on a flat surface of a conductive substrate in such a manner that a central portion of said sacrifice layer is formed into a trapezoidal shape in cross section;
• a second step of forming a metal film having a thickness of one to several μm over the entire surface of said conductive substrate in such a manner as to cover the surface of said sacrifice layer;
• a third step of forming a symmetrical spring pattern on a central portion of said trapezoidal metal film;
• a fourth step of forming a micro-resist film having one side less than the thickness of said metal film on a central portion of said spring pattern;
• a fifth step of etching said metal film directly before said micro-resist film is perfectly separated from said metal film, to form a micro-head element including a leading end having a flat portion;
• and
• a sixth step of removing said sacrifice layer and said micro-resist film, to form a spring, made from said metal film, for elastically supporting said micro-head element.

A method of manufacturing a micro-head element, comprising:

• a first step of forming an insulating film having a specific thickness on the surface of a substrate which has a conductivity at least on the surface;
• a second step of forming a mask on said insulating film at a specific position except for a portion equivalent to the cross-section of a columnar head element to be manufactured;
• a third step of removing a portion of said insulating film equivalent to the cross section of said columnar head element;
• and
• a fourth step of forming a metal layer in the portion from which said insulating film is removed by plating, to form said columnar head element.

A method of recording/reproducing an information signal, in which an information signal is reproduced from a flat memory medium on which information is two-dimensionally arranged and recorded, by moving a head element, arranged to be opposed to and in parallel to the information signal recording surface of said memory medium, relative to said memory medium, comprising the steps of:

• two-dimensionally sampling a reproducing signal at an interval being a half or less of a pitch between signals two-dimensionally arranged on said memory medium;
• temporarily storing a specific amount of the data in a buffer memory;
• identifying, from said reproducing signal, an address signal as two-dimensional positional information stored on said memory medium;
• and
• signal-processing a time at which the address signal is reproduced, a relative speed between said head element and said memory medium, a relative moving direction between said head element and said memory medium, and a data row stored in said buffer memory, thereby decoding the content of the data at a specific position on said memory medium.