HGA ballbond assembly with wafer process assembly features

A method for aligning a slider on a gimbal wherein the gimbal includes a slider opposing face, the gimbal has a flex circuit material disposed on the slider opposing face and a flex on suspension (FOS) bond pad is disposed on the flex circuit material, the method comprising:

• providing a slider having a gimbal opposing face and a disc opposing face bounded by a leading edge and a trailing edge, the slider having a forward face along the trailing edge extending between the gimbal opposing face and the disc opposing face;
• forming an extended bond pad on the forward face of the slider;
• forming a notch on the slider in the forward face adjacent the gimbal opposing face wherein the notch and the extended bond pad provide a tolerance buffer;
• and
• placing the slider on the flex circuit material such that the extended bond pad is positioned relative the FOS bond pad to improve bond strength and static attitude.

A slider supporting a transducing head proximate a rotating disc, the slider positioned on a gimbal having a slider opposing face coated with a flex circuit material and at least one flex on suspension (FOS) bond pad located on the flex circuit material, the slider comprising

• a slider body having a gimbal opposing face and a disc opposing face;
• a forward face extending between the gimbal opposing face and the disc opposing face;
• an extended bond pad located on the forward face such that the extended bond pad is aligned with the FOS bond pad;
• and
• a notch located along the forward face adjacent the gimbal opposing face wherein the notch and the extended bond pad provide a tolerance buffer for aligning the extended bond pad to the FOS bond pad.