Thin film magnetic head intended to decrease inductance with track narrowing and method of manufacturing the same
AssigneeAlps Electric Co., Ltd.
InventorKiyoshi Sato
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention provides a thin film magnetic head in which a first coil layer is formed at the back of a track width control portion. The first coil layer being located nearer a bottom core layer than the junction surface of a track width control portion and an upper core layer. With a two-layer structure, the width of the coil layer can be decreased. The height from the top of the bottom core layer to the top of an insulating layer can be decreased. The insulating layer covering a second coil layer can be decreased, thereby shortening the magnetic path and decreasing inductance.
Claims16
A thin film magnetic head comprising:
- a bottom core layer, a top core layer, and a track width control portion located between the bottom and top core layers on a surface facing a recording medium, the track width control portion having a controlled dimension in the direction of the track width, wherein a junction surface between the track width control portion and the top core layer forms a reference plane;
- wherein the track width control portion comprises, a gap layer magnetically insulating the top core layer from the bottom core layer, and at least one of a bottom pole layer and a top pole layer, wherein the bottom pole layer is connected to the bottom core layer and the top core layer is connected to the top core layer, wherein the gap layer magnetically insulates the bottom pole layer from the top core layer and the top pole layer from the bottom core layer;
- a coil layer to induce a recording magnetic field in the bottom and top core layers, the coil layer disposed behind the track width control portion in a height direction, the coil layer disposed nearer the bottom core layer than the reference plane;
- and
- at least one insulating layer provided between the reference plane and the bottom core layer, the at least one insulating layer disposed among the coil layer,
- wherein the top core layer extends from the track width control portion to the insulating layer, wherein a base end of the top core layer is magnetically connected to the bottom core layer.
A method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head comprising the steps of:
- (a) forming a track width control portion on a bottom core layer with a predetermined width dimension and a predetermined length from the surface facing a recording medium in the height direction, the track width control portion comprising one of a first combination, a second combination, and a third combination, wherein the first combination is a bottom pole layer, a nonmagnetic gap layer, and a top pole layer, the second combination is the bottom pole layer and the nonmagnetic gap layer, and the third combination is the nonmagnetic gap layer and the top pole layer;
- (b) forming an insulating base layer on a portion of the bottom core layer, the portion located behind the track width control portion in the height direction;
- (c) forming a coil layer on the insulating base layer, wherein the coil layer is nearer the bottom core layer than a top surface of the track width control portion;
- (d) forming at least one insulating layer to cover the track width control portion and the coil layer;
- (e) planarizing the top surface of the at least one insulating layer, wherein the top surface and an upper surface of the track width control portion are in a reference plane;
- and
- (f) forming a top core layer extending from the track width control portion to the at least one insulating layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.