Thin film magnetic head and method of manufacturing the same

A combination type thin film magnetic coil including a substrate, an inductive type thin film magnetic head element and a magnetoresistive type thin film magnetic head element, said inductive and magnetoresistive type thin film magnetic head elements being stacked on the substrate to define an air bearing surface;

• wherein said inductive type thin film magnetic head element comprises:
• a first pole made of a magnetic material and extending inwardly from the air bearing surface;
• a write gap film made of a non-magnetic material and formed on one surface of the first pole to extend inwardly from the air bearing surface over a distance at least equal to a length of a track pole;
• a bottom track pole made of a magnetic material and formed on a surface of the write gap film opposite to a surface which is brought into contact with the first pole to extend inwardly from the air bearing surface over a distance at most equal to a length of the track pole;
• a first non-magnetic material film extending inwardly over a given distance such that the first non-magnetic material film has a flat surface which is coplanar with a second surface of the bottom track pole opposite to a first surface which is brought into contact with the write gap film and an outer end surface of the non-magnetic material film which is brought into contact with an inner end surface of the bottom track pole remote from the air bearing surface defines a throat height zero reference position;
• a top track pole made of a magnetic material and formed on the coplanar flat surface of the bottom track pole and first non-magnetic material film to form a track chip portion extending inwardly from the air bearing surface at least to the outer end surface of the first non-magnetic material film and an end surface of the track chip portion is exposed to the air bearing surface and a contact portion which is continued from the track chip portion and has a width larger than a width of the track chip portion;
• a second non-magnetic material film made of a non-magnetic material and
• formed to surround an aligned side surface of the bottom track pole, first non-magnetic material film and top track pole and have a flat surface which forms a coplanar flat surface together with a second surface of the top track pole opposite to a first surface which is brought into contact with a flat coplanar surface of the top track pole, bottom track pole and first non-magnetic material film;
• a thin film coil formed in an electrically isolated manner in an inner region with respect to an end surface of the second non-magnetic material film which is brought into contact with an end surface of the contact portion of the top track pole;
• and
• a second pole made of a magnetic material and formed such that one end of the second pole is magnetically coupled with the contact portion of the top track pole and the other end of the second pole is magnetically coupled with the first pole at the back gap remote from the air bearing surface, said first and second poles surrounding a part of the thin film coil;
• wherein said thin film coil comprises:
• a first thin film coil half having coil windings mutually separated by a given distance;
• a second thin film coil half having coil windings which are formed between successive coil windings of the first thin film coil half in a self-aligned manner;
• an insulating film formed to embed spaces between successive coil windings of the first and second thin film coil halves;
• and
• a jumper wiring connecting electrically an innermost coil winding of one of the first and second thin film coil halves to an outermost coil winding of the other of the first and second thin film coil halves.

A combination type thin film magnetic head including a substrate, an inductive type thin film magnetic head element and a magnetoresistive type thin film magnetic head element, said inductive and magnetoresistive type thin film magnetic head elements being stacked on the substrate to define an air bearing surface;

• wherein said inductive type thin film magnetic head element comprises:
• a bottom pole made of a magnetic material and formed on the substrate to extend inwardly from the air bearing surface;
• a bottom track pole made of a magnetic material and formed on one surface of the bottom pole to extend inwardly from the air bearing surface over a distance equal to a length of a track portion;
• a bridge portion made of a magnetic material and formed on one surface of the bottom pole to define a back gap remote from the air bearing surface;
• a thin film coil formed on said one surface of the bottom pole such that one surface of the thin film coil opposite to the bottom pole constitutes a flat coplanar surface together with the bottom track pole;
• a write gap film made of a non-magnetic material and formed the flat coplanar surface of the bottom track pole and thin film to form a flat surface;
• and
• a top pole made of a magnetic material and formed on the flat surface of the thin film coil opposite to the bottom track pole such that the top pole includes a top track pole aligned with the bottom track pole and is brought into contact with said bridge portion;
• wherein said thin film coil comprises:
• a first thin film coil half having coil windings mutually separated by a given distance;
• a second thin film coil half having coil windings which are formed between successive coil windings of the first thin film coil half in a self-aligned manner;
• an insulating film formed to embed spaces between successive coil windings of the first and second thin film coil halves;
• a first jumper wiring connecting electrically an innermost coil winding of one of the first and second thin film coil halves to an outermost coil winding of the other of the first and second thin film coil halves;
• and
• a second jumper wiring having one end connected to an innermost coil winding of the other of the first and second thin film coil halves.

A method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head comprising:

• a first magnetic member made of a magnetic material and including a pole portion which is to be opposed to a magnetic record medium;
• a second magnetic member made of a magnetic material and including a pole portion which constitutes an air bearing surface together with an end surface of the first magnetic member, said second magnetic member being magnetically coupled with said first magnetic member at a back gap remote from the air bearing surface;
• a write gap film made of a non-magnetic material and being sandwiched between said pole portions of the first and second magnetic members at least at the air bearing surface;
• a thin film coil having a portion arranged between said first and second magnetic members in an electrically isolated manner;
• and
• a substrate for supporting said first and second magnetic members, write gap film and thin film coil;
• wherein said step of forming the thin film coil comprises the steps of:
• forming a plurality of coil windings of a first thin film coil half mutually separated by a given distance;
• forming a first insulating film over a whole surface of the first thin film coil half;
• forming a conductive film on the first insulating film such that spaces between successive coil windings of the first thin film coil half;
• removing a portion of the conductive film covering top surfaces of the coil windings of the first thin film coil half and the underlying first insulating film to form a second thin film coil half having a plurality of coil windings which are formed between successive coil windings of the first thin film coil half in a self-aligned manner and are electrically isolated from the coil windings of the first thin film coil half by the first insulating film;
• forming a second insulating film to cover the first and second thin film coil halves;
• and
• forming a jumper wiring connecting electrically an innermost coil winding of one of the first and second thin film coil halves to an outermost coil winding of the other of the first and second thin film coil halves.

A method of manufacturing a combination type thin film magnetic head including a substrate, an inductive type thin film magnetic head element and a magnetoresistive type thin film magnetic head element, said inductive and magnetoresistive type thin film magnetic head elements being stacked on the substrate to define an air bearing surface;

• wherein a process of forming said inductive type thin film magnetic head element comprises the steps of:
• forming a first pole made of a magnetic material;
• forming a write gap film made of a non-magnetic material on a surface of the first pole;
• forming a first magnetic material film on the write gap film;
• performing a first etching process for removing the first magnetic material film except for a width which is at least equal to a distance from a position defining the air bearing surface to a throat height zero reference position;
• forming a first non-magnetic material film in a space formed by the first etching process such that the first non-magnetic material film is brought into contact with the first magnetic material film at the throat height zero reference position;
• polishing the first non-magnetic material film to form a flat coplanar surface together with a surface of the first magnetic material film opposite to a surface which is brought into contact with the write gap film;
• forming a top track pole made of a magnetic material on the coplanar flat surface of the first magnetic material film and first non-magnetic material film to form a track chip portion extending inwardly from the air bearing surface at least to an end surface of the first non-magnetic material film and a contact portion which is continued from the track chip portion and has a width larger than a width of the track chip pole;
• performing a second etching process of reactive ion etching using at least said top track pole as an etching mask to remove selectively the first non-magnetic material film and first magnetic film to form a bottom track pole;
• forming a second non-magnetic material film in a space formed by the second etching process;
• polishing the second non-magnetic material film to form a flat coplanar surface together with the top track pole;
• forming a thin film coil in an electrically isolated manner in an inner region with respect to a boundary surface at which the first and second non-magnetic material films are adjoined;
• and
• forming a second pole made of a magnetic material such that one end of the second pole is magnetically coupled with the contact portion of the top track pole and the other end of the second pole is magnetically coupled with the first pole at a back gap remote from the air bearing surface, said first and second poles surrounding a part of the thin film coil;
• wherein said step of forming the thin film coil comprises the steps of:
• forming a plurality of coil windings of a first thin film coil half mutually separated by a given distance;
• forming a first insulating film over a whole surface of the first insulating film;
• forming a conductive film on the first insulating film such that spaces between successive coil windings of the first thin film coil half;
• removing portions of the conductive film covering top surfaces of the coil windings of the first thin film coil half and the underlying first insulating film to form a second thin film coil half having a plurality of coil windings which are formed between successive coil windings of the first thin film coil half in a self-aligned manner and are electrically isolated from the coil windings of the first thin film coil half by the first insulating film;
• forming a second insulating film to cover the first and second thin film coil halves;
• and
• forming a jumper wiring connecting electrically an innermost coil winding of one of the first and second thin film coil halves to an outermost coil winding of the other of the first and second thin film coil halves.

A method of manufacturing a combination type thin film magnetic head including a substrate, an inductive type thin film magnetic head element and a magnetoresistive type thin film magnetic head element, said inductive and magnetoresistive type thin film magnetic head elements being stacked on the substrate to define an air bearing surface;

• wherein a process of forming said inductive type thin film magnetic head element comprises the steps of:
• forming a first magnetic material film made of a magnetic material and constituting a bottom pole;
• forming, on the first magnetic material film, a second magnetic material film constituting a bottom track pole and a bridge portion of a back gap;
• forming a thin film coil on the first magnetic material film to be supported in an electrically isolated manner;
• polishing the second magnetic material film and thin film to obtain a flat coplanar surface;
• forming, on the flat coplanar surface, a write gap film made of a non-magnetic material to have a flat surface;
• forming, on the flat surface of the write gap film, a third magnetic film constituting a top track pole and top pole, said third magnetic material film being brought into contact with the bridge portion;
• forming a mask on the third magnetic material film at a position at which the top track pole is to be formed;
• performing an etching process for selectively removing the third magnetic material film to form the top track pole and further selectively removing a portion of the write gap film surrounding the top track pole and the underlying second magnetic material film to form the bottom track pole;
• and
• forming an overcoat film made of an electrically insulating material on a whole surface;
• wherein the step of forming the thin film coil comprises the steps of:
• forming, on said first magnetic material film, a plurality of coil windings of the first thin film coil half isolated from the first magnetic material film such that the coil windings are separated from each other by a given distance;
• forming a first insulating film all over the first thin film coil half;
• forming a second insulating film on an area except for a thin film coil forming region at which a second thin film coil half is to be formed;
• forming, on said first insulating film covering the first thin film coil half, a conductive film such that spaces formed between successive coil windings of the first thin film coil half are filled with said conductive film;
• and
• removing a portion of the conductive film covering top surfaces of the coil windings of the first thin film coil half and an underlying portion of the first insulating film to form a second thin film coil half having coil windings which are formed between successive coil windings of the first thin film coil half in a self-aligned manner and are electrically isolated by the first insulating film;
• wherein prior to forming said third magnetic material film, contact portions provided at ends of innermost and outermost coil windings of the first and second thin film coil halves are exposed, during the formation of the third magnetic material film, a first jumper wiring for electrically connecting a contact portion at the end of the innermost coil winding of one of the first and second thin film coil halves to a contact portion of the outermost coil winding of the other of the first and second thin film coil halves and a second jumper wiring connected to a contact portion at the end of the innermost coil winding of the other of the first and second thin film coil halves are formed with a same magnetic material as that of the third magnetic material film.