Thin film magnetic head and method of manufacturing same
AssigneeSAE Magnetics (H.K.) Ltd.
InventorNaoto Matono
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Abstract
A thin film magnetic head capable of shortening a manufacturing time and a method of manufacturing the same are provided. After forming a write gap layer by using a non-magnetic conductive material such as copper, a top pole is formed on the write gap layer by growing a plating film with the write gap layer used as a seed layer. Unlike the case where the write gap layer is formed by using a non-magnetic insulating material such as alumina, a step of newly forming a seed layer aside from the write gap layer and a step of selectively removing the newly formed seed layer become unnecessary. Therefore, the number of manufacturing processes is reduced, and the manufacturing time of the thin film magnetic head is shortened.
Claims24
A thin film magnetic head comprising:
- first and second magnetic layers magnetically coupled to each other and having first and second pole tip portions placed so as to face a recording medium in conjunction with being in contact with a gap layer and being opposed to each other as sandwiching the gap layer;
- a thin film coil disposed in a space between the first and second magnetic layers;
- and
- an insulating layer embedding the thin film coil in the space between the first and second magnetic layers, wherein:
- at least the first pole tip portion is made of a plating film;
- and
- the gap layer is constructed of a non-magnetic conductive material.
A method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head comprising:
- first and second magnetic layers magnetically coupled to each other and having first and second pole tip portions placed so as to face a recording medium in conjunction with being in contact with a gap layer and being opposed to each other as sandwiching the gap layer;
- a thin film coil disposed in a space between the first and second magnetic layers;
- and
- an insulating layer embedding the thin film coil in the space between the first and second magnetic layers,
- wherein the method comprises:
- a step of forming the gap layer with a non-magnetic conductive material;
- and
- a step of selectively forming at least the first pole tip portion on the gap layer by growing a plating film with the gap layer used as an electrode.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.