Soft magnetic film and method of manufacturing same, thin-film magnetic head and method of manufacturing same, head arm assembly and magnetic disk drive

A thin-film magnetic head comprising:

• a medium facing surface that faces toward a recording medium;
• a coil for generating a magnetic field corresponding to data to be written on the recording medium;
• and a pole layer allowing a magnetic flux corresponding to the field generated by the coil to pass therethrough, and generating a write magnetic field for writing the data on the recording medium, wherein:
• the pole layer incorporates a soft magnetic film made of an alloy whose principal elements are at least iron and nickel among the group consisting of iron, cobalt and nickel;
• when the total of iron, cobalt and nickel contents of the soft magnetic film is assumed as 100 weight percent, the iron content of the soft magnetic film is within a range of 42 to 90 weight percent inclusive, the cobalt content thereof is within a range of 0 to 48 weight percent inclusive, and the nickel content thereof is within a range of 10 to 20 weight percent inclusive;
• and
• the soft magnetic film has a crystal structure that is a mixed crystal of a body-centered cubic structure phase and a face-centered cubic structure phase.

A method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head comprising:

• a medium facing surface that faces toward a recording medium;
• a coil for generating a magnetic field corresponding to data to be written on the recording medium;
• and a pole layer allowing a magnetic flux corresponding to the field generated by the coil to pass therethrough, and generating a write magnetic field for writing the data on the recording medium, the method comprising the steps of:
• forming the coil;
• and
• forming the pole layer, wherein:
• the pole layer incorporates a soft magnetic film made of an alloy whose principal elements are at least iron and nickel among the group consisting of iron, cobalt and nickel;
• when the total of iron, cobalt and nickel contents of the soft magnetic film is assumed as 100 weight percent, the iron content of the soft magnetic film is within a range of 42 to 90 weight percent inclusive, the cobalt content thereof is within a range of 0 to 48 weight percent inclusive, and the nickel content thereof is within a range of 10 to 20 weight percent inclusive, and the soft magnetic film has a crystal structure that is a mixed crystal of a body-centered cubic structure phase and a face-centered cubic structure phase;
• and
• the soft magnetic film is manufactured by performing electroplating using a plating current whose direction is alternately switched.

A head arm assembly comprising:

• a slider including a thin-film magnetic head and disposed to face toward a recording medium;
• a suspension flexibly supporting the slider;
• and an arm for making the slider travel across tracks of the recording medium, the suspension being attached to the arm,
• the thin-film magnetic head comprising:
• a medium facing surface that faces toward the recording medium;
• a coil for generating a magnetic field corresponding to data to be written on the recording medium;
• and a pole layer allowing a magnetic flux corresponding to the field generated by the coil to pass therethrough, and generating a write magnetic field for writing the data on the recording medium, wherein:
• the pole layer incorporates a soft magnetic film made of an alloy whose principal elements are at least iron and nickel among the group consisting of iron, cobalt and nickel;
• when the total of iron, cobalt and nickel contents of the soft magnetic film is assumed as 100 weight percent, the iron content of the soft magnetic film is within a range of 42 to 90 weight percent inclusive, the cobalt content thereof is within a range of 0 to 48 weight percent inclusive, and the nickel content thereof is within a range of 10 to 20 weight percent inclusive;
• and
• the soft magnetic film has a crystal structure that is a mixed crystal of a body-centered cubic structure phase and a face-centered cubic structure phase.

A magnetic disk drive comprising:

• a slider including a thin-film magnetic head and disposed to face toward a recording medium that is driven to rotate;
• and an alignment device supporting the slider and aligning the slider with respect to the recording medium,
• the thin-film magnetic head comprising:
• a medium facing surface that faces toward the recording medium;
• a coil for generating a magnetic field corresponding to data to be written on the recording medium;
• and a pole layer allowing a magnetic flux corresponding to the field generated by the coil to pass therethrough, and generating a write magnetic field for writing the data on the recording medium, wherein:
• the pole layer incorporates a soft magnetic film made of an alloy whose principal elements are at least iron and nickel among the group consisting of iron, cobalt and nickel;
• when the total of iron, cobalt and nickel contents of the soft magnetic film is assumed as 100 weight percent, the iron content of the soft magnetic film is within a range of 42 to 90 weight percent inclusive, the cobalt content thereof is within a range of 0 to 48 weight percent inclusive, and the nickel content thereof is within a range of 10 to 20 weight percent inclusive;
• and
• the soft magnetic film has a crystal structure that is a mixed crystal of a body-centered cubic structure phase and a face-centered cubic structure phase.