Assisted deposition, narrow trench damascene process for manufacturing a write pole of a magnetic write head

A method for manufacturing a magnetic write head, comprising:

• providing a substrate;
• depositing a layer of material that is resistant to reactive ion etching (RIE stop layer) over the substrate;
• depositing a layer of alumina over the RIE stop layer;
• depositing an etching layer over the layer of alumina;
• forming a mask structure over the etching layer, the mask structure having an opening that is configured to define a write pole;
• performing a first reactive ion etching to transfer the image of the mask structure onto the etching layer;
• performing a second reactive ion etching to transfer the image of the mask structure onto the layer of alumina;
• depositing first layer of magnetic material;
• depositing a thin layer of non-magnetic material;
• depositing a second layer of magnetic material;
• and
• performing a chemical mechanical polishing.

A method for manufacturing a magnetic write head, comprising:

• providing a substrate;
• depositing a first layer of material that is electrically conductive and is resistant to reactive ion etching (RIE stop layer) over the substrate;
• depositing an alumina layer over the substrate;
• forming an opening the alumina layer, the opening being configured to define a write pole;
• electroplating first magnetic layer into the opening in the alumina layer;
• depositing a thin non-magnetic material into the opening in the alumina layer;
• and
• depositing a second magnetic layer over the first magnetic layer.

A method for manufacturing a magnetic write head, comprising:

• providing a substrate;
• depositing an alumina layer over the substrate;
• forming an opening the alumina layer, the opening being configured to define a write pole;
• depositing a magnetic material into the opening in the alumina layer, the deposition comprising alternating steps of sputter or ion beam deposition and ion milling, the ion milling.