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US 2011/0255196 A1Published application
PMR writer with graded side shield
AssigneeHeadway Technologies, Inc.
InventorsYan Wu, Zhigang Bai, Moris Dovek, Cherng-Chyi Han, Min Li, Jianing Zhou, Jiun-Ting Lee, Min Zheng
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Abstract
A perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) head is fabricated with a pole tip shielded laterally by a graded side shield that is conformal to the shape of the pole tip at an upper portion of the shield but not conformal to the pole tip at a lower portion. The shield includes a trailing shield, that is conformal to the trailing edge of the pole tip and may include a leading edge shield that magnetically connects two bottom ends of the graded side shield.
Claims28
A PMR head comprising:
- A main pole having a substantially trapezoidal ABS shape that is mirror symmetric about a vertical bisector and characterized by four peripheral edges, including a leading edge, a trailing edge that is parallel to said leading edge and vertically separated from said leading edge by a main pole height, MPh, and two side edges tapering towards each other, wherein said trailing edge is wider than said leading edge;
- and
- a graded magnetic side shield, symmetrically formed about said vertical bisector and disposed horizontally about said main pole, wherein said graded magnetic side shield has an opening defined by inner edges that are separated from said two side edges of said main pole and wherein a top portion of said graded magnetic side shield has inner edges that are conformal to said side edges of an upper portion of said main pole and wherein a bottom portion of said graded magnetic side shield has inner edges that are not conformal to said side edges of a lower portion of said main pole and slant outward to form an angle α with respect to said vertical bisector;
- and
- a trailing shield formed vertically above said main pole and continuous with said graded magnetic side shield, wherein said trailing shield is uniformly separated from said trailing edge of said main pole.
2 more elements
A method of forming a pole tip shielded by a graded side shield, comprising:
- providing a substrate;
- forming on said substrate a dielectric bilayer having a lower layer of a first material and a first thickness and an upper layer of a second material and a second thickness;
- using a first etch process, creating a first cavity in said bilayer, wherein said first cavity has a upper opening at the upper surface of said bilayer and a lower opening at an upper surface of said substrate, wherein said lower opening is narrower than said upper opening and wherein said first cavity is formed with a vertical cross-section having diminishing horizontal width in a downward vertical direction towards said substrate, and wherein said first cavity is substantially mirror symmetric about a vertical bisector of said upper opening;
- then
- coating the interior of said cavity with a non-magnetic metallic coating of uniform width, wherein said coating creates a second cavity within said first cavity, wherein said second cavity is substantially congruent to said first cavity;
- then
- filling said second cavity with a magnetic material, forming thereby a main magnetic pole;
- then
- planarizing said upper surface of said bilayer, thereby removing excess of said magnetic material;
- then
- optionally milling an upper surface of said main magnetic pole to form a tapered edge in a direction transverse to said vertical cross-section;
- then
- using a photomasking and second etch process, etching vertically downward, at an angle α to the vertical, to said substrate to remove all portions of said bilayer laterally disposed from said first cavity to expose said substrate, leaving a small residual portion of said bilayer extending laterally outward from each side of said first cavity and extending downward to said substrate;
- then
- using a third etch process, removing said upper layer of said residual portion, exposing, thereby an upper portion of said non-magnetic metallic layer;
- then
- depositing a layer of write gap material to conformally cover the fabrication;
- then
- plating a blanket layer of magnetic material over said write gap layer, whereby said blanket layer of magnetic material creates a shield having a conformal upper portion and a graded side portion.
16 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.