Method and apparatus for inspecting thermal assist type magnetic head

A method for inspecting a thermal assist type magnetic head, comprising the steps of:

• placing a thermal assist type magnetic head element on an XY table of a scanning probe microscope including a cantilever having a prove with a magnetic film formed on the surface of the tip portion, and the XY table that can be moved in an XY plane;
• generating a magnetic field in the thermal assist type magnetic head element by supplying an alternating current to a terminal formed in the thermal assist type magnetic head element placed on the XY table;
• obtaining the distribution of the magnetic field generated by scanning the surface of the thermal assist type magnetic head element by the probe of the cantilever of the scanning probe microscope, while the magnetic field is generated in the thermal assist type magnetic head element;
• generating a near field light from a near field light emitting part formed in the thermal assist type magnetic head element placed on the XY table, by a laser beam incident on the near field light emitting part;
• scanning the surface of the thermal assist type magnetic head element by the probe of the cantilever of the scanning probe microscope while the near field light is generated from the near field light emitting part, to collect the scattered light generated from the probe in the generation area of the near field light by an objective lens;
• detecting the scattered light passing through a pinhole, of the collected scattered light;
• obtaining the light emitting area and distribution of the near field light from the detected scattered light;
• and
• determining the quality of the thermal assist type magnetic head based on the information of the obtained distribution of the magnetic field, and on the information of the obtained light emitting area and distribution of the near field light.

A method for inspecting a thermal assist type magnetic head, comprising the steps of:

• placing a thermal assist type magnetic head element on an XY table of a scanning probe microscope including a cantilever having a probe with a magnetic field formed on the surface of the tip portion, and the XY table that can be moved in an XY plain;
• detecting the magnetic field generation area by scanning the surface of the thermal assist type magnetic head placed on the XY table, by the probe of the cantilever of the scanning probe microscope in a first direction, while the magnetic field is generated in the thermal assist type magnetic head element by supplying an alternating current to a terminal formed in the thermal assist type magnetic head element;
• scanning the surface of the thermal assist type magnetic head element placed on the XY table, by the probe of the cantilever of the scanning probe microscope in a second direction opposite to the first direction, while the near field light is generated from the near field light emitting part by a laser beam incident on a near field light emitting part formed in the thermal assist type magnetic head element;
• collecting the scattered light generated from the probe in the generation area of the near field light by an objective lens;
• detecting the scattered light passing through a pinhole, of the collected scattered light;
• obtaining the light emitting area of the near field light from the detection signal of the scattered light;
• and
• determining the quality of the thermal assist type magnetic head, based on the information of the detected magnetic field generation area and on the information of the obtained near field light emitting area.