Head gimbal assembly thin-film piezoelectric-material element arranged in step part configuration with protective films

A thin-film piezoelectric-material element comprising:

• a laminated structure part comprising a lower electrode film, a piezoelectric-material film laminated on the lower electrode film and an upper electrode film laminated on the piezoelectric-material film;
• a lower piezoelectric-material protective-film being formed with alloy material;
• and
• an upper piezoelectric-material protective-film being formed with alloy material,
• wherein the lower piezoelectric-material protective-film and the upper piezoelectric-material protective-film are formed to sandwich the laminated structure part, respectively in the lower side of the lower electrode film and the upper side of the upper electrode film,
• wherein the thin-film piezoelectric-material element, further comprising:
• a film-size extended structure which film-sizes, of an upper film part including the upper piezoelectric-material protective-film and the upper electrode film, a middle film part including the piezoelectric-material film, and a lower film part including the lower electrode film and the lower piezoelectric-material protective-film, are extended in order;
• and
• a surface layer insulating film, which is disposed on the side surfaces of the laminated structure part, the lower piezoelectric-material protective-film and the upper piezoelectric-material protective-film and on the top surface of the upper piezoelectric-material protective-film,
• wherein the surface layer insulating film comprises:
• a top disposed part arranged on the top surface of the upper piezoelectric-material protective-film;
• a through hole formed in the top disposed part;
• step parts formed based on size differences of the upper film part, the middle film part, and the lower film part;
• and
• a shift-arrangement structure which an upper side part along with the side surface of the upper film part, a middle side part along with the side surface of the middle film part, and a lower side part along with the side surface of the lower film part are arranged in the positions where they shift to outside in order.

A method of manufacturing a thin-film piezoelectric-material element comprising:

• a thin-films laminated part forming step of forming the thin-film laminated part on an insulated Si substrate comprises a substrate for deposition made of silicon and an insulating layer formed on a surface of the substrate for deposition;
• wherein the thin-films laminated part forming step comprising:
• a lower piezoelectric-material protective-layer forming step of forming a lower piezoelectric-material protective-layer with alloy material on the insulated Si substrate;
• a lower electrode layer forming step of forming a lower electrode layer on the lower piezoelectric-material protective-layer by sputtering;
• a piezoelectric-material layer forming step of forming a piezoelectric-material layer on the lower electrode layer by epitaxial growth of a thin-film made of lead zirconate titanate, shown by general formula Pb (ZrxTi(1-x)) O3 by sputtering;
• an upper electrode layer forming step of forming an upper electrode layer on the piezoelectric-material layer by sputtering;
• and
• an upper piezoelectric-material protective-layer forming step of forming an upper piezoelectric-material protective-layer with alloy material on the upper electrode layer.

A head gimbal assembly comprising a head slider having a thin-film magnetic head;

• a suspension for supporting the head slider;
• and a thin-film piezoelectric-material element for displacing the head slider relatively to the suspension;
• wherein the thin-film piezoelectric-material element comprises:
• a laminated structure part comprising a lower electrode film, a piezoelectric-material film laminated on the lower electrode film and an upper electrode film laminated on the piezoelectric-material film;
• a lower piezoelectric-material protective-film being formed with alloy material;
• and
• an upper piezoelectric-material protective-film being formed with alloy material,
• wherein the lower piezoelectric-material protective-film and the upper piezoelectric-material protective-film are formed so as to sandwich the laminated structure part between them,
• wherein the lower piezoelectric-material protective-film has a film-size larger than the piezoelectric-material film.

A hard disk drive comprising a head gimbal assembly including a head slider having a thin-film magnetic head, a suspension for supporting the head slider, a thin-film piezoelectric-material element for displacing the head slider relatively to the suspension;

• and a recording medium;
• wherein the thin-film piezoelectric-material element comprises:
• a laminated structure part comprising a lower electrode film, a piezoelectric-material film laminated on the lower electrode film and an upper electrode film laminated on the piezoelectric-material film;
• a lower piezoelectric-material protective-film being formed with alloy material;
• and
• an upper piezoelectric-material protective-film being formed with alloy material,
• wherein the lower piezoelectric-material protective-film and the upper piezoelectric-material protective-film are formed so as to sandwich the laminated structure part between them,
• wherein the lower piezoelectric-material protective-film has a film-size larger than the piezoelectric-material film.