Method for formation of upper magnetic pole layer of thin film magnetic head, method of forming miniature block pattern with high aspect ratio on bottom part of step on surface with step, and thin film magnetic head
AssigneeRead-Rite Corporation
InventorDaisuke Iitsuka
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus and method for formation of the upper magnetic pole layer of a thin film magnetic head. The presently described method for formation of the upper magnetic pole layer of a thin film magnetic head enables the formation with submicron precision of a resist layer for use in forming the upper magnetic pole layer, which must necessarily be formed on a surface having a step, which can contribute to further improvement of areal recording densities. A frame for use in forming the upper magnetic pole layer is formed from multiple resist layers, and the relatively thick lower resist layer is formed by a vacuum thin film formation method.
Claims9
A method of forming an upper magnetic pole layer of a thin film magnetic head having a pole part and a yoke part, comprising:
- forming by layering an approximately flat lower magnetic pole layer, a magnetic gap layer, at least one thin film coil layer, and an insulating layer covering the at least one coil layer, of a plated base film, on a surface of a substrate;
- forming by vacuum thin film formation a first resist layer of approximately uniform film thickness over an entirety of the plated base film;
- forming on top of the first resist layer a relatively thin second resist layer;
- patterning the second resist layer in a planar shape of the upper magnetic pole layer;
- patterning by anisotropic dry etching the first resist layer using the patterned second resist layer as a mask;
- and
- forming by wet plating the upper magnetic pole layer on an exposed region of the plated base film using the patterned first resist layer as a frame.
A method of forming a miniature block pattern with high aspect ratio on a bottom part of a step on a surface with the step, comprising:
- forming a plated base film on the surface with the step;
- forming on the plated base film a relatively thick first resist layer, with approximately uniform film thickness, across the entire surface by vacuum thin film formation;
- forming a relatively thin second resist layer on the first resist layer;
- etch patterning the second resist layer with a width narrow compared with a thickness of the first resist layer, at least at upper positions of the bottom part of the step;
- patterning the first resist layer by anisotropic dry etching using as a mask the patterned second resist layer;
- and
- wet plating in a region of exposure of the plated base film on the bottom part of the step, using the patterned first resist layer as a frame.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.