Method for manufacturing a spin valve film and a method of manufacturing a magnetoresistance-effect type magnetic head
AssigneeSony Corporation
InventorEiji Makino
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A Cu film as the non-magnetic layer of a spin valve film is formed on a substrate in a sputter film forming chamber in which a film is formed by sputtering under a reduced pressure, a substrate is exposed to a gas atmosphere in a gas exposing chamber into which gas activating the surface of the Cu film is introduced, and the substrate is moved again to the sputter film forming chamber to form the remaining portion of the spin valve film.
Claims14
A method of manufacturing a spin valve film on a substrate comprising the steps of:
- forming an anti-ferromagnetic layer in a film-forming sputtering chamber;
- forming, in the film-forming sputtering chamber, a magnetization-fixed layer magnetized in a prescribed direction by an exchange coupling magnetic field acting between it and the anti-ferromagnetic layer;
- forming, in the film-forming sputtering chamber, a magnetization-free layer having a magnetization direction in accordance with an external magnetic field;
- and
- forming a nonmagnetic layer by depositing a nonmagnetic layer made of a Cu film which in use magnetically isolates the magnetization-fixed layer and the magnetization-free layer,
- said nonmagnetic film being deposited by means of sputtering performed at a reduced pressure in said film-forming sputtering chamber, and then
- exposing the nonmagnetic layer in a gas atmosphere in a gas-exposure chamber filled with gas that activates a surface of the Cu film;
- and
- providing said layers on the substrate.
A method of manufacturing a magnetoresistance-effect magnetic head on a substrate comprising a spin valve film as a magnetism-sensitive element for detecting magnetic signals emanating from magnetic recording media, the method comprising the steps of:
- forming an anti-ferromagnetic layer in a film-forming sputtering chamber;
- forming, in the film-forming sputtering chamber, a magnetization-fixed layer magnetized in a prescribed direction by an exchange coupling magnetic field acting between it and the anti-ferromagnetic layer;
- forming, in the film-forming sputtering chamber, a magnetization-free layer having a magnetization direction in accordance with an external magnetic field;
- and
- forming a nonmagnetic layer by depositing a nonmagnetic layer made of a Cu film which in use magnetically isolates the magnetization-fixed layer and the magnetization-free layer,
- said nonmagnetic film being deposited by means of sputtering performed at a reduced pressure in said film-forming sputtering chamber, and then exposing the nonmagnetic layer in a gas atmosphere in a gas-exposure chamber filled with gas that activates a surface of the Cu film;
- and
- providing said layers on the substrate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.