Thin film magnetic head having improved thermal characteristics, and method of manufacturing
AssigneeStorage Technology Corporation
InventorsCarl Stephen Arnold, Edward Virgil Denison, April Lynn Alstrin
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Abstract
A thin film magnetic head having one or more magneto-resistive (MR) elements. A thermally conductive stud is incorporated in an underlayer of the head, below the bottom shield of the MR element. This stud acts as a heat sink, and enhances the heat flow from the bottom shield to the substrate to thereby reduce thermal contact noise in the device, as well as allowing use of higher bias currents when reading signals from the media.
Claims11
A thin film magnetic head, comprising:
- a substrate;
- a first magnetic shield layer;
- a thermally conductive stud disposed between the substrate and the first magnetic shield layer, wherein contact between the first magnetic shield layer and the thermally conductive stud is absent;
- and
- an electrical insulator layer disposed between the first magnetic shield layer and the thermally conductive stud, wherein the electrical insulator layer provides electrical insulation between the first magnetic shield layer and the thermally conductive stud.
A method of producing a thin film magnetic head, comprising the steps of:
- forming a substrate layer;
- forming a thermally conductive stud above the substrate;
- forming an electrical insulator layer above the thermally conductive stud;
- forming a magnetic shield layer above the electrical insulator layer such that the electrical insulator layer provides electrical insulation between the thermally conductive stud and the magnetic shield layer, wherein contact between the magnetic shield layer and the thermally conductive stud is absent and wherein the electrical insulator layer is between the magnetic shield layer and the thermally conductive stud;
- and
- forming a read element above the magnetic shield layer.
A method of using a thin film magnetic head to process data on a magnetic tape media, said method comprising the steps of
- contacting a magnetic tape with a thin film magnetic head, said magnetic tape having data, said thin film magnetic head comprising:
- a substrate;
- a first magnetic shield layer;
- a thermally conductive stud disposed between the substrate and the first magnetic shield layer, wherein contact between the first magnetic shield layer and the thermally conductive stud is absent;
- and
- an electrical insulator layer disposed between the first magnetic shield layer and the thermally conductive stud, wherein the electrical insulator layer provides electrical insulation between the first magnetic shield layer and the thermally conductive stud;
- and
- accessing the data on the magnetic tape with the thin film magnetic head.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.