Method for fabricating a magnetic transducer using a slurry with spherical particles for CMP-assisted photoresist lift-off

A method of fabricating thin film magnetic heads on a wafer comprising the steps of:

• depositing selected layers for a magnetic sensor on the wafer;
• patterning a photoresist mask over a predetermined position on the wafer for the magnetic sensor;
• forming the magnetic sensor width by removing the selected layers around the photoresist mask at opposite sides of the magnetic sensor structure to form voids at first and second sides of the magnetic sensor;
• depositing a dielectric material into the first and second voids and over the photoresist mask;
• depositing one or more layers for a hard bias structure into the voids onto the dielectric material;
• depositing a selected material onto the hard bias structure, the selected material being from the group consisting of rhodium, chromium, vanadium and platinum;
• depositing a CMP resistant mask over the selected material;
• and
• removing the photoresist and all material deposited above the photoresist by a process which includes chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) using a slurry with spherical particles less than 0.015 microns in size.