Method and system for providing a curved surface in a magnetic recording head

A method for fabricating an optical component in a magnetic recording head comprising:

• providing a first planarization stopping structure having a first height and a first edge;
• providing a second planarization stopping structure having a second height different from the first height and a second edge, the first edge being separated from the second edge by a distance;
• providing an optical material residing at least between the first edge of the first planarization stopping structure and the second edge of the second planarization stopping structure;
• providing a slurry having a basic pH if a surface of the optical material is to have a concave curvature and a neutral pH if the surface is to have a convex curvature;
• performing a chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) on the optical component to remove a portion of the optical material and form the surface between the first planarization stopping structure and the second planarization stopping structure, the CMP using the slurry having the basic pH and a hard pad if the surface formed has the concave curvature, the CMP using the slurry having the neutral pH and the soft pad if the surface formed has the convex curvature.

A method for fabricating a component of a magnetic recording head comprising:

• providing a first planarization stopping structure having a first height and a first edge;
• providing a second planarization stopping structure having a second height different from the first height and a second edge, the first edge being separated from the second edge by a distance;
• providing a material for the component residing at least between the first edge of the first planarization stopping structure and the second edge of the second planarization stopping structure;
• planarizing the component, removing a portion of the material to form a surface having a curvature between the first planarization stopping structure and the second planarization stopping structure, the planarization using a slurry having a basic pH if the curvature of the surface formed is a concave curvature, the planarization using the slurry having a neutral pH if the curvature of the surface formed has a convex curvature.