Suspension with flexure having laminated structure and bonding pads on opposing surfaces thereof, and head gimbal assembly and disk drive unit with the same

A head gimbal assembly, comprising:

• a slider;
• and
• a suspension for supporting the slider, comprising:
• a flexure having a laminated structure comprising a substrate layer made of stainless steel, an insulating layer formed on the substrate layer, and a conducting layer formed on the insulating layer, wherein first bonding pads are formed on the conducting layer at a first surface of the flexure, so as to electrically connect with the slider via solder balls, and second bonding pads are formed directly on and in physical contact with the substrate layer at a second surface of the flexure opposite to the first surface, so as to electrically connect with extra components formed at the second surface via solder balls.

A disk drive unit, comprising:

• a head gimbal assembly including a slider and a suspension for supporting the slider;
• a drive arm connected to the head gimbal assembly;
• a disk;
• and
• a spindle motor to spin the disk;
• wherein the suspension comprising a flexure having a laminated structure which comprises a substrate layer made of stainless steel, an insulating layer formed on the substrate layer, and a conducting layer formed on the insulating layer, wherein first bonding pads are formed on the conducting layer at a first surface of the flexure, so as to electrically connect with the slider via solder balls, and second bonding pads are formed directly on and in physical contact with the substrate layer at a second surface of the flexure opposite to the first surface, so as to electrically connect with extra components formed at the second surface via solder balls.