Head suspension flexure with integrated strain sensor and sputtered traces

A head suspension component of a disk drive, the head suspension component comprising:

• a spring metal layer;
• an insulating material layer on the spring metal layer;
• a strain gauge sensor formed from a layer of a strain gauge metal disposed on the insulating material layer;
• and
• a trace extending along the insulating material layer, the trace comprising a seed layer formed from the layer of the strain gauge metal, the trace further comprising a layer of a conductive metal disposed directly on the seed layer, the strain gauge metal comprising a different type of metal than the conductive metal,
• wherein the seed layer and the strain gauge sensor are formed on different portions of the insulating material layer with respect to each other.

A method of manufacturing an integrated lead suspension component of a flexure, the method comprising:

• depositing a layer of insulating material on a layer of spring metal of the flexure;
• sputtering a trace seed layer of high resistance metal on the layer of insulating material, the trace seed layer having a bottom side that faces the layer of insulating material and a top side that is opposite the bottom side, the high resistance metal comprising a copper-nickel alloy;
• and
• forming a trace by plating a layer of a low resistance conductive metal on the top side of the trace seed layer,
• wherein the low resistance conductive metal is a different type of metal than the copper-nickel alloy of the high resistance metal, and the low resistance conductive metal has a lower electrical resistance as compared to the high resistance metal.