Krounbi et al.
US 7,006,327 B2
6,198,609 B1
6,222,707 B1
6,255,040 B1
CONTROL
| :
Urai "...... 360/317
360/318
2 * > -->
/2002 Sasaki ..........
(*) Notice:
* cited by examiner
Primary ExaminerJulie Anne Watko
(57)
Sep. 2, 2004
(2006.01)
(56)
... 360/126
... 360/126
US 2004/0169958 A1
6,900,963 B1 *
... 360/126
(65)
References Cited
ABSTRACT
cent the trench walls and covering the coil. A top coil with
6,029,339 A
YokH
200
KWNN,
TOPPOLE
NSN
777 VANZ
&
236
P2
g% 230
BOTTOM
POLE
212
U.S. Patent
Sheet 1 of 4
US 7,006,327 B2
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ2
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4
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ZZZZZZZZZZ
FIG. 1
PRIOR ART
3
2
U.S. Patent
Sheet 2 of 4
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U.S. Patent
XN
Sheet 3 of 4
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U.S. Patent
Sheet 4 of 4
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354
360
370
380
FIG.4
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insulating material, e.g., alumina, in a thickness of about
50150 nm, and thereafter a multilayered structure-magne
toresistive layer 5 constituting the GMR reproducing ele
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not shown.
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between coils and pole elements in magnetic recording
heads, toward write heads or read/write heads including the
buried coil design (i.e., including a magnetically separating
cover layer), toward methods of making a recording head
according to the invention with improved dimensional con
trol, and toward merged read/write heads and storage sys
tems that incorporate buried coil designs as described
herein. The write heads of the present invention include a
3
complexity, processing times, and costs and furthering head
design goals such as reduced pole length.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
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separate the bottom coil turns and to cover the turns (i.e., to
electrically insulate the bottom coil from the top coil), and
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the coil trench (i.e., the interior sides of the pole tips) and the
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head;
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tion.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
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formation of the front and back magnetic pole tips of the top
pole. The front and back pole tips define a trench or recessed
area in which a pole cover layer or pole-coil separator is
provided of a non-magnetic material, such as alumina, and
then the bottom coil is built directly on this cover layer or
separator. A coil insulator is provided within the trench to
the coil insulator can then be planarized to facilitate fabri
cation of the top coil, top coil insulator, and top pole yoke.
The buried bottom coil design of writer elements and
heads of the present invention provides a number of advan
tages and/or addresses a number of problems with prior art
heads. Because the bottom coil sits directly on the alumina
or other nonmagnetic material of the cover layer or separa
tor, there is no need for an underlying resist or insulation
layer. The cover layer or separator allows bottom coils to be
positioned in relatively close proximity to adjacent front and
back tips of the top pole, i.e., to provide a head with a
reduced coil-pole separation distance and a reduced yoke
length relative to convention heads. The bottom coil is
planarized using photoresist or another insulating material
that may be vacuum deposited or otherwise deposited
among and over the bottom coil as a single process with one
material or in two processes involving a single material or
two insulating materials. The use of a deposited pole cover
layer and coil insulator results in significantly reduced
processing times, e.g., by reducing or even eliminating cure
times and facilitating building of the top coil and top pole
yoke element. Additionally, the forming of the front and
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of the trench 216 (although some slope can be provided if
useful to support the material removal process).
5
within a recording head or in a merged read/write head. The
head 200 terminates at front edge or surface (i.e., the left end
of the head 200 shown in FIG. 3) that defines an air bearing
surface (ABS) for the head 200. If utilized within a read/
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includes a back pole tip 236 built upon a seed layer 230 and
a front pole tip 238 built upon a seed layer 232 (which
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200 and the first insulator 224). The pole tips 236, 238 are
formed of a magnetic material such as CoNiFe alloy, NiFe
alloy (i.e., permalloy), and the like. As will be explained
with reference to FIG. 4, the pole tips 236, 238 and under
lying seed layers 230, 232 are typically formed by material
deposition and then later removal of material to provide
substantially vertical interior side walls that define the sides
bottom coil 244 from the pole tips 236,238 and an upper or
cover layer 254 for insulating the bottom coil 244 from the
top coil 260 and providing a surface for building the top coil
260. The coils 244 are preferably thin with a thickness in one
embodiment of less than 2 um. The use of two layers 250,
254 facilitates more rapid and accurate fabrication of the
element 200, and the materials used for the layers 250, 254
may be the same or, more typically, the materials used are
different but that provide desired insulating and fabrication
properties. The bottom or lower coil layer 250 can be
photoresist or alumina or other similar material. In one
preferred embodiment, the bottom coil layer 250 is photo
resist and the top layer 254 is alumina to facilitate process
ing, such as by reducing cycle time and better suiting
equipment availability.
Significantly, the cover layer or pole-coil separator 240
can be relatively thin, e.g., less than 0.5 pum and more
preferably between 0.1 and 0.4 pum, in part because it is
deposited directly within the trench 216 and upon the high
density alumina film or write gap layer 220. This very thin
pole cover layer 240 when combined with the coil insulator
layer 250 provides a significantly reduced front and rear
separation distance, dsee, and dsees, between the coils 244
and the adjacent pole tips 238 and 236, respectively. For
example, the front and rear separation distances, dsee, and
des, typically can be achieved in the range of about 1 to
2 um whereas prior heads typically had separation distances
of at least about 3 um. With the buried coil 244 within the
trench 216 that is covered by cover layer 240, the top surface
processed to provide a desired surface for building the other
components of the write element 200, such as with pla
overlays the write gap layer 220 near the ABS of the element
of the pole tips 236,238 and the filled trench materials (i.e.,
cover layer 240 sides and cover insulator layer 254) can be
the bottom coil 244 can be buried within the trench 216
defined in part by the interior side walls of the pole tips 236,
238 and then the top coil 260 and yoke layer 270 can be
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marization.
The writer 200 further includes a top coil 260 that, as with
bottom coil 244, is typically formed of copper or similar
material, and that is positioned on the cover insulator layer
254. A third insulator or top coil insulator 13 is formed
among and over the top coils as shown at 264 and is formed,
for example, of alumina. The top pole further includes an
upper pole layer or yoke layer 270, formed of material the
same or similar to that used for the pole tips 236, 238, that
covers and contacts at least a portion of the front pole tip 238
and covers the top coil 260 and back pole tip 236. The yoke
length, Lyok, of the top pole is significantly reduced
compared with convention writer elements because of the
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reduced the reduced pole-coil separation distances, dse,
and dsee, provided by the thin pole cover layer 240 and
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building the top coil 250 and yoke region of the top pole 270.
Additionally, such planarization provides enhanced dimen
sion control. At 360, the top coil 260, such as a film of
copper, is formed, such as by plating, on the now planar
covering insulation layer 254. A third insulator 13 is formed
as shown at 264, such as of deposited photoresist. At 370, the
top pole yoke layer 270 is formed, such as by sputtering a
thin film of NiFe or other magnetic material, and this layer
270 is preferably kept relatively thin to decrease the size of
the element 200, such as with a thickness less than 3 um and
more preferably in the range of 1 to 3 um. As explained
above the yoke length, Lyor, is significantly shorted rela
a recessed surface, i.e., the bottom of the trench 216 for later
pole cover layer 240 and buried coil design. At 380, addi
tional processing steps are preformed to complete the writer
element 200 such as with forming a connection pad, such as
of copper, gold, and/or other conductors, and deposition of
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the art.
We claim:
vertical inner side walls that define the sides of the trench
216, in which the bottom coil 244 is later buried. The pole
tips 236,238 are preferably shaped to define the track width
of the writer element 200.
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layer 250 and coils 244 to fill the trench 216 (i.e., bury the
coils 244) and form the covering insulation layer 254. In
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magnetic pole and over the side walls of the top pole
tips, the pole cover layer contacting and covering a
portion of the write gap layer extending to cover and
contact the portion of the recessed surface;
an electrically conducting coil with elements disposed on
the pole cover layer between the top pole tips; and
an insulator covering the coil and filling gaps between the
coil elements and the top pole tips,
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wherein the insulator comprises a coil insulator layer
disposed among the coil elements and covering the side
walls of the pole tips and a covering insulation layer
disposed over the coil insulator layer and the coils.
2. The writer of claim 1, wherein the thickness of the pole
cover layer is less than about 0.5 micrometers.
3. The writer of claim 1, wherein the insulating material
of the pole cover layer is provided by material deposition.
4. The writer of claim 1, wherein the covering insulation
layer includes an upper surface distal to the coil elements
that is substantially planar and substantially coplanar with
the upper surfaces of the pole tips.
5. The writer of claim 1, wherein the coil insulator layer
is formed of a first insulating material and the covering
insulation layer is formed of a second insulating material
that differs from the first insulating material.
6. The writer of claim 1, wherein the write gap layer
extends to cover and contact substantially all of the recessed
surface of the bottom magnetic pole.
7. The writer of claim 1, wherein a separation distance
measured between a proximal portion of the coil and the
front pole tip is between about 1 micrometer and about 2
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magnetic pole and over the side walls of the top pole
tips, the pole cover layer contacting and covering a
portion of the write gap layer extending to cover and
contact the portion of the recessed surface;
an electrically conducting coil with elements disposed on
the pole cover layer between the top pole tips; and
an insulator covering the coil and filling gaps between the
coil elements and the top pole tips,
wherein the top magnetic pole includes a second layer of
magnetic material defining a yoke region above the
defined coil trench and includes a top electrically
conducting coil with elements disposed on the insula
tor, the top coil elements being electrically insulated by
a top coil insulator formed of electrically insulating
material disposed over the top coil elements and the
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micrometers.
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insulator.
and
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micrometers.
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an electrically conducting coil with elements dis
posed on the pole-coil separator between the top
pole tips; and
an insulator covering the coil and filling gaps
between the coil elements and the top pole tips;
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trench, wherein the pole tips each include an upper
surface distal to the bottom magnetic pole with the
upper surfaces being substantially coplanar;
a pole cover layer of insulating material disposed with a
thickness over the recessed surface of the bottom
and
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insulator.
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magnetic pole and over the side walls of the top pole
tips, the pole cover layer contacting and covering a
portion of the write gap layer extending to cover and
contact a portion of the recessed surface;
an electrically conducting coil with elements disposed on
the pole cover layer between the top pole tips; and
an insulator covering the coil and filling gaps between the
coil elements and the top pole tips,
wherein the insulator comprises a coil insulator layer
disposed among the coil elements and covering the side
walls of the pole tips and a covering insulation layer
disposed over the coil insulator layer and the coils; and
wherein the coil insulator layer is formed of a first
insulating material and the covering insulator layer is
formed of a second insulating material that differs from
the first insulating material.
16. The writer of claim 15, wherein the covering insulator
layer includes an upper surface distal to the coil elements
that is substantially planar and substantially coplanar with
the upper surfaces of the pole tips.