JPH0337815A - Composite thin film magnetic head and its manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a magnetic head used in a magnetic disk device, etc., and particularly relates to a high-performance thin film magnetic head that can be used for both recording and reproduction, and has a high reproduction output and a low recording current. Although conventional thin-film heads will be explained based on FIGS. 3, 4, and 5, they are generally thin-film magnetic heads (for example, even if they have a cross-sectional structure as shown in FIG. 3). A lower magnetic pole 12 made of a soft magnetic material such as a Ni-Fe alloy is formed on the substrate 11, and then an insulating layer 13 with a predetermined thickness to form a gap is formed, and then a thermoset photoresist layer 14 and J: After the conductive coil 15 made of Au, AI, Cu, etc. is formed, the upper magnetic pole 17 made of a soft magnetic material is formed, and then the upper magnetic pole 17 made of a soft magnetic material is formed.
A protective film 18 made of an insulator such as 2O3 is formed to complete the thin film magnetic head. However, in order to increase the reproduction output of a wire-wound head as shown in Figure 3, it is necessary to either increase the relative speed with the recording medium 19 or increase the number of windings, and the manufacturing technology is approaching its limits. Amo
FIG. 4 shows a magnetoresistive head. The same figure (see above) shows that the recording medium 19 and the magnetoresistive element 20 do not come into contact with each other in a magnetoresistive head. In order to solve this problem, a composite type head combining a wire-wound type and a magnetoresistive type as shown in Fig.
1-48116).

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In a composite thin film magnetic head having a structure as shown in the conventional example, the thermally hardened photoresist 16
As shown in Fig. 5, the gentle stepped portions (indicated by arrows A and B in Fig. 5) of the front gap portion and the pack gap portion are Even if formed, ζ
Top Magnetic method of soft magnetic material that affects the upper magnetic pole 17 For example, magnetic permeability and coercive force are deteriorated, which causes a decrease in the recording efficiency of the magnetic head. Mana: With the yoke type magnetoresistive head shown in Figure 5 (above), unlike the non-shielded type, the MR element is moved away from the recording medium 19 and the magnetic flux from the medium is passed through a magnetic flux guide to produce a magnetoresistive effect. Even though the presence of a stepped portion in the upper magnetic pole of the front gap section is one of the factors that deteriorates the efficiency of the flow of magnetic flux to the magnetoresistive element. As shown in Figure 2, there is no time to form a slit in part of the upper magnetic pole
This slit width is one of the important parameters that affects the characteristics of the yoke type magnetoresistive head, and it is necessary to accurately control this slit width. This is a manufacturing method in which the upper magnetic pole is formed by ion etching (this may lead to breakage in the lead wires of the magnetoresistive element, and to prevent such breakage, the process becomes complicated and mass production becomes difficult. Although the present invention is lacking, it is an object of the present invention to solve the problems of the prior art, and a means for solving the problems. A magnetic pole separate from the lower or upper magnetic pole with a film thickness equal to the thickness of the buried insulating layer is inserted into the front gap, which is the joint between the lower and upper magnetic poles. However, it is also possible to form the lower magnetic pole by sputter deposition and the upper magnetic pole by plating.With this structure, a soft magnetic layer becomes the magnetic circuit of the magnetic head. The magnetic flux generated by the conductive coil passes through the upper and lower magnetic poles and the magnetoresistive element, and is focused at the gap without loss, making it possible to reduce the recording current, and during playback, the magnetic flux is The leakage magnetic flux from the medium is efficiently focused on the magnetoresistive element from the flat upper magnetic pole without any steps, and high output can be obtained. A high-performance thin film magnetic head can be easily manufactured by forming a high-performance thin-film magnetic head using a plating process. Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A in Figure 1. In Figures 1 and 2, the lower magnetic pole 2 is formed of a soft magnetic material on a non-magnetic substrate l. Next, a first insulating layer 3 is formed to provide electrical insulation between the lower magnetic pole 2 and the conductive coil 4, and the conductive coil 4 is formed thereon.Then, the upper magnetic pole 9 and the lower magnetic pole 2 are formed.
In order to further insulate the conductive coil 4 from the magnetoresistive element 7 and the upper magnetic pole 9, an intermediate soft magnetic material is formed by means such as lift-off at the front gap part 5A and the back gap part 5B, which are the joint parts with the conductive coil 4, the magnetoresistive element 7, and the upper magnetic pole 9. The second insulating layer 6 is filled with an insulating film having a thickness equal to that of the intermediate soft magnetic layers (5A, 5B) by forming a film by means of sputtering and vacuum evaporation, and by means of planarization or the like. Insulating layer 6
A magnetoresistive material layer is formed thereon, and the magnetoresistive effect element 7 is shaped by etching.Next, a gap layer 8 of a predetermined thickness is formed on the front gap portion 5A formed of the soft magnetic material layer, and the insulating layer is This is a third insulating layer for insulating the magnetoresistive element 7 and the upper magnetic pole 9. Furthermore, the upper magnetic pole 9 is formed above the magnetoresistive element 7 and is approximately the same as the magnetoresistive element 7. - Additive plating is applied to parts patterned with photoresist so that there are gaps in the shape. In each of the above thin film processes, (
The soft magnetic layer of the upper magnetic pole is a permalloy or amorphous vacuum deposited film or a sputtered film.The soft magnetic layer of the upper magnetic pole is a permalloy or Fe-Ni-Co plating film. Film force exchange As an insulating layer, sputtered film strength of 5iOz or Ala○3.Furthermore, as a magnetoresistive element, UFe-Ni, N
Although an i-Co-based vacuum-deposited film or the like is used, according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a single magnetoresistive element is provided in a part of the upper magnetic pole. However, in order to increase the reproduction output of a magnetoresistive element, a bias magnetic field is necessary. According to the present invention, the upper magnetic pole (,
t, because there is almost no step part in the front gap, the deterioration of the magnetic properties at the step part of the upper magnetic pole, that is, deterioration of magnetic permeability and coercive force, etc., is suppressed, and leakage magnetic flux from the recording medium is efficiently transferred to the upper magnetic material. Even when the light is focused from the magnetic pole to the magnetoresistive element, there is no stepped part in the pack gap, and the amount of magnetic material that threatens the magnetic head increases by the amount of intermediate soft magnetic material, so magnetic saturation in the pack gap is suppressed. The R/W efficiency also improves. In addition, the complicated process of creating a core shape with a gap in a part of the upper magnetic body can be easily manufactured using the plating method. A thin-film magnetic head and a magnetoresistive head with a high reproduction output are installed together, and recording and reproduction are performed with the same head. Furthermore, it is easy to create a thin-film magnetic head with good characteristics that allows a reproduction output that is about 10 times greater than that of conventional reproduction output. can be manufactured in

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a plane showing a thin film magnetic head according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 shows a cross section of the head according to the same embodiment, and FIG.
4 and 5 are cross-sectional views showing conventional thin film magnetic heads. 1, 11... Substrate 2.12... Lower magnetic pole 3
, 6. 14. 16... Insulating layer 4.15...
Conductive carp mountain 8. 13... Gear Tsubuo 5n 5B
...Intermediate magnetic material magnetism! 7.20...Magnetoresistive element 18...Protection! 9.17...Top magnetic pole 10
, 19...Note a tail

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a composite thin film magnetic head comprising a lower magnetic pole, an upper magnetic pole, and a conductive coil, in which a magnetoresistive element is inserted into a part of the upper magnetic pole, the lower magnetic pole and A magnetic pole separate from the lower or upper magnetic pole having a thickness equal to the thickness of an insulating layer filling a space between the conductive coil and the conductive coil is a joining portion of the lower magnetic pole and the upper magnetic pole. A thin film magnetic head characterized in that it is inserted into a front gap portion and a back gap portion. (2) A method of manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head according to claim 1, characterized in that the upper magnetic pole is formed by a plating method.