Electrical lapping guide for dimensional control of back side of heat assisted magnetic recording device

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/952,671, filed on Mar. 13, 2014, which is expressly incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

In magnetic storage devices such as hard disk drives (HDD), read and write heads are used to magnetically read and write information to and from storage media, such as a magnetic storage disk. A HDD may include a rotary actuator, a suspension mounted on an arm of the rotary actuator, and a slider bonded to the suspension to form a head gimbal assembly. In a traditional HDD, the slider carries a write head and read head, and radially flies over the surface of the storage media.

A Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) device is an enhanced HDD that applies heat to magnetically soften the media surface during recording, particularly useful for high capacity storage with physically smaller bit sizes. The heat may be generated by a laser coupled to a waveguide and a transducer formed on the slider. The slider is a base on which the read and write heads are mounted on a trailing edge surface that is perpendicular to the air bearing surface (ABS). The magnetic media surface is exposed to the ABS during read and write operation. The waveguide extends through the back side of the slider and is directly coupled to a laser from an external source. A lap-and-look lapping process performed on the back side of the slider during fabrication of the HAMR device may not consistently provide optimum control of the dimension between the waveguide with respect to the back side surface of the slider for coupling the waveguide to the laser.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments will now be presented in the detailed description by way of example, and not by way of limitation, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a top view schematic diagram of a waveguide section on a read/write slider and the critical dimension at the back side surface of the slider for lapping; and

FIG. 2 shows a section of a slider bar that has a pair of sliders and a pair of head parts, each head part including a back side electrical lapping guide (BL-ELG) element.

FIG. 3 shows a section of a slider bar that has a pair of sliders and a pair of head parts, each slider part including a back side electrical lapping guide (BL-ELG) element.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate a time lapse for lapping a back side surface using an electrical lapping guide.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The various exemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawings may not be drawn to scale. Rather, the dimensions of the various features may be expanded or reduced for clarity. In addition, some of the drawings may be simplified for clarity. Thus, the drawings may not depict all of the components of a given apparatus or method.

Various embodiments will be described herein with reference to drawings that are schematic illustrations of idealized configurations. As such, variations from the shapes of the illustrations as a result of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances, for example, are to be expected. Thus, the various embodiments presented throughout this disclosure should not be construed as limited to the particular shapes of elements illustrated and described herein but are to include deviations in shapes that result, for example, from manufacturing. By way of example, an element illustrated or described as having rounded or curved features at its edges may instead have straight edges. Thus, the elements illustrated in the drawings are schematic in nature and their shapes are not intended to illustrate the precise shape of an element and are not intended to limit the scope of the described embodiments. Regarding the lapping process described herein, manufacturing tolerances in the lapped surface are to be expected.

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of various exemplary embodiments and is not intended to represent the only embodiments that may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the embodiments. Acronyms and other descriptive terminology may be used merely for convenience and clarity and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. Likewise, the term “embodiment” of an apparatus or method does not require that all embodiments include the described components, structure, features, functionality, processes, advantages, benefits, or modes of operation.

Any reference to an element herein using a designation such as “first,” “second,” and so forth does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. Rather, these designations are used herein as a convenient method of distinguishing between two or more elements or instances of an element. Thus, a reference to first and second elements does not mean that only two elements can be employed, or that the first element must precede the second element.

As used herein, the terms “comprises”, “comprising,”, “includes” and/or “including”, when used herein, specify the presence of the stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Furthermore, relative terms, such as “front” or “back” may be used herein to describe one element's relationship to another element as illustrated in the drawings. It will be understood that relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of an apparatus in addition to the orientation depicted in the drawings. By way of example, if an apparatus in the drawings is turned over, elements described as being on the “front” side of other elements would then be oriented on the “back” side of the other elements. The term “front”, can therefore, encompass both an orientation of “front” and “back,” depending of the particular orientation of the apparatus.

In the following detailed description, various embodiments will be presented in the context of apparatus and methods used in the manufacture of a slider used for magnetic recording media. Using the electrical lapping guide described below, a back side surface of the slider may be within acceptable tolerance for a dimension between the back side surface and a waveguide section. Various embodiments are well suited to an apparatus and methods for lapping a back side surface of a slider for a magnetic recording device. However, those skilled in the art will realize that these aspects may be extended to preparing a surface of other types of substrates and devices. For example, various embodiments may be used in the manufacture of any other suitable articles that require a preparation of a surface to meet precise dimensions. Accordingly, any reference to a specific electrical lapping guide apparatus or method is intended only to illustrate the various embodiments, with the understanding that such embodiments may have a wide range of applications.

In an embodiment, an apparatus includes a slider bar, comprising a head part and a pair of sliders separated by the head part, each of the sliders having an air bearing surface (ABS) and a back side opposite the ABS, the head part comprising an electrical lap guide having a pair of terminals and a conductive material extending between the terminals, the conductive material being arranged with the head part such that the resistance between the terminals will increase during the lapping of the back side of the sliders. An embodiment of the apparatus may include the head part having a bond pad connected to a first terminal of the electrical lap guide, and the second terminal of the electrical lap guide connected to ground via the slider substrate, or a ground pad on the head part. An embodiment of the apparatus may further include connecting the bond pad on the head part to an external measurement device to monitor the resistance of the electrical lap guide during the lapping.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram 100 with a top view perspective of a relative position for a waveguide portion on an exemplary read/write slider 102 with respect to the back side of the slider. The critical height dimension 112 shown in FIG. 1 is based on the precise distance required for proper coupling of the laser input to the light waveguide at the back side 114. A laser diode (not shown) may be mounted on the back side 114 of the slider for coupling to the waveguide section 110. As shown, the back side 114 surface is opposite of the ABS 116. Although not shown, a near field transducer may be coupled to the waveguide section 110 in a manner that enables the optical energy of the laser light to be converted to heat, and to generate a hot spot on the media that is small enough for discretely focusing on the very small space reserved for the bit during the data writing. Instead of lap-and-look technique, a closed loop lapping for providing better precision is described below. The waveguide section 110 as shown may be, at least in part, a testing feature to allow the slider to be tested for satisfying laser coupling requirements. The waveguide section 110 on the slider may be etched out of alumina, and then filled with gold and silicon dioxide to couple the light energy to the near field transducer for the required heat generation of the HAMR device during the writing process.

FIG. 2 shows a layout of a slider bar section 200 layout that has an array of pads used for recording devices and auxiliary devices, including electrical lapping guide (ELG) elements, used during the lapping process at the ABS 116 of the slider, and for a separate lapping process at the surface of the back side 114 of the slider bar 200. The slider bar section 200 as shown in FIG. 2 illustrates a section of the entire slider bar, which includes a first slider section 102a, a second slider section 102b, and head parts 203a, 203b between the slider sections. The head parts 203a, 203b are used for placement of test pads, and will be cut away and discarded in subsequent fabrication steps to create the individual sliders. The slider bar 200 is created following fabrication on a wafer layout to create rows and columns of recording devices, as the wafer is then cut into individual bars. Each slider 102a, 102b includes a reader ELG element R-ELG 206, and a writer ELG element W-ELG 208, which are shown as vertically stacked on different layers. Alternatively, the R-ELG 206 and W-ELG 208 may be disposed on the slider according to a different arrangement, such as adjacent to each other on a common layer, for example. The slider 102a, 102b has several bond pads, including reader bond pads R− and R+ that are connected via the slider to the reader head terminals, and writer bond pads W− and W+ are connected via the slider to the writer head terminals.

The slider head part 203a, 203b may have up to four bond pads in each head. Two different example configurations are illustrated in FIG. 2, either of which may be implemented exclusively for the entire slider bar, or both as a combination. As shown in FIG. 2, the head part 203a includes a bond pad R which may be connected via the slider 102a to the reader ELG (R-ELG) 206. A bond pad W may be connected to the writer ELG (W-ELG) 208, and a bond pad BL may be connected to the back side lap ELG (BL-ELG) 205. The head part 203b shows a variation for the bond pads, to include a pair of back side lap pads BL- and BL+. Each of the head parts 203a, 203b shown in FIG. 2 includes a back side lag ELG (BL-ELG) 205. Each BL-ELG 205 is formed by two terminal pad extensions, with conductive material between the terminal pad extensions providing a measurable resistance between them. The conductive material extends to the back side surface 114 of the slider bar 200, such that during the lapping of the back side surface 114 of the slider bar 200, the measured resistance will increase according to an expected resistance curve (i.e., an analog signal inversely proportional to the stripe height, which is height of the conductive material on the BL-ELG 205 as the lapping progresses). Once the measured resistance reaches a predetermined value, the lapping is terminated.

The first terminal of the BL-ELG 205 may be connected to a grounded substrate. For example, where a head part does not have a bond pad G, as shown in the head part 203a in FIG. 2, the first terminal of the BL-ELG 205 may be connected to the grounded substrate within the head part body. Alternatively, the first terminal of the BL-ELG 205 may be connected to a back side lap pad BL−, such as shown in the head part 203b in FIG. 2. The pad BL− may be connected to a grounded substrate, or may only be a connection to the first terminal of the BL-ELG 205 and ungrounded. In yet another alternative, the first terminal of the BL-ELG 205 may be connected to a bond pad on the slider, such as bond pad W−, which is in close proximity to the head part 203a. The second terminal of the BL-ELG 205 may be connected to the back side lap pad BL+ either internally via the head part body during layer fabrication or as an external bond after layer fabrication. Alternatively, the second terminal of BL-ELG 205 may be connected directly to the BL+ pad. For the head part 203a, the lapping signal is read by connecting an external measurement device across the bond pad BL and the ground common to the slider substrate. For the head part 203b, the lapping signal is read by connecting an external measurement device across the back side lap pads BL− and BL+.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of a slider bar 300 in which a BL-ELG 305 is mounted on the back side surface 114 of slider 302a, and a BL-ELG 305 is mounted on the back side surface 114 of slider 302b. The first terminal of the BL-ELG 305 may be connected to a grounded substrate within the head part body. Alternatively, the first terminal of the BL-ELG 305 may be connected to a back side lap pad BL−, such as shown in the head part 303b in FIG. 3. The second terminal of the BL-ELG 305 may be connected to the back side lap pad BL+ on head part 303a, 303b either internally via the head part body during layer fabrication or as an external bond after layer fabrication. Alternatively, the second terminal of BL-ELG 305 may be connected directly to the bond pad BL+. The lapping signal is read by connecting an external measurement device across the bond pad BL and the ground common to the slider substrate for the head part 303a. For the head part 303b, the lapping signal is read by connecting an external measurement device across the bond pad BL− and the bond pad BL+.

While FIG. 2 shows the electrical lapping guide 205 on the head part 203a, 203b, and FIG. 3 shows the electrical lapping guide 305 on the slider 302a, 302b, an alternative embodiment may include a combination of both placements of the electrical lapping guide (i.e., at least one electrical lapping guide on a head part, and at least one lapping guide on a slider of the slider bar 200, 300).

The BL-ELG 205, 305 is based on a metallic layer resistance measurement. The BL− ELG 205, 305 may be a resistor that functions as a switch to create an open circuit when the lapping has removed the last amount of material that forms the BL-ELG 205, 305 resistor. The open circuit may be used to indicate an end point for the lapping has been reached, triggering termination of the lap process. The BL-ELG 205, 305 may be connected in parallel with a high resistance resistor to improve detection of a true open circuit and distinguish from a false open circuit due to premature failure of the connection between the electrical lapping guide terminals.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate a time lapse for lapping the back side slider surface 114 using the BL-ELG 205, 305. In FIG. 4A, the BL-ELG 205, 305 includes a region 402 that forms a conductive path between a pair of terminals 404. As surface 114 is lapped, the region 402 is removed along with the removed surface. As shown in FIG. 4B, surface 114 and region 402 are equally reduced. During the lapping process, resistance is measured across the pair of terminals 404 to precisely monitor how much material has been removed from the surface 114 based on a corresponding change in resistance proportional to the removed region 402. As the conductive path in region 402 is reduced, the measured resistance will increase according to a characteristic curve.

In another embodiment, a method for lapping a slider bar 200, 300 having a head part 203a, 203b, 303a, 303b and a pair of sliders 102a, 102b, 302a, 302b separated by the head part provides the desired dimension 112 for the slider back side 114. Each of the sliders 102a, 102b, 302a, 302b has an air bearing surface (ABS) and a back side surface opposite the ABS. Each of the sliders 102a, 102b, 302a, 302b has a reader element 206 and a writer element 208 of a magnetic head for use in a magnetic hard disk drive. The method includes cutting a slider bar 200, 300 from a wafer and lapping the back side of each of the sliders 102a, 102b, 302a, 302b while measuring resistance across the BL-ELG 205, 305 on the slider bar. The conductive material 402 of the BL-ELG 205, 305 may be arranged on the slider bar 200, 300 such that the resistance between the terminals 404 increases during a lapping of the back side 114 of the sliders 102a, 102b, 302a, 302b. The BL-ELG 205, 305 may be placed on the head part 203a, 203b, or on the slider 302a, 303a, or a combination of both. The lapping may be terminated when all the conductive material 402 is removed or when the measured resistance reaches a resistance threshold. One of the terminals 404 of the BL-ELG 205, 305 may be connected to a bond pad on the head part 203a, 203b, 303a, 303b. The other terminal 404 of the BL-ELG 205, 305 may be connected to a second bond pad on the head part 203a, 203b, 303a, 303b. The BL-ELG 205, 305 may have a resistor in parallel with the conductive material 404. Alternatively, a resistor may be connected in parallel with the conductive material 404 of the BL-ELG 205, 305. After the lapping is completed, a laser may be mounted on the slider back side surface 114.

The various embodiments of this disclosure are provided to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the present invention. Various modifications to exemplary embodiments presented throughout this disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the concepts disclosed herein may be extended to other devices. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the various aspects of this disclosure, but are to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims. All structural and functional equivalents to the various components of the exemplary embodiments described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. §112(f) unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “step for.”