JP2003326453A - Magnetic head, magnetic disk device, manufacturing method of magnetic head and polishing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To manufacture a magnetic head in a reduced state of machining irregularity and surface roughness of a floating face side in polishing of a floating face. <P>SOLUTION: The floating face of the magnetic head facing a recording medium face of a magnetic disk is integrally formed on a base material by the same material as the base material while it is fed with lubricant, and it is ground by a cutting edge (a base) 26 formed with a diamond thin film 27 on a surface. By this, a magnetic head with an extensively reduced floating amount with respect to a magnetic recording medium is provided and the magnetic disk device with significantly improved planar recording density of a magnetic disk is provided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a magnetic head formed by polishing an air bearing surface facing a magnetic disk recording medium surface with a cutting edge, a magnetic disk device provided with this magnetic head, and a magnetic head thereof. And a polishing apparatus provided with a cutting blade having a diamond thin film formed on the surface thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, it has been desired to dramatically improve the areal recording density of a magnetic disk. For that purpose, the flying height of a magnetic head with respect to the surface of a magnetic disk recording medium is about 20.
It is necessary to drastically reduce the value from nm. In order to reduce the flying height, the slider surface (floating surface) of the magnetic head, which is arranged so as to face the magnetic disk recording medium in the rotating state, is processed with higher accuracy. Is essential.

Generally, a magnetic head for a magnetic disk is
It is manufactured as follows.

That is, on a hard substrate such as Al ₂ O ₃ -TiC (alumina titanium carbide), Al ₂ as an insulating film is formed.
O ₃ (alumina, film thickness 2 to 10 μm) is formed, a magnetic element portion (GMR element, CPP-GMR element, TMR element) including a shield layer, a gap film, a magnetoresistive effect film, a lower magnetic pole, an upper magnetic pole, A protective film (alumina layer) is sequentially laminated. The above structure is formed on a 5-inch size substrate by a thin film process using lithography. Thereafter, the substrate is cut into strips having a length of 2 inches using a diamond grindstone. And after the distortion after cutting is removed using a method such as double-sided wrapping,
A surface of the magnetic head that faces the surface of the magnetic recording medium is formed by polishing the surface orthogonal to the structure laminated on the substrate with high precision. After that,
A magnetic head as a finished product is obtained by cutting out small pieces including individual magnetic element portions from the strips.

Incidentally, when the strip is polished, the lapping liquid containing abrasive grains such as diamond is dropped on the rotating polishing plate (soft metal system) while being adhered to the polishing jig. The strips are pressed and slid on the polishing surface plate. The polishing conditions at that time are as follows: when rotating a polishing jig with strips attached to a rotating polishing platen in a revolving manner, or in a direction orthogonal to the rotating direction of the polishing platen. Alternatively, a case where the strip piece is rocked in parallel with the rotation direction thereof may be mentioned.

[0006]

However, since the mechanical hardness of the members constituting the strip, that is, the substrate, the insulating film, the magnetic element portion, the protective film, etc., are different from each other, the above-mentioned conventional techniques are used to eliminate them. The reality is that polishing is extremely difficult. That is, in the magnetic head as a finished product, a large step is generated between the air bearing surface and the magnetic element portion, and this step causes a substantial increase in the flying height. It is difficult to efficiently read and reproduce information from a recording medium.

Further, among the members constituting the strip, the mechanical hardness is small particularly in the magnetic element portion, and the mechanical hardness is small, so that the abrasive grains used are most likely to be adversely affected. That is, the magnetic element portion has a laminated structure of a lower shield layer, a magnetoresistive film, an upper shield layer, etc.
The film thickness of this magnetoresistive film is extremely thin (for example,
Therefore, it is easy to form polishing scratches that cross the magnetoresistive film from the shield layer. When the depth of the polishing scratch is large, an electrical short circuit path is formed between the upper and lower shield layers including the magnetoresistive film, and the function of the magnetic element part is lost. Are formed, which greatly affects the characteristics and reliability of the magnetic head itself. Therefore, even under such circumstances, further smoothing of the polished surface is required at the same time. Particularly, in the TMR head and the CPP-GMR head, the alumina barrier layer in the reproducing element is as thin as about 1 nm, and there is a problem that the characteristics of the head cannot be sufficiently secured by polishing mainly having a mechanical action.

An object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic head capable of significantly reducing the flying height with respect to a magnetic recording medium.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic disk device capable of dramatically improving the areal recording density of the magnetic disk.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a magnetic head which can easily manufacture a magnetic head whose flying height with respect to a magnetic recording medium can be greatly reduced.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a polishing apparatus which, when the magnetic head is manufactured, is capable of polishing the air bearing surface of the magnetic head by reducing both the working step and the surface roughness. To do.

[0012]

The magnetic head of the present invention comprises:
The air bearing surface of the magnetic head is polished on a substrate by a cutting blade made of the same material as the substrate.

In the magnetic disk device of the present invention, the magnetic head is provided for writing / reading data.

Further, the method of manufacturing the magnetic head of the present invention is
The air bearing surface of the magnetic head is ground by a cutting blade formed on the substrate as the same material as the substrate, or a polishing tool having a cutting blade formed on the surface of the substrate is used to The air bearing surface is polished.

Furthermore, the polishing apparatus of the present invention is provided with a cutting blade having a diamond thin film formed on the surface thereof.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. It should be noted that in the following description, the drawings according to the related art are frequently used for the sake of clarifying the present invention.

First, giant magnetoresistive effect (GMR), CP
P-GMR or spin tunnel magnetic effect type (TM
R) A magnetic disk device in which a magnetic head is mounted will be described in general. FIG. 4 shows the overall schematic configuration and an enlarged perspective view of the magnetic head. As shown in the figure, the magnetic disk device is configured such that the magnetic head 1 fixed to the tip of the support spring 4 and the magnetic disk 5 as a recording medium are combined. Although the support spring 4 is connected to the drive device, the drive device is operated on the rotating magnetic disk 5 to move the magnetic head 1 to a predetermined position on the magnetic disk 5 for magnetic recording. Information is written and read.

As for the magnetic head 1, the magnetic disk 5 is as can be seen from the enlarged perspective state.
An air bearing surface 3 is formed on the surface of the magnetic head 1 facing the surface of the magnetic recording medium. Further, the magnetic element portion 2 for writing and reading magnetic recording information is formed on a surface orthogonal to the surface on which the air bearing surface 3 is formed.

FIG. 5 also shows the configuration of the magnetic head 1 as a positional relationship with the magnetic disk. The magnetic head 1
4 is shown as a cross section taken along the line AA ′ in FIG. The magnetic head 1 is, as shown in FIG.
An insulating film 13, a lower shield film 14, an upper shield film 15, a lower magnetic pole 16, an upper magnetic pole (for writing magnetic recording information) 17, and a protective film 18 are sequentially laminated on a substrate 12, and The magnetoresistive effect element (for reading magnetic recording information) 20 is formed so as to be sandwiched between the lower shield film 14 and the upper shield film 15. By the way, between the upper magnetic pole 17 and the lower magnetic pole 16,
The coil 32 is arranged.

The magnetic head 1 constructed as described above is arranged so as to face the surface of the magnetic recording medium of the magnetic disk 5, and while maintaining the flying height 9 with respect to the rotating magnetic disk 5, Since magnetic recording information is written and read, the surface of the magnetic head 1 facing the magnetic disk 5, that is, the surface located below the magnetic head 1 shown in FIG. 5, must be polished. There is. By the way,
The flying height 9 as used herein means the magnetic film 6 on the magnetic disk 5, the protective film 7, the surface of the lubricating film 8 existing thereabove, and the carbon protective film 1 formed on the surface of the magnetic head 1.
It is defined as the distance from the 9th end face.

In order to write more magnetic recording information on the magnetic disk 5 at high speed and with certainty, and to read it from the magnetic disk 5 with certainty, the magnetic spacing 10 is reduced and the flying height is increased. It is necessary to reduce 9 as much as possible.

By the way, as a material used for forming the magnetic head illustrated in FIG. 5, Al ₂ O ₃ --TiC is generally used as the material of the substrate 12, and the insulating film 13 and Al ₂ O ₃ is used as the protective film 18, and a composite material made of a soft magnetic metal such as permalloy is used for the lower shield film 14, the upper magnetic pole 17, the upper shield film 15, and the like. The Vickers hardness of these materials is about 2000 Hv for Al ₂ O ₃ -TiC,
₂ O ₃ is about 1000 Hv and Permalloy is about 200 Hv.

Now, as a method of polishing the air bearing surface 3 of the magnetic head 1 shown in FIG. 4 or 5, for example, as shown in FIG. There is a method of polishing while rotating the magnetic head in a row bar (strip piece) state while revolving, and a method of polishing while swinging the work 23 on the polishing platen 22. When the polishing is performed by the method, unevenness is generated on the polishing surface of the magnetic head 1 due to the difference in the polishing rate caused by the difference in Vickers hardness of the above materials. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, with respect to the air bearing surface 3 of the substrate 12, the magnetic element portion (the lower shield film 14, the upper shield film 1) having the smallest Vickers hardness is obtained.
5, the lower magnetic pole 16 and the upper magnetic pole 17) and the area in the vicinity thereof are significantly polished to form a processed step 11. Incidentally, the processing step 11 mentioned here is defined as the distance between the air bearing surface 3 of the substrate 12 and the air bearing surface side end of the magnetic element portion.

As shown in FIG. 5, the magnetic spacing 10
Since the distance is between the end of the magnetic element portion located on the air bearing surface side of the magnetic head 1 and the surface of the magnetic film 6 on the magnetic disk 5, if the processing step 11 is formed, the magnetic stripe As a result of increasing the pacing 10 as well, the presence of the processing step 11 is one of the major factors that deteriorate the magnetic recording / reproducing characteristics that are typical characteristics of the magnetic head. Therefore, as the magnetic recording density of the magnetic disk 5 increases, it is required to reduce the processing step 11 as much as possible. As far as the argument goes, the processing step 11 does not exist at all, and polishing is performed so that the end of the magnetic element portion located on the air bearing surface side and the position of the air bearing surface 3 of the magnetic head 1 are arranged on the same horizontal plane. Is desirable.

Further, when the magnetic head 1 comes into contact with the surface of the magnetic film (magnetic information recording film) 6 on the magnetic disk 5 for some reason, the average surface roughness on the air bearing surface 3 of the magnetic head 1 is large. Therefore, the magnetic film 6 is damaged, and a fatal failure of the magnetic head 1 called recording / reproduction is induced. Therefore, the average surface roughness on the air bearing surface 3 needs to be kept as small as possible, and ultimately it is desirable that it is zero.

Further, since the magnetic element portion made of permalloy has a low hardness, it is present between the lower shield film 14 and the upper shield film 15 by polishing, as shown as a part of the bottom surface in FIG. The magnetoresistive effect element 20 is scratched in a state of traversing it.
25 may be formed. Giant magnetoresistive effect (G
In an MR magnetic head, the magnetoresistive effect film that governs the reproduction output characteristics is extremely thin (about several tens of nanometers).
m) If the scratch 25 is formed so as to traverse this film, an electrical short circuit path is formed between the lower shield film 14 and the upper shield film 15 in this region, which functions as a magnetic head. Is not only deteriorated, but also a work-affected layer is formed, which greatly affects the reliability of the magnetic head characteristics. Therefore, when polishing the air bearing surface 3, it is necessary not only to reduce the processing step 11 but also to reduce the occurrence of scratches.

Here, the cause of scratches will be described. In the polishing of the magnetic head 1, FIG.
As shown in (B), when the abrasive grains are fixedly held on the polishing platen 22 made of a soft metal, that is, when the fixed abrasive grains are used, processing with a small actual cutting amount is performed. It is considered that a smooth air bearing surface with a small step can be obtained. However, the abrasive grains are merely mechanically held on the surface of the polishing platen 22 made of a soft metal by the plastic deformation of the metal. Therefore, during polishing, as shown in FIG. Abrasive particles fall off the surface of the polishing platen 22,
Rolling abrasive grains are generated, and the action of the rolling abrasive grains occurs. It is considered that scratches are caused by the action of the rolling abrasive grains and the uneven height of the abrasive grains held on the surface of the polishing platen 22.

Generally, smaller abrasive grains are used to obtain a smooth polished surface. However, in the polishing of the air bearing surface of the magnetic head 1, as the abrasive grain size is reduced, the polishing surface plate 22 is moved. Since it becomes difficult to fix the abrasive grains, it is impossible to suppress the occurrence of scratches. By the way, TMR head, CPP-
In the GMR head, since the alumina barrier layer in the magnetoresistive effect element is very thin, the polishing marks caused only by the mechanical action cause the deterioration of the characteristics due to the processing marks generated in the alumina barrier layer. For this reason, it is necessary to use a finishing liquid having a chemical etching action on the surface of the magnetoresistive effect element. Will also work,
Since the removal of the abrasive grains fixed on the polishing surface plate is promoted, the occurrence of scratches may be increased due to this.

In fact, the present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and scratches are not fundamentally generated, and the air bearing surface of the magnetic head is polished so that the machining step is small. I chose

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIG.
Is the configuration of the cutting edge as a polishing surface plate according to the present invention,
FIG. 2 shows a method for manufacturing the cutting edge. As shown in Figure 1,
On the substrate, a cutting blade base body 26 for scraping the air bearing surface of the magnetic head
Is formed as a state in which the density and height of the cutting edge are controlled. The substrate and the cutting blade base 26 are made of the same material,
Moreover, since it is configured as one unit, naturally no problems occur when the abrasive grains are used, and the cutting depth of each cutting edge is made uniform, so that the machining unit Is possible. Further, as a diamond-like carbon thin film, a cathodic arc carbon thin film (hereinafter simply referred to as a CA-C film) having the highest hardness as a diamond-like carbon thin film so as to be configured as a chemically stable cutting edge 2
7 is formed on the surface of the cutting edge.

Here, the manufacturing method as an example of the cutting edge will be described with reference to FIG. 2. First, a single crystal silicon substrate (crystal plane: 100) 50 having a size of 5 inches and a thickness of 2 mm is prepared (step 28). . Next, an escape groove 51 for removing polishing debris (sludge) was formed on the single crystal silicon substrate while making the thickness of the lubricating film uniform during polishing (step 29). Specifically, the groove pattern was formed by a method such as reactive ion etching. The groove depth was about 30 microns, the size of the flat portion forming the cutting edge was about 10 microns, and the groove pitch was about 40 microns. Incidentally, the groove can be formed by mechanical processing using a grindstone or the like.

Further, in order to form the cutting edge substrate 26, a plasma etching process was performed to form a projection portion of several tens nm on the flat portion (step 30). It was confirmed that the height and density of the cutting edge depend on the conditions during the plasma etching process and can be controlled within the range of about 1 to 40. As another method of forming the cutting blade base 26,
Abrasive tapes with different particle size (particle size: 1/10 micron to 1
It is also possible to perform multidirectional texture processing using micron). Finally, a hard CA-C film 27 was formed (deposited) on the surface of the cutting blade base 26 thus created, and the cutting blade was completed (step 31).

The CA-C film will be described below.
As shown in FIG. 9, this is the closest to diamond in terms of hardness and film denseness as a carbon thin film. As a film forming method, a method called low-pressure arc discharge is used, in which a target contact which becomes a cathode usually uses a mechanical contact electrode called a striker or an electron beam to generate an arc current of about several tens of amperes. To generate an arc discharge, the ions from the plasma hump generated in the upper space of the target collide with the cathode, and the ions and electrons are generated from the cathode to sustain the plasma, and these ions and electrons are transported in the magnetic field duct ( A toroidal solenoid filter) was used to efficiently guide the film to the reaction vacuum chamber, and the substrate to be processed was uniformly irradiated with a scanning magnetic field duct as a plasma beam to form a thin film. In this example, highly oriented graphite carbon is used as the target material, and the diameter is about 50 mm.
An arc current of 20 to 150 A and an arc voltage of about 30 V were applied to the target bonded to the cathode from a power source for arc using a striker, and the target was brought into contact with the target to generate arc discharge. The film thickness is about 40 nm
And The polishing platen thus prepared was attached to a polishing apparatus to polish the air bearing surface of the magnetic head. The method for producing a polished sample is shown below.

First, 5-inch size Al ₂ O ₃ -TiC
(Vickers hardness: about 2000 Hv) An Al ₂ O ₃ (Vickers hardness: about 1000 Hv) film having a thickness of about several μm was formed as an insulating film on a substrate. Then, a magnetic element portion (permalloy, Vickers hardness: about 400 Hv) including a lower shield layer, a gap film, and a magnetoresistive effect film is formed thereon.
Upper shield layer, lower magnetic pole, upper magnetic pole, protective film (Al ₂
O ₃ : alumina) were sequentially laminated. Next, the above substrate was cut into strips each having a length of about 2 inches using a diamond grindstone. Then, double-sided wrapping was performed in order to suppress variations in thickness and warpage of the strips.

After that, the strips are adhered to a polishing jig, and in order to polish the magnetoresistive effect element into 21 predetermined dimensions (element height), while measuring the resistance value of the resistance detection pattern in-process, The measured values were used to correct the bending and inclination of the strip and process it to a predetermined size. Finally, a 2-inch strip was cut into chips using a grindstone to obtain individual magnetic heads in the final state.

A polishing platen having a controlled cutting edge density was prepared by the method for manufacturing cutting edges shown in FIG. The density of the cutting edge was evaluated with a secondary electron image of an electron microscope S-5000 manufactured by Hitachi, Ltd. at a measurement magnification of 20,000 to 50,000.
Atomic force microscope (AFM) Nan manufactured by ruments (currently Veeco)
The evaluation was performed by using a silicon single crystal probe having a tip diameter of about 10 nm with an oscope IIIa, D3100, and measuring with a scan size of 5 to 10 microns. For polishing, the magnetic head was held by a jig through an elastic body, and pressed while being pressed against the polishing platen with a constant load (about 30 g). Further, a hydrocarbon oil was used as a lubricant (finishing liquid). The processing amount was 20 to 30 nm. The examination results are shown in FIG. The above AFM was used to measure the processing step and the surface roughness of the upper shield film. At that time, regarding the processing step, the distance between the substrate part on the air bearing surface and the end of the magnetic element part
The surface roughness was evaluated while correcting the piezo curvature of the AFM, and the surface roughness was evaluated in a measurement area of 1 × 6 μm ² at the portion with the lowest hardness (for example, the upper shield portion) on the end portion of the magnetic element portion. As shown in the figure, as the cutting edge density increased, the machining step and the surface roughness could approach zero as much as possible. Specifically, with the reduction of magnetic spacing in the future, the required processing step is 1 nm and the surface roughness is 5 n.
The accuracy of mRmax or less could be achieved by setting the cutting edge density to 10 pieces / μm ² or more and the cutting edge height Rp to 20 nm or less.

As a result, not only the yield in the machining process is improved by 10 to 20% as compared with the conventional method, but also in the corrosion evaluation in the magnetic element portion, the corrosion occurrence rate can be reduced by about 10%, and the characteristics of the magnetic head can be reduced. It was confirmed that it greatly contributes to the improvement of its reliability.

Next, the relationship between the thickness and hardness of the CA-C film and the polishing platen life was examined. The examination results are shown in FIG. The relationship between the polishing time for polishing a workpiece and the polishing efficiency is hardness 4
It was confirmed that when the CA-C film thickness of 0 Gpa is 40 nm or more, the polishing efficiency can be maintained at 10 nm / min even after the polishing time of 3 hours, and the productivity can be secured.

Finally, the present invention (method for manufacturing a magnetic head)
The effect of the above is compared with the conventional method in which the diamond abrasive grains are embedded in the tin alloy surface plate, and the result is shown in FIG. By setting the cutting edge density to 10 pieces / μm ² or more and the cutting edge height to Rp of 20 nm or less, the processing step and the surface roughness at the air bearing surface magnetic element portion could be made as close to zero as possible.
Further, as a finishing liquid for the TMR head and the CPP-GMR head, polishing was carried out by adding a fatty acid ester-based additive having a chemical etching action to the element surface. In the conventional method, when a finishing liquid having a chemical action is used, the amount of abrasive grains coming off from the polishing surface plate increases, and
Although both the surface roughness was deteriorated, the polishing step was slightly increased, but the polishing could be performed without deteriorating the characteristics of the magnetoresistive effect element. As the additive having a soft etching action, phosphoric acid ester, amine-based surfactant, etc. were also effective. Further, the material for the cutting edge forming substrate is not limited to silicon, and after the material such as alumina titanium carbide, quartz glass, SiC, diamond, tin alloy is smoothed, the same processing as in FIG. 2 is performed. It can be used. Further, as the lubricant base, water-soluble ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, etc. could be used in addition to the hydrocarbon oil used in the present invention.

Finally, although it is already clear from the above description, for the purpose of confirmation, the manufacturing process of the magnetic disk device of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 shows a series of manufacturing process flows thereof. As shown in the figure, first, a hard substrate is prepared, and a magnetic head is formed in a stacked state on the hard substrate (steps 40 and 41). After that, the hard substrate is cut with a grindstone so as to be strips, and each strip obtained by this cutting is corrected for thickness variation, warpage, etc. in the strips by a double-sided lap (step 42, 43). Further, after that, the air bearing surface is subjected to the polishing process and the protective film (the carbon protective film 1 described above) according to the present invention.
By sequentially performing formation (corresponding to 9) and cutting in magnetic head units, individual magnetic heads are obtained as a final state (steps 44 to 46). The individual magnetic heads thus obtained are incorporated into the magnetic disk device as data writing / reading parts, whereby a magnetic disk device as a product can be obtained (step 47).

Although the present invention has been described above, the present invention makes it possible to reduce the flying height of the GMR, CPP-GMR, and TMR magnetic heads, and dramatically increases the areal recording density of a magnetic disk device using the above magnetic head. It can be increased.

Incidentally, other than the invention described in the claims, the following inventions (1) to (5) are provided.
Can also be considered. (1): A cutting blade base material of the same material as the substrate material whose density and height are controlled is formed on a smooth substrate surface, and a diamond thin film with a hardness of 40 Gpa or more is formed at 5 nm to 100 nm on the cutting blade surface. And a method of manufacturing the thin film magnetic head, wherein the cutting edge is polished while acting on the air bearing surface of the thin film magnetic head. (2): In the method for manufacturing a thin film magnetic head according to (1), the density of the cutting edge for cutting the air bearing surface of the magnetic head is 10 pieces / μm ²
The above or the working point or working surface of each cutting edge is 20 nm or less from the substrate surface. (3): As the substrate material described in (1) and (2), silicon, alumina titanium carbide, quartz glass, SiC,
A method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head, which is characterized by being a diamond or tin alloy. (4): Giant magnetoresistive effect (GMR), C as a reproducing element
PP-GMR type (CPP: Current Perpendicular to t
he Plane-GMR), spin tunnel magnetic effect type (TMR)
A magnetic head using an element, and a method for finish polishing an air bearing surface of a magnetic head using an induction type head for writing, which does not include abrasive grains on a substrate on which a cutting edge described in (1) to (3) is formed. A method of polishing an air bearing surface of a magnetic head, which comprises polishing while supplying only a lubricant. (5): A method for polishing a thin film magnetic head, characterized in that, as the lubricant described in (4), at least one additive such as an amine-based surfactant, a phosphoric acid ester, or a fatty acid ester is contained.

Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. It goes without saying that it is possible.

[0044]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a magnetic head capable of significantly reducing the flying height with respect to a magnetic recording medium.

Further, it is possible to provide a magnetic disk device capable of dramatically improving the areal recording density of the magnetic disk.

Further, it is possible to provide a magnetic head manufacturing method capable of easily manufacturing a magnetic head whose flying height with respect to a magnetic recording medium can be greatly reduced.

Furthermore, it is possible to provide a polishing apparatus capable of polishing the air-bearing surface of the magnetic head by reducing the working step and the surface roughness when manufacturing the magnetic head.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a cutting edge as a polishing platen according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a method of manufacturing the polishing platen.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a series of manufacturing process flows of the magnetic disk device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an overall schematic configuration of a general magnetic disk device equipped with a magnetic head and an enlarged perspective view of the magnetic head.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the magnetic head as a positional relationship with a magnetic disk.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a polishing method according to a conventional technique.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a problem when a scratch is formed on the magnetoresistive effect element.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a scratch generation mechanism.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a diamond thin film formed on the surface of the cutting edge.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between cutting edge density and processing accuracy.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the film thickness of a diamond thin film and the platen life.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a result of comparing the effect of the present invention (method for manufacturing a magnetic head) with a conventional method in which diamond abrasive grains are embedded in a tin alloy surface plate.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Magnetic head, 2 ... Magnetic element part, 3 ... Air bearing surface, 5 ... Magnetic disk, 9 ... Flying amount, 10 ... Magnetic spacing, 1
1 ... Processing step, 12 ... Substrate, 13 ... Insulating film, 14 ... Lower shield film, 15 ... Upper shield film, 16 ... Lower magnetic pole,
17 ... Upper magnetic pole, 18 ... Protective film, 19 ... Air bearing surface protective film (carbon protective film), 20 ... Magnetoresistive effect element, 26 ...
Cutting blade base, 27 ... Diamond thin film.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Shinji Sasaki             292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa             Inside the Hitachi, Ltd. production technology laboratory (72) Inventor Toshio Tamura             292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa             Inside the Hitachi, Ltd. production technology laboratory (72) Inventor Chihiro Isono             2880 Kozu, Odawara City, Kanagawa Stock Association             Company Hitachi Ltd. Storage Division F term (reference) 3C058 AA07 AA09 AC04 CB01 DA16                 5D042 NA02 PA01 PA05 PA09 QA03                       RA02

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A magnetic head for a magnetic disk device, comprising a magnetic element portion for writing / reading data formed on a substrate, wherein an air bearing surface of the magnetic head is formed on the substrate by a material of the substrate. A magnetic head characterized by being ground with a cutting blade made of the same material. 2. The air bearing surface has a processing step difference of 1 nm as a difference in distance between the air bearing surface of the substrate and the end of the air bearing surface side magnetic element portion.
2. The magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein the surface roughness is 5 nm or less at a portion having the smallest hardness on the end of the air bearing surface side magnetic element portion. 3. A magnetic disk drive comprising the magnetic head according to claim 1 or 2 for writing / reading data. 4. A method of manufacturing a magnetic head for a magnetic disk device, comprising a magnetic element portion for writing / reading data formed on a substrate, comprising:
A method of manufacturing a magnetic head, which comprises polishing on a substrate with a cutting edge formed of the same material as the substrate. 5. The method of manufacturing a magnetic head according to claim 4, wherein the air bearing surface is polished by a cutting edge having a diamond thin film formed on the surface while a lubricant is being supplied. 6. The diamond thin film is set to have a hardness and a film thickness of 40 Gpa or more and 5 nm to 100 nm, respectively, while the cutting edge has a cutting edge density, a working point of each cutting edge, or a working surface of 10 mm, respectively. 6. The method of manufacturing a magnetic head according to claim 5, wherein the air bearing surface is polished in a state of being set to not less than 1 / μm ^{2 and not} more than 20 nm from the substrate surface. 7. The lubricant includes an amine-based surfactant,
7. The magnetic head according to claim 5, wherein the air bearing surface is polished in a state that at least one additive having a chemical etching action such as a phosphoric acid ester or a fatty acid ester is contained. Manufacturing method. 8. A method of manufacturing a magnetic head for a magnetic disk device, comprising a magnetic element portion for writing / reading data formed on a substrate, which comprises polishing with a cutting edge formed on the surface of the substrate. A method of manufacturing a magnetic head, comprising polishing an air bearing surface of a magnetic head with a tool. 9. A polishing device for polishing an air bearing surface of a magnetic head facing a surface of a magnetic disk recording medium, comprising a cutting blade having a diamond thin film formed on the surface thereof. 10. The cutting edge is made of the same material as the substrate material, and the cutting edge density, the working point of each cutting edge, or the working surface is 10 or more / μm ² or more, and 20 nm from the substrate surface
The polishing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the diamond thin film formed in the following set conditions and formed on the surface of the cutting edge has a hardness and a film thickness of 40 Gpa or more and 5 nm to 100 nm, respectively. 11. The polishing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the substrate material is any one of silicon, alumina titanium carbide, quartz glass, SiC, diamond, and tin alloy.