Patent · US Expired

Silicon chip with an integrated magnetoresistive head mounted on a slider

US5587857A · kind A · utility

46Cited by
13References
14Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 18, 1994
Grant dateDec 24, 1996
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 18, 2014

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10T29/49041
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An MR head has its MR stripe protected from electro-static discharge (ESD) on a slider, such as titanium carbide. The MR stripe is protected by a plurality of silicon integrated circuit devices which conduct ESD-induced current from the MR stripe to a silicon chip substrate ground potential or to larger components in the MR head such as the first and second shield layers and the coil layer. In a preferred embodiment the integrated circuit devices and interconnects are constructed in a single crystal silicon chip. The silicon chip is fixedly mounted to a trailing edge of the slider and the MR head is mounted on a trailing edge of the silicon chip adjacent the integrated circuit devices. The invention includes a method of mass producing sliders by combining thin film technology for making MR heads with integrated circuit technology for making integrated circuit devices. These technologies are combined at the wafer level to ultimate completion of individual sliders. At the wafer level a silicon wafer, which contains the integrated circuit devices, is fixedly mounted to a wafer of slider material, such as titanium carbide. A plurality of rows and columns of MR heads are constructed on …

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.