Focused ion beam apparatus for forming thin-film magnetic recording heads
US6354438B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 9, 1999 |
| Grant date | Mar 12, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 9, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T428/1186
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
This invention relates to a multi-layer lithographically fabricated device used to produce improved thin-film recording heads. It further relates to a focused particle beam system for milling a recording head pole-tip assembly without irradiating a sensitive structure, e.g. a read head, of the recording head. The invention precisely forms a pole-tip assembly by milling a second structural element without irradiating a first structural element. The invention avoids irradiating the first structural element by placing a first marker element, which can be imaged and/or damaged, in the same layer of a multi-layer lithographically fabricated device as the first structural element. The marker element has a fixed spatial relationship to the first structural element. Thus, by imaging the first marker element and the second structural element, and knowing the separation between the first structural element and the first marker element, a focused particle beam system can determine the relative location of the first and second structural elements. Consequently, the focused particle beam system can determine, without irradiating the sensitive first structural element, which portions of the seco…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.