JPH04356710A - Production of thin-film magnetic head - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the contact defect between coil layers by corrosion on the surface of the coil layers of the thin-film magnetic head having the plural coil layers. CONSTITUTION:A plating substrate metallic layer 32 is formed on a 1st insulating layer 18. A resist frame 36 is formed on the plating substrate metallic layer 32 and the 1st coil layer 20 is electroplated. A corrosion resistant metallic film 40 consisting of Cr, Ni, Au, Pt, etc., is in succession formed by electroplating or electroless plating to prevent the corrosion on the surface of the 1st coil layer 20. The 2nd coil layer 24 is formed in this state. The end 20a of the 1st layer coil and the end 24a of the 2nd layer coil are joined in a good conducting state in a coil joint part 38 in this way.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a thin film magnetic head having a plurality of coil layers, and is intended to eliminate connection failures between the coils in each layer.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art The manufacturing process of a thin film magnetic head having a plurality of coil layers includes the following steps, as shown in FIG. (1) For example, an Al2O3-TiC ceramic plate or the like is prepared as a mirror-polished clean substrate 10. (2) SiO2 is deposited on the substrate 10 by sputtering.
, Al2O3 or the like is deposited to a thickness of about 10 μm. (3) Form the lower magnetic layer 14 by electroplating. (4) Deposit gap layer 16 by sputtering. The gap layer 16 is made of SiO2, which is the same as the base insulating film 12.
, Al2O3, etc. are used. . (5) Form the first insulating layer 18. Usually, a positive photoresist is used and is stably cured by heat treatment. (6) The first coil layer 20 is formed of Cu or the like by electroplating to a thickness of several μm. (7) As with the first insulating layer 18, the second insulating layer 22 is stably cured by applying heat treatment to the positive photoresist. (8) The second coil layer 24 is formed of Cu or the like by electroplating to a thickness of several μm. (9) The third insulating layer 26 is stably cured by applying heat treatment to the positive photoresist. (10) Form the upper magnetic layer 28 by electroplating. (11) The protective layer 39 is made of SiO2, Al2O3
etc. by sputtering to cover the entire surface.

In the manufacturing process shown in FIG. 2, the first of (6)
Formation of the coil layer 20 is conventionally performed in the next step as shown in detail in FIG. 3. (6-1) First insulating layer 18 on gap layer 16
(state shown in Figure 2 (5)). (6-2) A plating base metal layer (Cu, etc.) 32 is formed by sputtering. (6-3) Apply photoresist 34. (6-4) Expose using a photomask to form a resist frame 36 in the shape of a coil pattern. (6-5) The first coil layer 20 is formed by electroplating on the exposed portion of the plating base metal layer 32 in the groove of the resist frame 36. (6-6) When the photoresist 34 is removed, the first
A coil layer 20 is formed. (6-7) Remove the exposed plating base metal layer 32 by dry etching (for example, ion etching). By repeating the steps (6-1) to (6-7) above, the second coil layer 24 and the third coil layer are sequentially laminated.

[0004] In the process of stacking the coils, the ends of the coils in each layer are successively joined to each other and connected in series. Figure 4 shows the process of forming the coil joint. In Figure 4 (6-1)
(6-7) are (6-1) to ((6-1) in FIG. 3 above.
6-7) shows the process of forming the coil end portion 20a of the first coil layer 20 according to step 6-7). Second coil layer 2
4 again after the first coil layer 20 is formed (6-1)
By performing the steps from (6-7) to (6-7), (6-
8) It is formed as follows. That is, the first coil layer 2
A second insulating layer 22 is formed on top of the second insulating layer 22, and a second coil layer 24 is formed thereon with a plating base metal layer 37 interposed therebetween. In this case, the coil end portion 20a of the first coil layer 20 is exposed without forming the second insulating layer 22 in the coil joint portion 38, and the second coil layer 24 is formed on the coil end portion 20a with the plating base metal layer 37 interposed thereon. By forming the coil end portion 24a, the first coil layer 20 and the second coil layer are joined.

[0005]

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] In the process shown in FIG. 4,
(6-7) After the first coil layer 20 is formed until the second coil layer 24 is formed, the first coil layer end 20a is exposed and is not oxidized in the air. Cheap. When the surface of this end 20a is deeply oxidized as shown by 20' in FIG. 5, this oxide becomes an insulating layer and conduction between the first coil layer end 20a and the second coil layer end 24a is established. This caused a problem of poor contact.

The present invention aims to solve the problems in the prior art described above and provide a method for manufacturing a thin film magnetic head that eliminates poor contact between the coils in each layer.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides that the process of forming one coil layer in a thin film magnetic head having a plurality of coil layers includes a first process of forming an insulating layer and a plating process on the insulating layer. A second step of forming a base metal layer, a third step of forming a plating resist frame on the plating base metal layer using photolithography, and a coil is formed on the plating base metal layer in the groove of the resist frame. a fourth step of electroplating a forming metal to form a coil layer; a fifth step of forming a corrosion-resistant metal film on at least a portion of the coil layer to be bonded to the upper coil layer; and the resist frame and its lower part. and a sixth step of removing the plating underlying metal layer.

[0008]

[Operation] According to the present invention, after the coil layer is formed, at least the part to be joined to the upper coil layer is provided with a corrosion-resistant metal film (a stable film that does not oxidize or is difficult to oxidize or does not form a progressive deep oxide layer). Since a metal film) was formed,
An insulating layer is less likely to be formed on the surface of the joint, which improves conduction with the upper coil layer and eliminates poor contact.

[0009]

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. Note that the same reference numerals are used for parts common to those in FIGS. 2 to 5 above. (1) Form the first insulating layer 18 on the gap layer 16. Up to this stage, (1) to (5) are shown in Figure 2 above.
This is the same process as shown in . (First step) (2) A plating base metal layer 32 of copper or the like is formed by sputtering, vapor deposition, or the like as a current-carrying base layer for electroplating copper for the coil. (Second Step) (3) Spin coat a positive photoresist 34 with a spinner. (4) A resist frame 36 is formed by exposing and developing the photoresist 34 in a coil shape using a photomask. (Third step in conjunction with (3)) (5) Copper is electroplated on the exposed portion of the plating base metal layer 32 in the groove of the resist frame 36 to form the first coil layer 20. (Fourth step) (6) Before the surface of the first coil layer 20 is further oxidized to form an insulating layer, it is stabilized so that it does not oxidize or is difficult to oxidize in the air, or does not create deep oxidized substances that are progressive. Cr, Ni, Au, Pt as metals
A metal film 40 such as the above is formed by electroplating or electroless plating. (Fifth Step) (7) When the photoresist 34 is removed, the first coil layer 20 is formed. The planar shape at this time is shown in FIG. (8) Remove the exposed plating base metal layer 32 by dry etching (for example, ion etching). (Sixth step in conjunction with (7)) (9) After the first coil layer 20 is formed, the steps (1) to (8) above are repeated to form the second coil layer 24 and the third coil layer. . . . are formed sequentially. In addition, if a corrosion-resistant metal layer is not required for the top layer coil (6
) can be omitted.

FIG. 7 shows an enlarged view of the coil joint portion 38 in FIG. 1(9). The coil joint portion 38 is connected to the first coil layer end portion 2
A corrosion-resistant metal film 40 is formed on 0a, and a second coil layer 24 is formed thereon with a plating base metal layer 37 interposed therebetween. In this case, since the surface of the first coil layer end portion 20a is covered with the corrosion-resistant metal film 40, oxidation is prevented until the plating base metal layer 37 is formed.
The conduction with the coil layer end portion 24a is improved, and poor contact can be eliminated.

[0011]

[Modification] In the embodiment described above, the corrosion-resistant metal film 40 was formed on the entire surface of the first coil layer 20, but it may be formed only on the coil joint portion 38. Further, in the above embodiment, the coil layer 2
Although 0 and 24 are made of copper, the present invention can also be applied to cases where they are made of other metals that cause corrosion.

0012

As explained above, according to the present invention, after forming the coil layer, a corrosion-resistant metal film is formed at least on the portion to be bonded to the upper coil layer, so that an insulating layer is formed on the surface of the bonded portion. This makes it possible to improve conduction with the upper coil layer and eliminate poor contact.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a process diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a process diagram showing an outline of the manufacturing process of a thin film magnetic head.

3 is a process diagram showing details of the conventional manufacturing process of the first coil layer 20 (6) in the manufacturing process of FIG. 2; FIG.

4 is a diagram illustrating the process of forming a coil joint portion according to the process of FIG. 3. FIG.

5 is an enlarged view of the coil joint portion 38 in (6-8) of FIG. 4. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of state (8) in FIG. 1.

[Figure 7] Coil joint 38 in (9) of Figure 1
It is an enlarged view of.

[Explanation of symbols]

18 Insulating layer 20 First coil layer 24 Second coil layer 32　Plating base metal layer 36 Resist frame 40 Corrosion-resistant metal film

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The steps of forming one coil layer in a thin film magnetic head having a plurality of coil layers include a first step of forming an insulating layer and a second step of forming a plating base metal layer on the insulating layer. a third step of forming a plating resist frame on the plating base metal layer using photolithography, and electroplating a coil forming metal on the plating base metal layer in the groove of the resist frame. a fourth step of forming a coil layer; a fifth step of forming a corrosion-resistant metal film on at least a portion of the coil layer to be bonded to the upper coil layer; and removing the resist frame and the plating base metal layer below it. A method for manufacturing a thin-film magnetic head, comprising a sixth step.