Lapping a head while powered up to eliminate expansion of the head due to heating

1. A method for manufacturing a head to be used in a drive, the method comprising:

powering up a head;

removing material from the head while powered up; and

monitoring the amount of material removal based at least on a change in electrical characteristic of an electrical lapping guide (ELG), by passing current through the ELG;

wherein the head is powered up by passing current through any element which is not another ELG.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

stopping material removal based at least in part on said change in characteristic.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein:

said head is not used for reading a signal from a recording medium during material removal; and

material removal stoppage is not based on said signal read from said recording medium.

4. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

testing reading or writing performance of said head after stopping material removal.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the head is an integral portion of a strip of heads;

during said powering up, each head in the strip is powered up; and

during said material removal, each head in the strip is lapped.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising:

forming a carbon overcoat subsequent to lapping; and

dicing the strip subsequent to forming the carbon overcoat.

7. The method of claim 5 further comprising:

testing read performance of each head in the strip subsequent to lapping; and

rejecting any head that fails said testing.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein:

said monitoring provides a negligible amount of power to said device.

9. A head resulting from performing the acts of claim 1 followed by application of a protective layer.

10. A drive that comprises the head of claim 9 .

11. A computer that comprises the drive of claim 10 .

12. The drive of claim 10 wherein the drive is a disk drive.

13. The drive of claim 10 wherein the drive is a tape drive.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein:

said any element is a write element.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein:

said any element is a read element.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein:

said any element is a dummy element.

17. A method for manufacturing a head to be used in a drive, the method comprising:

fabricating a head using photolithography;

powering up the head;

removing material from the head while powered up; and

monitoring the amount of material removal based at least on a change in electrical characteristic of a device fabricated by said photolithography;

wherein said powering up provides a fixed amount of power related to power to be used during normal operation in said drive, to cause expansion that would normally be caused during normal operation in said drive.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising:

determining the fixed amount of power, prior to fabricating said head, by trial and error on at least one test head.

19. A system for lapping a head to be used in a drive, the system comprising:

an ohm-meter couplable to an electrical lapping guide formed by photolithography simultaneously with the head; and

a power supply couplable to the head, to provide to the head, a predetermined amount of power related to power to be used for reading from or writing to a magnetic medium during normal operation in said drive.

20. The system of claim 19 further comprising:

a controller comprising a conductive line coupled to the ohm-meter to receive a signal therefrom.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein:

the controller comprises another line coupled to the power supply to provide a control signal thereto.

22. The system of claim 21 wherein:

the circuitry comprises a plurality of power terminals, and the power supply is couplable to each power terminal; and

the electrical lapping guide comprises an additional power terminal, and the power supply is couplable to said additional power terminal, and the ohm-meter is couplable to another terminal of the electrical lapping guide.

23. The system of claim 19 further comprising:

a holder comprising a plurality of conductive lines, including at least one conductive line coupled between the ohm-meter and the head, and another conductive line coupled between the power supply and the head.

24. A method for manufacturing heads, the method comprising:

powering up a partially fabricated head; and

removing material from the partially fabricated head while powered up without sensing a signal from the partially fabricated head that is read from a recording medium, during said removing;

wherein only direct current (DC) is used in the powering up.

25. A method for manufacturing heads, the method comprising:

powering up a partially fabricated head; and

removing material from the partially fabricated head while powered up without sensing a signal from the partially fabricated head that is read from a recording medium, during said removing;

wherein the powering up comprises applying power to only a read transducer in the partially fabricated head.

26. A method for manufacturing heads, the method comprising:

powering up a partially fabricated head; and

removing material from the partially fabricated head while powered up during said removing;

wherein the powering up comprises applying power to only a write transducer in the partially fabricated head.

27. A method for manufacturing heads, the method comprising:

powering up a partially fabricated head; and

removing material from the partially fabricated head while powered up during said removing;

wherein the powering up comprises applying power to at least a dummy element in the partially fabricated head.

28. A method for manufacturing a head, the method comprising:

powering up at least one of (a read transducer and a write transducer) of the head;

lapping the head while powered up; and

using an electrical lapping guide to terminate said lapping.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein:

both transducers are powered up, while the head is being lapped.

30. The method of claim 29 further comprising:

measuring a signal from the read transducer to detect a change in resistance within the head.

31. The method of claim 28 further comprising:

powering up a dummy element within the head, while the head is being lapped.

32. The method of claim 28 wherein:

the head is one of a plurality of heads located side by side, one after another in a successive manner in a strip; and

at least one transducer in each head in the strip is powered up during lapping.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein:

the strip comprises a plurality of electrical lapping guides; and

the method comprises using a signal from at least one of the electrical lapping guides to stop lapping.

34. A method for manufacturing a head, the method comprising:

powering up at least one of (a read transducer and a write transducer) of the head; and

lapping the head while powered up, using a lapping element that does not contain a magnetic material.

35. The method of claim 34 wherein:

said lapping is stopped in response to a signal from an electrical lapping guide.

36. A method for manufacturing a head, the method comprising:

powering up at least one of (a read transducer and a write transducer) of the head;

lapping the head while powered up; and

testing the head for read/write efficacy only after completion of said lapping.

37. The method of claim 36 wherein:

said lapping is stopped in response to a signal from an electrical lapping guide.