Method of evaluating the quality of a lapping plate

1. A method of evaluating the quality of a lapping plate, the method comprising:

magnetically shielding at least one side of a read sensor disposed within a slider and shielding from particles associated with said lapping plate;

receiving information from said read sensor that indicates the quality of a lapping plate while the lapping plate is being used to lap said slider; and

using a quality determiner configured to process the information to evaluate the quality of the lapping plate while the lapping plate is being used to lap the slider and which is further configured to determine when the quality of the lapping plate has degraded beyond a threshold value.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the receiving of the information that indicates the quality of a lapping plate while the lapping plate is being used to lap a slider further comprises:

said quality determiner receiving information that indicates resistance associated with the slider.

3. The method as recited in claim 2 , wherein the using of the information to evaluate the quality of the lapping plate while the lapping plate is being used to lap the slider, further comprises:

using said quality determiner to process the information and to determine whether the resistance is fluctuating.

4. The method as recited in claim 3 , wherein the using of the information to determine whether the resistance is fluctuating further comprises:

using said quality determiner to determine whether the resistance fluctuates by more than a certain percentage; and

if the resistance fluctuates by more than the certain percentage determining that the quality of the lapping plate is inadequate.

5. The method as recited in claim 4 , wherein the certain percentage is 1%.

6. The method as recited in claim 2 , wherein the using of the information to evaluate the quality of the lapping plate while the lapping plate is being used to lap the slider further comprises:

using said quality determiner to calculate an average of the resistance; and

said quality determiner using the average of the resistance to evaluate the quality of the lapping plate.

7. The method as recited in claim 6 , further comprising:

said quality determiner using measurements of the resistance received over a time interval that is between 10 milliseconds and 10 seconds to compute the average of the resistance.

8. The method as recited in claim 6 , wherein the using of the average of the resistance to evaluate the quality of the lapping plate further comprises:

using said quality determiner to determine whether the average of the resistance fluctuates by more than a certain percentage; and

if the average of the resistance fluctuates by more than the certain percentage determining that the quality of the lapping plate is inadequate.

9. The method as recited in claim 7 , wherein the certain percentage is 1%.

10. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the using of the information to evaluate the quality of the lapping plate while the lapping plate is being used to lap the slider further comprises:

using said quality determiner to calculate an a root mean square of the resistance divided by an average of the resistance; and

using the root mean square of the resistance divided by the average of the resistance to evaluate the quality of the lapping plate.

11. The method as recited in claim 10 , further comprising:

said quality determiner using measurements of the resistance received over a time interval that is between 10 milliseconds and 10 seconds to compute the root mean square of the resistance and the average of the resistance.

12. The method as recited in claim 10 , wherein the using of the root mean square of the resistance divided by the average of the resistance to evaluate the quality of the lapping plate further comprises:

using said quality determiner to determine whether the root mean square of the resistance divided by the average of the resistance is greater than a certain percentage; and

if the root mean square of the resistance divided by the average of the resistance is greater than the certain percentage determining that the quality of the lapping plate is inadequate.

13. The method as recited in claim 12 , wherein the certain percentage is 1%.

14. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the receiving of the information that indicates the quality of a lapping plate while the lapping plate is being used to lap the slider further comprises:

said quality determiner receiving information that indicates amplitude associated with the slider.

15. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the using of the information to evaluate the quality of the lapping plate while the lapping plate is being used to lap the slider further comprises:

said quality determiner using the information that indicates the amplitude to determine whether the amplitude is reversed.

16. The method as recited in claim 15 , wherein the using of the information that indicates the amplitude to determine whether the amplitude is reversed further comprises:

using said quality determiner to determine whether the lapping plate causes a certain percentage or more of sliders being lapped with the lapping plate to have reversed amplitudes.

17. The method as recited in claim 16 , wherein the certain percentage is 4%.

18. The method as recited in claim 16 , further comprising:

said quality determiner determining that a moment of a pinning layer associated with the slider is reversed based on the amplitude.

19. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the using of the information to evaluate the quality of the lapping plate while the lapping plate is being used to lap the slider further comprises:

said quality determiner using the information to reduce the probability of damaging a sensor associated with the slider.