Granted Patent B1

US 8,151,441 · App. 12/056,409 · Granted Apr 10, 2012

Abstract

Claims (33)

1. A method for providing an electronic lapping guide (ELG) for a structure in a magnetic transducer, the structure having a front edge and a back edge, the ELG including a stripe having a top edge and a bottom edge, the method comprising:

calibrating a sheet resistance of the stripe;

calibrating an offset of the top edge of the stripe from the back edge of the structure; and

terminating the lapping based on at least the sheet resistance and the offset of the ELG,

wherein the step of calibrating the sheet resistance further includes:

providing at least one Van der Pauw test pattern corresponding to the ELG for the structure;

measuring at least one test resistance of the Van der Pauw test pattern; and

determining the sheet resistance based on the at least one test resistance.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of terminating the lapping further includes:

measuring a resistance of the ELG during lapping;

determining a length of the ELG during lapping based on the resistance, the sheet resistance, and the offset; and

terminating lapping based on the length of the ELG.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of calibrating the offset layer further includes:

corresponding to a plurality of mask dimensions;

measuring a test resistance of each of the plurality of windage test stripes;

determining each of the plurality of heights based on the test resistance; and

determining a correction factor between the plurality of heights and the plurality of mask dimensions.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the structure is a read sensor.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the magnetic transducer is a write transducer and wherein the structure is a pole.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein a distance between the front edge and the back edge corresponds to a nose length.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the stripe includes a tunneling magnetoresistive junction.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the ELG is substantially coplanar with the structure.

9. A method for providing an electronic lapping guide (ELG) for a structure in a magnetic transducer, the structure having a front edge and a back edge, the ELG including a stripe having a top edge and a bottom edge, the method comprising:

calibrating a sheet resistance of the stripe including

providing at least one Van der Pauw test pattern corresponding to the ELG for the structure, the ELG and the structure being substantially coplanar;

measuring at least one test resistance of the Van der Pauw test pattern; and

determining the sheet resistance based on the at least one test resistance;

calibrating an offset of the top edge of the stripe from the back edge of the structure including

providing a plurality of test stripes having a plurality of heights corresponding to a plurality of mask dimensions;

measuring at least one test resistance of each of the plurality of test stripes;

determining each of the plurality of heights based on the at least one test resistance; and

determining a correction factor between the plurality of heights and the plurality of mask dimensions; and

terminating the lapping based on at least the sheet resistance and the offset of the ELG.

Assignments (7)