Method for simultaneous electronic lapping guide (ELG) and perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) pole formation

1. A method for providing a perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) head comprising:

providing a stop layer;

providing an insulating layer over the stop layer;

forming a pole trench in the insulating layer by performing a reactive ion etching (RIE) process in the insulating layer over the stop layer;

forming an electronic lapping guide (ELG) in the insulating layer by performing the RIE process in the insulating layer over the stop layer; and

providing a PMR pole, at least a portion of the PMR pole residing in the pole trench.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the pole trench and the ELG are formed simultaneously.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the stop layer includes at least one of Cr, NiCr, and Ru.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

performing a photoresist process to form a line photo pattern of photoresist material over the insulating layer to cover the pole trench and to outline a form for the ELG;

performing ion milling to etch out sides of the ELG; and

lifting off the photoresist material.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising performing wet etching to remove a hard mask material from the pole trench and the ELG.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the insulating layer includes at least alumina.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the RIE process to form the pole trench and the ELG is an alumina RIE process.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

providing a write gap on the PMR pole; and

providing a top shield on at least the write gap.

9. A method for providing a perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) head comprising:

providing a stop layer including at least one of Cr, NiCr, and Ru;

providing an insulating layer over the stop layer including at least alumina;

forming a pole trench in the insulating layer by performing a reactive ion etching (RIE) process in the insulating layer over the stop layer;

forming an electronic lapping guide (ELG) in the insulating layer by performing the RIE process in the insulating layer over the stop layer, wherein the pole trench and the ELG are formed simultaneously; and

providing a PMR pole, at least a portion of the PMR pole residing in the pole trench.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

performing a photoresist process to form a line photo pattern of photoresist material over the insulating layer to cover the pole trench and to outline a form for the ELG;

performing ion milling to etch out sides of the ELG; and

lifting off the photoresist material.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising performing wet etching to remove a hard mask material from the pole trench and the ELG.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the insulating layer includes at least alumina.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the RIE process to form the pole trench and the ELG is an alumina RIE process.

14. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

providing a write gap on the PMR pole; and

providing a top shield on at least the write gap.

15. A perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) head comprising:

a stop layer;

an insulating layer formed over the stop layer;

a pole trench formed in the insulating layer by performing a reactive ion etching (RIE) process in the insulating layer over the stop layer;

an electronic lapping guide (ELG) formed in the insulating layer by performing the RIE process in the insulating layer over the stop layer, wherein the pole trench and the ELG are formed simultaneously; and

a PMR pole, at least a portion of the PMR pole residing in the pole trench.

16. The PMR head of claim 15 wherein the stop layer includes at least one of Cr, NiCr, and Ru.

17. The PMR head of claim 16 wherein a photoresist process is performed to form a line photo pattern of photoresist material over the insulating layer to cover the pole trench and to outline a form for the ELG, an ion milling process is performed to etch out sides of the ELG, and the photoresist material is lifted off.

18. The PMR head of claim 17 wherein the insulating layer includes at least alumina.

19. The PMR head of claim 18 wherein the RIE process to form the pole trench and the ELG is an alumina RIE process.

20. The PMR head of claim 15 further comprising:

a write gap formed over the PMR pole; and

a top shield formed over at least the write gap.