System and method for commercial fabrication of patterned media
A system is provided for etching patterned media disks for hard drive. The modular system may be tailored to perform specific processes sequences so that a patterned media disk is fabricated without removing the disk from vacuum environment. In some sequence the magnetic stack is etched while in other the etch is performed prior to forming the magnetic stack. In a further sequence ion implantation is used without etching steps. For etching a movable non-contact electrode is utilized to perform sputter etch. The cathode moves to near contact distance to, but not contacting, the substrate so as to couple RF energy to the disk. The substrate is held vertically in a carrier and both sides are etched serially. That is, one side is etched in one chamber and then in the next chamber the second side is etched.
1. A method for producing patterned media hard disk, comprising:
forming a magnetic stack over a disk substrate;
depositing photoresist over the magnetic stack;
patterning the photoresist;
transferring the disk into a vacuum environment inside a fabrication system and, without removing the disk from the vacuum environment performing the steps:
etching the magnetic stack;
forming refill layer over the etched magnetic stack;
etching back the refill layer; and,
forming a protective layer over the refill layer;
wherein the steps are performed without removing the disk from the vacuum environment; and,
wherein etching of the magnetic stack is performed on one side of the disk at a time, to thereby etch both sides of the disk, and wherein the steps in the vacuum environment further comprise cooling the disk.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein cooling the disk is performed after etching each side of the disk.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the magnetic stack comprises a carbon overcoat (COC) layer and a magnetic layer, and wherein etching the magnetic stack comprises etching the COC layer to form a hard mask and using the COC to etch the magnetic layer.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein etching back further comprises removing any residual photoresist or hard mask.
5. A method for producing patterned media hard disk, comprising:
forming a magnetic stack over a disk substrate;
depositing photoresist over the magnetic stack;
patterning the photoresist;
transferring the disk into a vacuum environment inside a fabrication system and, performing the steps:
etching the magnetic stack;
forming refill layer over the etched magnetic stack;
etching back the refill layer; and,
forming a protective layer over the refill layer; and,
further comprising forming a hard mask over the photoresist prior to etching the magnetic stack.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein etching back further comprises removing any residual hard mask.
7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising a step of photoresist stripping after the step of forming a hard mask and before the step of etching the magnetic stack.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the steps of forming hard mask, photoresist strip, and etching the magnetic stack are performed without removing the disk from the vacuum environment.
9. A method for producing patterned media hard disk, comprising:
depositing photoresist over the disk;
patterning the photoresist to form a mask;
transferring the disk into a vacuum environment inside a fabrication system and, without removing the disk from the vacuum environment performing the steps:
etching the disk through the mask;
forming refill layer over the etched disk;
etching back the refill layer; and,
forming a protective layer over the refill layer; and,
wherein the steps are performed without removing the disk from the vacuum environment; and,
wherein etching of the magnetic stack is performed on one side of the disk at a time, to thereby etch both sides of the disk, and wherein the steps in the vacuum environment further comprise cooling the disk.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein depositing photoresist over the disk comprises depositing the photoresist directly over the disk substrate and further comprising the steps of forming soft underlayer, seed layer, and magnetic layer, after the step of etching the disk.
11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising forming a hard mask over the photoresist prior to etching the disk.
12. A method for producing patterned media hard disk, comprising:
depositing photoresist over the disk;
patterning the photoresist to form a mask;
transferring the disk into a vacuum environment inside a fabrication system and, without removing the disk from the vacuum environment performing the steps:
etching the disk through the mask;
forming refill layer over the etched disk;
etching back the refill layer; and,
forming a protective layer over the refill layer; and,
wherein depositing photoresist over the disk comprises depositing the photoresist directly over a soft underlayer (SUL), and further comprising the steps of forming seed layer and magnetic layer after the step of etching the disk.
13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising forming a hard mask over the photoresist prior to etching the disk.
14. The method of claim 12 , wherein etching of the disk is performed on one side of the disk at a time, and wherein the steps in the vacuum environment further comprise cooling the disk.