Methods for manufacturing electronic lapping guides for writer heads that closely track pole formation of the writer heads
View Patent ↗Methods for manufacturing electronic lapping guides (ELGs) for writer heads that closely track the pole formation of the writer heads are provided. Once such method includes forming an ELG adjacent to a writer head that is subjected to substantially all of the sub-processing actions associated with the pole formation of the writer head, lapping the pole material, measuring a resistance of the ELG during the lapping, comparing the measured resistance with a target resistance, and terminating the lapping based on the comparison of the measured resistance with the target resistance.
1. A method for manufacturing a writer head using an electronic lapping guide (ELG), the method comprising:
depositing and patterning a conductive layer on a portion of a substrate to form a first connection pad at the ELG, wherein the ELG is adjacent to the writer head;
depositing and patterning a stop layer on a portion of the substrate at the writer head;
depositing a first dielectric layer on the stop layer and on the first ELG connection pad;
performing a first material removal sub-process to remove a portion of the first dielectric layer to expose the first ELG connection pad;
performing a planarization sub-process to substantially planarize the first dielectric layer;
depositing an ELG sensor layer on a portion of the first dielectric layer at the ELG and on the first ELG connection pad;
depositing a second dielectric layer on the first dielectric layer at the writer head and on the ELG sensor layer at the ELG;
performing a second material removal sub-process to form a pole trench in the first and second dielectric layers extending to the stop layer at the writer head and to form an ELG trench in the second dielectric layer extending to the ELG sensor layer at the ELG, wherein the ELG trench is patterned to form an island structure substantially enclosing a preselected portion of the second dielectric layer;
depositing a pole material within the pole trench and the ELG trench to form a write pole of the writer head;
lapping the pole material;
measuring a resistance of the ELG during the lapping;
comparing the measured resistance with a target resistance; and
terminating the lapping based on the comparison of the measured resistance with the target resistance.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performing the first material removal sub-process to remove the portion of the first dielectric layer to expose the first ELG connection pad comprises performing a wet etch sub-process to remove the portion of the first dielectric layer to expose the first ELG connection pad.
3. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the performing the first material removal sub-process to remove the portion of the first dielectric layer to expose the first ELG connection pad comprises depositing and patterning a planarization stop layer on portions of the first dielectric layer and performing the first material removal sub-process to remove the portion of the first dielectric layer to expose the first ELG connection pad; and
wherein the performing the planarization sub-process to substantially planarize the first dielectric layer comprises performing the planarization sub-process to substantially planarize the first dielectric layer as far as the planarization stop layer and removing the planarization stop layer.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performing the first material removal sub-process to remove the portion of the first dielectric layer to expose the first ELG connection pad comprises removing the portion of the first dielectric layer to form a connection pad trench extending to the first ELG connection pad.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein a lateral projection of the ELG sensor layer to the pole trench of the writer head is positioned in between a bottom of the pole trench and a top of the pole trench.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the lapping the pole material comprises lapping the pole material of the writer head to have a preselected dimension.
7. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the depositing the pole material within the pole trench and the ELG trench to form the write pole of the writer head comprises:
depositing a seed layer within the pole trench and the ELG trench; and
depositing the pole material on the seed layer within the pole trench and the ELG trench to form the write pole of the writer head; and
wherein the lapping the pole material comprises lapping the pole material of the writer head to have a preselected dimension.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the depositing the pole material within the pole trench and the ELG trench to form the write pole of the writer head comprises:
depositing the pole material within the pole trench and the ELG trench to form the write pole of the writer head; and
performing a planarization sub-process on the pole material.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performing the second material removal sub-process to form the pole trench in the first and second dielectric layers extending to the stop layer at the writer head and to form the ELG trench in the second dielectric layer extending to the ELG sensor layer at the ELG comprises performing a reactive ion etching sub-process to form the pole trench in the first and second dielectric layers extending to the stop layer at the writer head and to form the ELG trench in the second dielectric layer extending to the ELG sensor layer at the ELG.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the writer head and the ELG are each subjected to substantially the same processing actions for fabrication.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measuring the resistance of the ELG during the lapping comprises measuring a resistance across the first ELG connection pad and a second ELG connection pad, wherein the ELG sensor layer is electrically coupled to both the first ELG connection pad and the second ELG connection pad.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performing the second material removal sub-process to form the pole trench in the first and second dielectric layers and to form the ELG trench in the second dielectric layer comprises performing a third material removal sub-process to remove a portion of the ELG sensor layer in the ELG trench.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the third material removal sub-process comprises an ion beam etching sub-process to remove the portion of the ELG sensor layer in the ELG trench.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises a leading shield layer of the writer head.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the conductive layer comprises Cu.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein a preselected width of the ELG trench and the island structure are selected to substantially avoid a formation of protrusions along edges of the ELG trench prior to a subsequent planarization sub-process.
17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the island structure is configured to define a preselected resistance of the ELG.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein a peripheral edge portion of the island structure is configured to substantially define the preselected resistance of the ELG, wherein the peripheral edge portion is an edge portion of the island structure that is closest to a lapping surface of the writer head.