Granted Patent B1

US 9,881,638 · App. 14/574,188 · Granted Jan 30, 2018

Abstract

Claims (33)

1. A method for providing a near-field transducer (NFT) for a heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) device, the method comprising:

forming disk of the NFT from a first material;

forming a pin of the NFT from at least a second material different from the first material, the pin contacting the disk, at least a portion of the pin residing between the disk and an air-bearing surface (ABS) location, wherein forming the pin further includes:

providing a mask having an aperture therein, at least a portion of the aperture having a shape and a location of the pin;

depositing the at least the second material; and

lifting off the mask, wherein the mask is a photoresist mask; and

providing an alumina protective layer comprising a NFT aperture therein, the NFT aperture exposing a region including the disk and the pin.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first material is a metal and the at least the second material includes a dielectric.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

removing the alumina protective layer after lifting off the mask.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein forming the pin further includes:

providing at least one dielectric layer; and

planarizing the at least one dielectric layer.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein providing the at least one dielectric layer further includes:

providing a first cladding layer; and

providing a second cladding layer on the first cladding layer.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein forming the pin further includes:

depositing an endpoint detection layer on the first cladding layer, the endpoint detection layer being between the first cladding layer and the second cladding layer.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein planarizing includes performing a resist planarization.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein planarizing further includes a chemical mechanical planarization.

9. A method for providing a near-field transducer (NFT) for use in a heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) device comprising:

providing an alumina protective layer having a NFT aperture therein, the NFT aperture exposing a region including an NFT location;

forming disk of the NFT from at least one metal, the disk residing in the NFT aperture;

forming a pin of the NFT from at least one dielectric, the pin residing in the NFT aperture, a portion of the pin contacting a portion of the disk and residing between the disk and an air-bearing surface (ABS) location, wherein forming the pin further including:

providing a resist mask comprising an aperture therein, at least a portion of the aperture having a shape and a location corresponding to the pin;

depositing the at least one dielectric;

lifting off the resist mask, a remaining portion of the at least one dielectric including the pin;

removing the alumina protective layer after the step of lifting off the mask;

providing a first cladding layer, the first cladding layer including silicon oxide;

depositing a Ta endpoint detection layer on the first cladding layer;

providing a second cladding layer on the Ta endpoint detection layer, the second cladding layer including the silicon oxide;

resist planarizing the at least one dielectric layer; and

performing a chemical mechanical planarization after the resist planarization.

Assignments (9)