In a typical prior art magnetic disk recording system a slider containing magnetic transducers for reading and writing magnetic transitions is supported by a suspension as it flies above the disk that is being rotated by a spindle motor. The disk includes a plurality of thin films and at least one ferromagnetic thin film in which the recording (write) head records the magnetic transitions in which information is encoded. The magnetic domains in the media on can be written longitudinally or perpendicularly. The read and write head portions of the slider are built-up in layers using thin film processing techniques. Typically the read head is formed first, but the write head can also be fabricated first. The conventional write head is inductive and the read sensor is magnetoresistive.
In a disk drive using perpendicular recording the recording head is designed to direct magnetic flux through the recording layer in a direction which is perpendicular to the plane of the disk. Typically the disk for perpendicular recording has a hard magnetic recording layer and a magnetically soft underlayer. During recording operations using a single-pole type head, magnetic flux is directed from the main pole of the recording head perpendicularly through the hard magnetic recording layer, then into the plane of the soft underlayer and back to the return pole in the recording head. The shape and size of the main pole piece and associated shields are the primary factors in determining the track width.
In US published application 2003/0151850 by Nakamura, et al., a single pole head is described which has the main pole down-track. The main pole is composed of at least two portions where the width of the first portion continuously increases from the up-track side to the down-track side in the direction of the moving medium and the width of the second portion is the same as the width of the first portion's down-track edge in the direction of the moving medium and is constant from the up-track side to the down-track side in the medium moving direction. This is said to prevent the recording magnetic field strength from decreasing at the track edge and increases the effective track width while suppressing side-writing, thereby, realizing a magnetic recording disk apparatus with a high track density.
In U.S. Pat. RE33,949 to Mallary, et al. a single pole head for perpendicular recording is described which includes what is called a “downstream shield” (down-track) that is connected to the write pole at the back and separated from the write pole by a small gap at the ABS. The ABS face of the shield is designed to be many times as large as the face of the write pole section so that the flux return section acts as a magnetic shield. The density of the flux from the write pole tip is sufficient to effect a vertical recording while the density of the flux passing into the downstream magnetic shield is low so a previously recorded pattern is not reversed or weakened.
In the typical process of fabricating thin film magnetic transducers, a large number of transducers are formed simultaneously on a wafer. After the basic structures are formed the wafer may be sawed into rows or individual transducers. Although sawing has been the typical method for separating the wafers into individual sliders, recently reactive ion etching (RIE) or deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) with a fluorine containing plasma have been used. The surfaces of the sliders perpendicular to the surface of the wafer that are exposed when the wafers are cut eventually form the air bearing surface (ABS) of the slider. The uncertainty of the saw plane leaves unacceptable variations in the magnetic stripe height which would lead to unacceptable variations in magnetic performance if not corrected. Lapping is the process used in the prior art to achieve stripe height control in the nanometer range. For perpendicular recording heads with a trailing shield, the thickness of the trailing shield is also determined by the endpoint of the lapping process.
After lapping, features typically called “rails” are formed on the ABS of magnetic transducer. The rails have traditionally been used to determine the aerodynamics of the slider and serve as the contact area should the transducer come in contact with the media either while rotating or when stationary.
In the prior art the pole piece shapes at the ABS are defined in cross-section orthogonal to the wafer surface. What is needed is magnetic recording head which can be fabricated without lapping and which has lithographically defined pole piece shapes at the ABS.