Hard disc drive systems (HDDs) typically include one or more data storage discs. A transducing head carried by a slider is used to read from and write to a data track on a disc. The slider is carried by an arm assembly that includes an actuator arm and a suspension assembly, which can include a separate gimbal structure or can integrally form a gimbal.
The density of data stored on a disc continues to increase, requiring more precise positioning of the transducing head. Conventionally, in many systems, head positioning is accomplished by operating the actuator arm with a large scale actuation motor, such as a voice coil motor, to position a head on a flexure at the end of the actuator arm. A high resolution head positioning mechanism, or microactuator, is advantageous to accommodate the high data density. The microactuator is often a piezoelectric microactuator.
Electrical connections between various elements in the HDD system should be strong, resist breakage, and have good electrical conductivity. Improved electrical connections are always desirable. The present disclosure provides sliders and transducing heads with improved electrical connections.
One particular embodiment of this disclosure is a method of patterning a lapping plate. The method includes providing a working tool having a pattern comprising a plurality of raised teeth, each of the raised teeth having a base, at least one side wall, and a terminal end, and patterning the lapping plate with the tool to provide a working surface having an inverse pattern of the tool surface in the working surface of the lapping plate, the patterning process plastically deforming the working surface of the lapping plate.
Another particular embodiment of this disclosure is a patterned lapping plate. The lapping plate comprises a working surface comprising a plurality of discrete indents separated by a continuous land area. Each indent has a depth from the working surface to a terminal end of the indents of no more than 100 micrometers, slanted side walls extending from the working surface to a terminal end of the indent, and a largest dimension of the indent at the working surface of no greater than 1000 micrometers.
Another particular embodiment of this disclosure is a patterned lapping plate. The lapping plate comprises a working surface comprising a groove spiraling about a central axis of the lapping plate forming a plurality of turns, and land area positioned between adjacent turns of the spiraling groove. The groove has slanted side walls extending from the working surface to a terminal end of the groove, a depth from the working surface to the terminal end of no more than 100 micrometers, and a varying width along the length of the groove.
These and various other features and advantages will be apparent from a reading of the following detailed description.
The disclosure may be more completely understood in consideration of the following detailed description of various embodiments of the disclosure in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:
The present embodiments relate most generally to the manufacture of abrading tools. For purposes of this description, although not so limited, reference is made to the use of an abrading tool in high precision lapping of sliders and the supported magnetic transducing heads used in data storage devices. The sliders and particularly the heads, operably used to store and retrieve data on rotatable magnetic recording discs, require extremely precise manufacturing tolerances. The present disclosure provides a method of abrading (lapping) the slider with a lapping plate or platen having a patterned working surface.
Lapping processes utilize either oscillatory or rotary motion of a slider bar across a rotating lapping plate to provide a random motion of the slider bar over the lapping plate and randomize plate imperfections across the head surface in the course of lapping. Some lapping plates have an abrasiveless horizontal working surface and are used in conjunction with a slurry of abrasive particles (e.g., diamonds), whereas other lapping plates have abrasive particles (e.g., diamonds) embedded in the horizontal working surface. The general idea of interrupting the lapping surface, for example by forming grooves in the lapping plate, is known in the art. The patterned surface reduces hydroplaning of the slider bar on the working surface and liquid and debris (swarf) are centrifugally removed beyond the lap plate peripheral.
Problems exist with grooved plates, for example, excessive width and/or depth of grooves to allow abrasive particles to loose their effectiveness due to lack of contact with the slider bar. Grooves that are too wide provide surface discontinuity too severe for small work pieces. Even if the grooves can be sized properly, forming the grooves can be costly and time consuming. Additionally, over time the lapping plate wears and dulls, requiring refurbishment of the working surface, which again can be time consuming and expensive, and which greatly shortens the total useful life of the lapping plate. By forming a pattern in to the lapping plate, as per the present disclosure, improvements over conventional grooved plates is observed. Because the patterning process plastically deforms the lapping plate surface rather than removing material, the useful life of the lapping plate is extended by providing for repeated refurbishment of the patterned surface. Additionally, a slider bar lapped on a lapping plate patterned by the methods of this disclosure has decreased microwaviness compared to a lapping plate patterned by other methods.
In the following description, reference is made to the accompanying drawing that forms a part hereof and in which are shown by way of illustration at least one specific embodiment. The following description provides additional specific embodiments. It is to be understood that other embodiments are contemplated and may be made without departing from the scope or spirit of the present disclosure. The following detailed description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense. While the present disclosure is not so limited, an appreciation of various aspects of the disclosure will be gained through a discussion of the examples provided below.
Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing feature sizes, amounts, and physical properties are to be understood as being modified by the term “about.” Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth are approximations that can vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by those skilled in the art utilizing the teachings disclosed herein.
As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” encompass embodiments having plural referents, unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. As used in this specification and the appended claims, the term “or” is generally employed in its sense including “and/or” unless the content clearly dictates otherwise.
Referring to
In order to meet the increasing demands for more and more data storage capacity on disc 2, slider fabrication and finishing must be improved to meet these demands. To meet these demands, lapping and polishing methodology must be developed which enhance slider features. Typically, numerous sliders are fabricated from a single wafer having rows of magnetic transducer heads deposited simultaneously on the wafer surface using semiconductor-type process methods. Single-row bars are sliced from the wafer, each bar being a row of units that are further processed into sliders each having one or more magnetic transducers or heads on their end faces. Each bar is bonded to a fixture or tool for further processing and then further diced i.e., separated into individual sliders.
In order to achieve maximum efficiency of the slider during use, the head, particularly the sensing elements of the head, must have precise dimensions. During manufacturing, it is most critical to grind or lap these elements to very close tolerances of desired thickness in order to achieve the unimpaired functionality required of sliders. The present disclosure provides a lapping plate that provides the needed close tolerances while maintaining long plate life. The lapping plate is formed using a toothed patterning tool, which plastically deforms the surface of a lapping plate to form a pattern on the working surface.
Referring to
In use, lapping plate 20A, 20B is rotated relative to a slider bar 100 containing a plurality of sliders 100A, 100B, etc. held in a pressing engagement against working surface 24. The abrading action due to abrasive particles 30 at working surface 24 removes material from slider bar 100. Having the regions free of abrasive particles (i.e., indents 25 in
For orientation understanding, as viewed in
In some embodiments, rows R1, R2, R3 and R4 are concentric circles of indents 25 around a center point of the circular lapping plate and thus land areas 28 are also concentric circles around the center point. In other embodiments, rows R1, R2, R3 and R4 are one continuous row of indents 25 spiraling out from or into the center point of the circular lapping plate, and thus land areas 28 are also spiraling out from or into the center point. In some embodiments, indents 25 may be shaped and/or oriented so that the leading edge of indent 25 is not radially aligned.
The shape of indent 25 may be any suitable shape, but generally has a sloped sidewall 26 (i.e., the dimension l1, measured at working surface 24 is greater than the dimension l2 at bottom surface 29). When viewed from the top, as in
The shape and size of indents 25 will differ depending on the lapping process step for which the patterned lapping plate is used. For most lapping processes, the process includes three sequential steps: a rough lapping step, a fine lapping step, and a kiss lapping step. For a rough lapping step, the abrasive particles (e.g., diamonds) are usually about 1 to about 5 micrometers in size; for a fine lapping step, the abrasive particles are usually about 0.1 to about 1 micrometer in size; for a kiss lapping step, the abrasive particles are usually less than 0.1 micrometer.
In general, for any lapping step, the depth d from working surface 24 to bottom 29 is preferably no more than 1000 micrometers, in some embodiments no more than about 500 micrometers. For a rough lapping step, the depth d from working surface 24 to bottom 29 is preferably no more than 100 micrometers, in some embodiments no more than about 10 micrometers, and in some embodiments about 5 to 10 micrometers (e.g., about 6 micrometers); for a fine lapping step, the depth d from working surface 24 to bottom 29 is preferably no more than 10 micrometers, in some embodiments no more than about 1 micrometer; for a kiss lapping step, the depth d from working surface 24 to bottom 29 is preferably no more than 1 micrometer, in some embodiments about 0.5 micrometer of less. In general, for any lapping step, the largest dimension of indent 25, which for a tapered structure will be length l1, is preferably no more than 100 micrometers, in some embodiments no more than about 500 micrometers. For any of the lapping steps, a dimension l1 within the range of about 100 micrometers to about 200 micrometers is suitable.
As one particular example, for a tool having a pattern such as that of
As discussed above, the lapping plate of the present disclosure is formed by forming a pattern into the lapping plate with a toothed patterning tool. In some embodiments, the patterning process of this disclosure may be referred to as roll knurling or form knurling; such a process is done by pressing a wheel or tool against a workpiece with sufficient force to cold form or plastically deform the outer surface of the workpiece. The patterning tool has the inverse of the pattern that is to be imparted to the workpiece.
The rows of indents can have equal or unequal spacing (in the radial direction) therebetween. For example, referring to
Two examples of suitable patterning tools are illustrated in
To form a patterned lapping plate according to this disclosure, patterning tool 52A, 52B or other is mounted on support 50, as illustrated in
It is understood that numerous variations of the patterning tools and methods of using the patterning tools could be made to form patterned lapping plates while maintaining the overall inventive design and remaining within the scope of the disclosure. Numerous alternate design or element features have been mentioned above.
Thus, embodiments of the METHOD OF PATTERNING A LAPPING PLATE, AND
PATTERNED LAPPING PLATES are disclosed. The implementations described above and other implementations are within the scope of the following claims. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be practiced with embodiments other than those disclosed. The disclosed embodiments are presented for purposes of illustration and not limitation, and the present invention is limited only by the claims that follow.