Claims
- 1. A lithographic process for fabricating thin-film magnetic recording heads, said process having the improvement comprising the steps ofa) in a first lithographic step, patterning a first structural element and, at a known distance and direction relative thereto, patterning a first marker element, where said first structural element and said first marker element are on a common first lithographically formed layer, and b) in a second lithographic step, patterning a second structural element, where said second structural element is on a second lithographically formed layer different from said first layer, c) said patterning steps providing said structural elements and said marker element located to intersect a geometrical surface that extends transversely to said first and second layers, so that viewing said first marker element and said second structural element, at said geometrical surface, provides information for locating said second structural element relative to said first structural element.
- 2. The lithographic process of claim 1, in which said geometrical surface is substantially planar.
- 3. The lithographic process of claim 1, including a further step of cleaving said first and second layers along said geometrical surface.
- 4. The lithographic process of claim 1, wherein the second lithographic step includes a further step ofpatterning a second marker element at a know distance and direction relative to said second structural element, where said second structural element and said second marker element are on a common second lithographically formed layer different from said first layer, said patterning steps providing said structural elements and said marker elements located to intersect a geometrical surface that extends transversely to said first and second layers, so that viewing said first and second marker elements, at said geometrical surface, provides information for locating said second structural element relative to said first structural element.
- 5. The lithographic process of claim 4, including a further step of providing said marker elements with selected spatial overlap along a first axis.
- 6. The lithographic process of claim 5, including a further step of providing said first and second structural elements with selected spatial overlap along an axis parallel to said first axis.
CROSS-REFERENCES
This is a continuation of, co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/370,753 filed on Aug. 9, 1999 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,354,438, of Lee et al. entitled Thin-Film Magnetic Recording Head Manufacture, which in turn is a continuation of Ser. No. 08/810,837 filed on Mar. 4, 1997 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,004,437 of Lee et al. entitled Thin-Film Magnetic Recording Head Manufacture, which in turn is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 08/635,063 filed on Apr. 19, 1996 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,916,424.
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Continuations (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09/370753 |
Aug 1999 |
US |
Child |
10/085490 |
|
US |
Parent |
08/810837 |
Mar 1997 |
US |
Child |
09/370753 |
|
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08/635063 |
Apr 1996 |
US |
Child |
08/810837 |
|
US |