Abstract: A method for manufacturing a thermally-assisted magnetic recording head is provided, in which a light source unit including a light source and a slider including an optical system are bonded. A unit substrate is made of a material transmitting light having a predetermined wavelength, and a unit adhesion material layer that contains Sn, Sn alloy, Pb alloy or Bi alloy is formed on the light source unit and/or the slider. The manufacturing method includes: aligning the light source unit and the slider in such a way that a light from the light source can enter the optical system and the unit adhesion material layer is sandwiched therebetween; and causing a light including the predetermined wavelength to enter the unit substrate to melt the unit adhesion material layer. The unit adhesion material layer melted by the light including the predetermined wavelength can ensure high alignment accuracy as well as higher bonding strength and less change with time.

Abstract: Provided is a light source unit the weight of which can be reduced while ensuring power supply to the light source. The light source is configured to form a thermally-assisted magnetic recording head by being joined with a slider including an optical system that propagates light for thermal assist. The light source unit comprises: a unit substrate including a joining surface that faces an power-supply electrode of the slider; a first electrode provided on the joining surface; a second electrode provided on a source-installation surface and electrically connected to the first electrode; and a light source that includes two electrode layers and a light-emission center located in a light-emitting surface. The first and second electrodes eliminate the provision of a terminal electrode for light source on the source-integration surface. As a result, the weight of the light source unit can be reduced.

Abstract: A probe assembly used to lap a bar, the bar being provided with elements that are to be formed into sliders, is provided. The probe assembly comprises an elastically deflectable probe, and a stopper for applying bending deformation to the probe so as to cause first bending deflection at a leading end of the probe and for maintaining the first bending deflection of the leading end while preventing a bending deformation at the leading end from becoming smaller than the first bending deflection. The leading end of the probe is adapted to be subjected to second bending deflection that is larger than the first bending deflection in a same direction as a direction of the first bending deflection and thereby to abut against an electrode pad to establish electrical connection between the probe and the electrode pad, the electrode pad being provided on a surface of the bar other than a surface to be lapped.

Abstract: A slider comprises an air bearing surface which is arranged to face a recording medium and a protective film which covers at least a part of the air bearing surface. The protective film includes a first protective film formed on the air bearing surface and made of an amorphous material based on carbon and hydrogen and a second protective film formed to cover the first protective film and made of an amorphous material based on carbon and hydrogen. Further, the atomic fraction of hydrogen in the second protective film is lower than that in the first protective film.

Abstract: An apparatus and a method for manufacturing a magnetic head slider are to improve product quality of the magnetic head slider while simplifying the process and reducing the manufacturing time. The apparatus includes: holding devices for holding the both ends of a block member of an array of the magnetic head sliders respectively; a cutting device for cutting out a potion in which the magnetic head sliders are to be formed from the block member; and a cut surface treatment device having cut surface treating parts on the front and back surfaces of the cutting device for treating cut surfaces opposite to each other which form the predetermined two cut surfaces of the magnetic head sliders.

Abstract: Components of a plurality of magnetic heads are formed on a single substrate to fabricate a magnetic head substructure in which a plurality of pre-head portions are aligned in a plurality of rows. The substructure is cut to separate the plurality of pre-head portions from one another, and the plurality of magnetic heads are thereby fabricated. The surface formed by cutting the substructure is lapped to form a lapped surface. The lapped surface is lapped so as to reach a target position of a medium facing surface. The substructure incorporates first to fourth resistor elements each of which detects the position of the lapped surface. The third and fourth detection elements are located at positions shifted from the first and second resistor elements along the direction orthogonal to the medium facing surface.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing a highly reliable magnetic head slider, with a simplified manufacturing process which provides reduction in manufacturing time and costs, is provided. The manufacturing method includes a multi-layer forming step for forming a magnetic head section in a multi-layered manner, the magnetic head section including a read element and/or a write element and a magnetic shield for magnetically shielding the read element and/or the write element, and the magnetic head slider is manufactured by being cut off from a multi-layered body having the magnetic head section. The manufacturing method further includes, after the multi-layer forming step, a shield end removing step for removing end portions in a width direction of the magnetic shield located on the flying surface side of the magnetic head slider.

Abstract: To provide a manufacturing method which can adjust the lengths of a recording element and a reproducing element for enabling manufacture of high-quality magnetic head sliders. The manufacturing method comprises: a stacked-layer forming step which stacks magnetic heads on a substrate; a lapping step which cuts out a bar block having a plurality of connected magnetic head sliders, and polishes a flying surface; and a slider cutting step which cuts out individual magnetic head sliders from the bar block. The stacked-layer forming step forms a reproducing-element polish amount detecting sensor on a same layer as that of the reproducing element, and forms a recording-element polish amount detecting sensor on a same layer as that of the recording element. The lapping step carries out polishing based on each output value of the reproducing-element polish amount detecting sensor and the recording-element polish amount detecting sensor.

Abstract: A plurality of magnetic heads are formed on a substrate, each of the magnetic head includes a reproducing element to read magnetic information, a recording element to write magnetic information, a reproducing element marker formed on the same plane as that on which the reproducing element is formed, and a recording element marker formed on the same plane as that on which the recording element is formed. The substrate is cut to form a bar including a plurality of the magnetic heads. The bar is held, the reproducing element marker and the recording element marker in the held bar are optically sensed, and positions of the reproducing element marker and the recording element marker are determined. A posture of the held bar is adjusted based on the positions of the reproducing element marker and the recording element marker. The bar with the posture adjusted is polished and then the polished bar is cut into individual magnetic heads.

Abstract: A slider separating method includes bonding a row bar containing a plurality of slider-forming portions to a bonding surface of a cutting fixture along a side surface that extends in its length direction; cutting the row bar bonded on the cutting fixture into individual sliders along cutting gaps provided between the slider-forming portions; decreasing bonding force between each diced slider and the bonding surface; and separating the sliders with decreased bonding force from the cutting fixture by pushing each slider along a side direction being parallel to the bonding surface and perpendicular to the length direction and holding and receiving the slider to a slider tray having recesses formed therein which is partitioned according to the sliders. The method can reliably and efficiently separate a row bar containing a plurality of slider-forming portions into individual sliders without depending upon size or arrangement pitch of the sliders and hold these sliders.

Abstract: The present invention provides a grinding sheet wherein the width of the ridge in the pattern of abrasive layer is larger than the width of the recess formed between the adjacent portions of the ridge. Its shape is suitable to carry out uniform treatment without causing the workpiece to drop into the recess between ridge portions of the pattern of abrasive layer even when the workpiece is swung while the grinding sheet is rotated during grinding operation.

Abstract: A probe assembly used to lap a bar, the bar being provided with elements that are to be formed into sliders, is provided. The probe assembly comprises an elastically deflectable probe, and a stopper for applying bending deformation to the probe so as to cause first bending deflection at a leading end of the probe and for maintaining the first bending deflection of the leading end while preventing a bending deformation at the leading end from becoming smaller than the first bending deflection. The leading end of the probe is adapted to be subjected to second bending deflection that is larger than the first bending deflection in a same direction as a direction of the first bending deflection and thereby to abut against an electrode pad to establish electrical connection between the probe and the electrode pad, the electrode pad being provided on a surface of the bar other than a surface to be lapped.

Abstract: Components of a plurality of magnetic heads are formed on a single substrate to fabricate a magnetic head substructure in which a plurality of pre-head portions are aligned in a plurality of rows. The substructure is cut to separate the plurality of pre-head portions from one another, and the plurality of magnetic heads are thereby fabricated. The surface formed by cutting the substructure is lapped to form a lapped surface. The lapped surface is lapped so as to reach a target position of a medium facing surface. The substructure incorporates first to fourth resistor elements each of which detects the position of the lapped surface. The third and fourth detection elements are located at positions shifted from the first and second resistor elements along the direction orthogonal to the medium facing surface.

Abstract: A lapping method and apparatus is provided that increases the yield rate in the magnetic head slider manufacturing process. According to the invention, an apparatus for lapping thin film magnetic heads includes a jig block and a lapping plate. The jig block includes a first jig which holds a bar to be lapped, and second jig which holds a member for load sharing. The lapping plate is movable relative to the first jig and the second jig, and is contactable with the surface to be lapped of the bar held by the first jig and the member for load sharing held by the second jig for lapping.

Abstract: A method for inspecting a slider having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape is provided. The method has: a lifting step of lifting said slider upward and stopping said slider at an inspecting position while supporting said slider at an undersurface of said slider, wherein said undersurface is a surface that is other than a first surface, said first surface being an air bearing surface or a surface that is to be formed in said air bearing surface; and an inspection step of simultaneously inspecting said first surface and a second surface of said slider, said second surface being a surface that is other than said first surface and said undersurface, wherein said first surface is inspected by a first camera and said second surface is inspected by a second camera, said first and second cameras being arranged in advance such that an optical axis thereof passes through said inspecting position.

Abstract: A manufacturing method of a flying magnetic head slider includes a step of providing a substrate with a plurality of inductive write head elements formed thereon, each head element having a pair of magnetic poles facing to each other via a magnetic gap, and with a protection layer covering the plurality of inductive write head elements, a step of cutting the substrate to separate into a plurality of bar members, each of the bar members having aligned inductive write head elements, a step of processing the protection layer of each bar member so that a distance from an end edge of the pair of magnetic poles to an edge of a bottom surface of the bar member becomes in a range of 1 to 15 ?m, a step of lapping each bottom surface of the bar member, and cutting each bar member to separate into a plurality of individual magnetic head sliders.

Abstract: The present invention provides a grinding sheet wherein the width of the ridge in the pattern of abrasive layer is larger than the width of the recess formed between the adjacent portions of the ridge. Its shape is suitable to carry out uniform treatment without causing the workpiece to drop into the recess between ridge portions of the pattern of abrasive layer even when the workpiece is swung while the grinding sheet is rotated during grinding operation.

Abstract: A slider comprises an air bearing surface which is arranged to face a recording medium and a protective film which covers at least a part of the air bearing surface. The protective film includes a first protective film formed on the air bearing surface and made of an amorphous material based on carbon and hydrogen and a second protective film formed to cover the first protective film and made of an amorphous material based on carbon and hydrogen. Further, the atomic fraction of hydrogen in the second protective film is lower than that in the first protective film.

Abstract: A system and method are disclosed for edge blending hard drive head sliders by oscillating abrasive lapping tape across the edges of multiple sliders simultaneously. Lapping tape is inserted between each of a number of head sliders bonded to a edge blending jig of an edge blending assembly. The edge blending assembly is adjusted to cause the lapping tape to partially wrap an edge of each slider. The head sliders are edge blended by the relative movement between the sliders and the lapping tape.

Abstract: An apparatus and a method for manufacturing a magnetic head slider are to improve product quality of the magnetic head slider while simplifying the process and reducing the manufacturing time. The apparatus includes: holding devices for holding the both ends of a block member of an array of the magnetic head sliders respectively; a cutting device for cutting out a potion in which the magnetic head sliders are to be formed from the block member; and a cut surface treatment device having cut surface treating parts on the front and back surfaces of the cutting device for treating cut surfaces opposite to each other which form the predetermined two cut surfaces of the magnetic head sliders.