Abstract: Disclosed herein is a wafer processing method for processing the back side of a wafer having a plurality of devices formed on the front side so as to be separated by a plurality of crossing division lines. The wafer processing method includes a back grinding step of grinding the back side of the wafer to thereby reduce the thickness of the wafer to a predetermined thickness, a back polishing step of polishing the back side of the wafer after performing the back grinding step, thereby removing grinding strain, and a diamond-like carbon film deposition step of forming a diamond-like carbon film on the back side of the wafer after performing the back polishing step.

Abstract: Devices for reading or writing electromagnetic information include a wafer substrate piece disposed between an electromagnetic transducer and an electrostrictive or piezoelectric actuator. The substrate piece is shaped as a rigid body adjoining the transducer and as a flexible element connecting the body and the actuator. To fabricate, at least one electrostrictive layer and many transducers are formed on opposite sides of a wafer that is then cut into rows containing plural transducers. The rows are processed from directions generally normal to the wafer surface upon which the transducers were formed, by removing material to form a head, flexures and a media-facing surface on the head. Conductive leads are formed on a back surface of flexures connecting the transducer with drive electronics. The flexures are aligned with forces arising from interaction with the media surface and from seeking various tracks, reducing torque and dynamic instabilities and increasing actuator access time.

Abstract: Devices for reading or writing electromagnetic information include a wafer substrate piece disposed between an electromagnetic transducer and an electrostrictive or piezoelectric actuator. The substrate piece is shaped as a rigid body adjoining the transducer and as a flexible element connecting the body and the actuator. To fabricate, at least one electrostrictive layer and many transducers are formed on opposite sides of a wafer that is then cut into rows containing plural transducers. The rows are processed from directions generally normal to the wafer surface upon which the transducers were formed, by removing material to form a head, flexures and a media-facing surface on the head. Conductive leads are formed on a back surface of flexures connecting the transducer with drive electronics. The flexures are aligned with forces arising from interaction with the media surface and from seeking various tracks, reducing torque and dynamic instabilities and increasing actuator access time.

Abstract: Devices for reading or writing electromagnetic information include a wafer substrate piece disposed between an electromagnetic transducer and an electrostrictive or piezoelectric actuator. The substrate piece is shaped as a rigid body adjoining the transducer and as a flexible element connecting the body and the actuator. To fabricate, at least one electrostrictive layer and many transducers are formed on opposite sides of a wafer that is then cut into rows containing plural transducers. The rows are processed from directions generally normal to the wafer surface upon which the transducers were formed, by removing material to form a head, flexures and a media-facing surface on the head. Conductive leads are formed on a back surface of flexures connecting the transducer with drive electronics. The flexures are aligned with forces arising from interaction with the media surface and from seeking various tracks, reducing torque and dynamic instabilities and increasing actuator access time.

Abstract: Devices for reading or writing electromagnetic information include a wafer substrate piece disposed between an electromagnetic transducer and an electrostrictive or piezoelectric actuator. The substrate piece is shaped as a rigid body adjoining the transducer and as a flexible element connecting the body and the actuator. To fabricate, at least one electrostrictive layer and many transducers are formed on opposite sides of a wafer that is then cut into rows containing plural transducers. The rows are processed from directions generally normal to the wafer surface upon which the transducers were formed, by removing material to form a head, flexures and a media-facing surface on the head. Conductive leads are formed on a back surface of flexures connecting the transducer with drive electronics. The flexures are aligned with forces arising from interaction with the media surface and from seeking various tracks, reducing torque and dynamic instabilities and increasing actuator access time.

Abstract: Methods for making devices comprise forming a plurality of transducers on a major surface of a wafer, including forming a plurality of solid layers each having a thickness that is less than one micron; dividing the wafer and the attached transducers into a plurality of units such that each of the units includes a portion of the layers and a substantially planar surface that is substantially perpendicular to the portion of the layers; and removing at least part of the substantially planar surface, including creating, for each transducer, at least one flexible element that is attached the transducer. Conventional problems of connecting a head to the flexure and/or gimbal are eliminated. The heads can be made thinner than is conventional and gimbals and flexures can be more closely aligned with forces arising from interaction with the media surface and from seeking various tracks, reducing torque and dynamic instabilities.

Abstract: A baseplate for swaging a head suspension to an actuator arm includes a flange with an opening having a back bore diameter and a boss tower extending from the flange and having an outer diameter. The back bore diameter is less than or equal to about 105% of the outer diameter and greater than or equal to about 90% of the outer diameter.

Abstract: A suspension includes a multilayered plate member formed by at least three layers laminated together. The modulus of elasticity of neighboring layers of the at least three layers are different from each other. Both side edges of only a part of the layers of the multilayered plate member within a stiffness-required region are bent to form ribs.

Abstract: Devices for reading or writing electromagnetic information include a wafer substrate piece disposed between an electromagnetic transducer and an electrostrictive or piezoelectric actuator. The substrate piece is shaped as a rigid body adjoining the transducer and as a flexible element connecting the body and the actuator. To fabricate, at least one electrostrictive layer and many transducers are formed on opposite sides of a wafer that is then cut into rows containing plural transducers. The rows are processed from directions generally normal to the wafer surface upon which the transducers were formed, by removing material to form a head, flexures and a media-facing surface on the head. Conductive leads are formed on a back surface of flexures connecting the transducer with drive electronics. The flexures are aligned with forces arising from interaction with the media surface and from seeking various tracks, reducing torque and dynamic instabilities and increasing actuator access time.

Abstract: A load beam is provided with a base plate and a slider. A magnetic head apparatus is fixed to a head arm via a base plate. In a mechanism or structure for supporting such a magnetic head supporting mechanism, an elastically deformable portion is provided between the base plate and the load beam. Thus, a floating structure that allows the load beam to swing is formed about the elastically deformable portion. In addition, a weight of the load beam is balanced with respect to the elastically deformable portion. Furthermore, a contact portion for applying pressure to the load beam is provided on the head arm so that a pressing load to a recording medium would be set by an amount of rotation of the load beam caused by the pressure applied by the contact portion.

Abstract: The present invention is aimed to provide a head suspension having a high resonant frequency, high shock resistance and low rigidity, which greatly contributes to an improvement of a magnetic disk apparatus. In an oscillation-type actuator, at least a part of a spring arm of the head suspension having a data reading/writing head slider 1 is made of an anisotropic layer whose rigidity varies in accordance with a direction. In this case, the anisotropic layer is laminated so that the high rigidity modulus orientation direction is different according to layer.

Abstract: A method of forming a swagable metal actuator arm tip having a metal swage plug for ceramic actuator arms, the method comprising the formation of a metal swage plug within a tip opening in an actuator arm, the metal insert being an appropriate metal in either solid, thixoformable solid, or liquid (molten) form. The insert, once formed or adhered within the tip opening, constitutes the metal swage plug. There are six basic methods by which the metal insert can be formed or adhered into the tip opening to form the metal swage plug: cold forming, die casting, pressure infusion casting, forging, thixoforming, or the use of adhesives.