Multiple reader stacks disposed in close proximity

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9672849-B2
Application number	US-201615266889-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 15, 2016
Priority date	Dec 21, 2012
Publication date	Jun 6, 2017
Grant date	Jun 6, 2017

Abstract

In accordance with one embodiment, a multi-reader can be manufactured so as to be able to read from multiple regions of a storage device contemporaneously during operation. Such a device can be configured, for example, by forming a first wall; forming a second wall; and utilizing the first wall and the second wall to form two adjacent reader stacks.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of forming two adjacent reader stacks comprising:
depositing a mandrel material on a hardmask layer, the mandrel material having a first sidewall and a second sidewall;
covering the mandrel material with a conformal coat, the conformal coat forming a first wall on the first sidewall of the mandrel material and a second wall on the second sidewall of the mandrel material;
removing the mandrel material to retain the first and second walls;
removing hardmask material of the hardmask layer, a portion of the hardmask material of the hardmask layer retained under the first and second walls to form a wall structure including the hardmask material and the first wall and the second wall of the conformal coat; and
etching the wall structure to form a first and a second reader stack of the two adjacent reader stacks.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first reader stack and the second reader stack are formed in the same layer.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the first reader stack and the second reader stack are separated by no more than 100 nanometers.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
forming the first reader stack and the second reader stack symmetrically spaced on respective sides of an insulating divider.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the wall structure is etched to form a clear valley between the first reader stack and the second reader stack.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
forming at least one divided shield, wherein a first portion of the divided shield is in electrical contact with the first reader stack and a second portion of the divided shield is in electrical contact with the second reader stack and wherein the first portion of the divided shield and second portion of the divided shield are separated by an electrical insulator.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the mandrel material is formed as a carbon block.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
removing a portion of the conformal coat by anisotropic etch to remove the conformal material of the conformal coat along a horizontal plane parallel to the hardmask layer.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the hardmask material is removed by an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etch.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein etching the wall structure to form the first and the second reader stack of the two adjacent first reader stack further comprises:
using a reactive ion etch to transfer a pattern down into a stack layer to define the first reader stack and the second reader stack.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
covering the first reader stack and the second reader stack with a second conformal layer.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising:
depositing an isolation layer over the first reader stack and the second reader stack and the conformal layer to electrically isolate the first reader stack from the second reader stack.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising:
planarizing the isolation layer and the first reader stack and the second reader stack to remove the portion of the hardmask material of the hardmask layer retained; and
adding a shield layer on top of the planarized isolation layer, the first reader stack, and the second reader stack.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the shield layer is a divided shield.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the hardmask layer is deposited above a bottom shield.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the bottom shield is a divided bottom shield, a first portion of the divided bottom shield is in electrical contact with the first reader stack and a second portion of the divided bottom shield is in electrical contact with the second reader stack and wherein the first portion of the divided bottom shield and second portion of the divided shield are separated by an electrical insulator.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the first reader stack and the second reader stack are formed symmetrically relative to the original position of the mandrel material.

Assignees

• Seagate Technology Llc

Inventors

• Kief Mark T
• Boonstra Thomas Roy

Classifications

• G11B5/1272

  Assembling or shaping of elements (G11B5/1278 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G11B2005/3996

  large or giant magnetoresistive effects [GMR], e.g. as generated in spin-valve [SV] devices · CPC title

• G11B5/3909

  Arrangements using a magnetic tunnel junction · CPC title

• G11B5/3912

  Arrangements in which the active read-out elements are transducing in association with active magnetic shields, e.g. magnetically coupled shields (G11B5/3916 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G11B5/3163 Primary

  Fabrication methods or processes specially adapted for a particular head structure, e.g. using base layers for electroplating, using functional layers for masking, using energy or particle beams for shaping the structure or modifying the properties of the basic layers · CPC title