Method of making a thin-film magnetic head having a multi-layered coil structure

Claim 1

A method of fabricating a laminated coil for a thin-film magnetic head comprising the steps of: forming a laminate of a lower magnetic layer, first insulating layer and first conductive layer on a substrate; forming a first coil patterned mask on said first conductive layer of the laminate; applying a first ion beam onto a structure formed by the first two steps to simultaneously etch said first insulating layer and said first conductive layer; successively forming a second insulating layer and a second conductive layer over said etched structure; forming a second coil patterned mask on said second conductive layer, the second coil patterned mask being aligned with said first coil patterned mask; and applying a second ion beam onto a structure formed by the above steps to simultaneously etch said second insulating layer and said conductive layer; wherein said first and second ion beams are respectively applied at respective indicent angles of α 1 , and α 2 , where α 2 >α 1 .

Claim 2

A method of fabricating a laminated coil for a thin-film magnetic head comprising the steps of: forming a laminate of a lower magnetic layer, first insulating layer and first conductive layer on a substrate; forming a first coil patterned mask on said first conductive layer of the laminate; applying a first ion beam onto a structure formed by the first two steps to simultaneously etch said first insulating layer and said first conductive layer; successively forming a second insulating layer and a second conductive layer over said etched structure; forming a second coil patterned mask on said second conductive layer, the second coil patterned mask being aligned with said first coil patterned mask; and applying a second ion beam onto a structure formed by the above steps to simultaneously etch said second insulating layer and said conductive layer; wherein said first and second ion beams are respectively applied at respective indicent angles of α 1 , and α 2 , where α 2 >α 1 .

Claim 5

A method of fabricating a thin-film magnetic head comprising the steps of: forming a laminate of a lower magnetic layer, first insulating layer and first conductive layer on a substrate; forming a first coil patterned mask on said first conductive layer of the laminate; applying a first ion beam onto a structure formed by the first two steps to simultaneously etch said first insulating layer and said first conductive layer; successively forming a second insulating layer and a second conductive layer over said etched structure; forming a second coil patterned mask on said second conductive layer, the second coil patterned mask being aligned with said first coil patterned mask; applying a second ion beam onto a structure formed by the above steps to simultaneously etch said second insulating layer and said second conductive layer; and successively forming a third insulating layer and an upper magnetic layer so that a magnetic gap between said lower and upper magnetic layers is defined by the thickness of said third insulating layer; wherein said first and second ion beams are respectively applied at respective incident angles of α 1 , and α 2 , where α 2 >α 1 .

Claim 6

A method of fabricating a thin-film magnetic head comprising the steps of: forming a laminate of a lower magnetic layer, first insulating layer and first conductive layer on a substrate; forming a first coil patterned mask on said first conductive layer of the laminate; applying a first ion beam onto a structure formed by the first two steps to simultaneously etch said first insulating layer and said first conductive layer; successively forming a second insulating layer and a second conductive layer over said etched structure; forming a second coil patterned mask on said second conductive layer, the second coil patterned mask being aligned with said first coil patterned mask; applying a second ion beam onto a structure formed by the above steps to simultaneously etch said second insulating layer and said second conductive layer; and successively forming a third insulating layer and an upper magnetic layer so that a magnetic gap between said lower and upper magnetic layers is defined by the thickness of said third insulating layer; wherein said first and second ion beams are respectively applied at respective incident angles of α 1 , and α 2 , where α 2 >α 1 .