Narrow track magnetic head fabricated by ion-etching method

Manufacturing narrow track magnetic heads is difficult as track widths become very narrow. A new flying-head manufacturing method is established by applying ion-etching. Optimum conditions for ion-etching of the ferrite material were determined. More than 10 μm ion-etched depth and even less than 5 μm track width were obtained. Through experimental and theoretical evaluation, it is proven that ion-etched heads have equivalent or better read/write characteristics than mechanically manufactured heads.