New reactive ion etching process for HDD slider fabrication

High-rate and smooth surface etching of Al₂O₃-TiC has been developed employing inductively coupled plasma (ICP) for HDD head slider fabrication. The etching rate of 350 nm/min, which is more than seven times that of Ar ion beam etching, and average surface roughness (Ra) of around 20 nm were obtained as a result of optimizing etching gas composition of the Cl₂/BCl₃/Ar mixture. The presence of Ar both enhances the etching rate of Al₂O₃ grains, which limits the Al₂O₃-TiC rate, and suppresses that of TiC grains to improve the surface roughness. This study demonstrates the feasibility of ICP etching for fabricating high precision sliders with high throughput