Floating thin film head fabricated by ion etching method

New methods for manufacturing a floating thin film magnetic head and its characteristics are reported. Simple formulation of the floating thin film magnetic head was attempted by using process not requiring glass bonding technique and by using ion etching method to form the slider surface (air bearing surface), which was formed as a negative pressure slider. The processes comprise forming thin film 4+4 turn transducers on a ferrite or ceramic substrate whose thickness is equal to the slider length, cutting, lapping, ion etching the slider surface to the form of a negative pressure slider, and cutting to the individual core. Results attained show that the present methods are much simpler than former floating thin film magnetic head manufacturing methods. Moreover, it is proven that the head floating characteristics are much better than for the former floating thin film magnetic head. The read/write characteristics for the present head are comparable with characteristics of thin film heads reported previously.