Writing Performance of a Planar Single-Pole Head With a Main Pole Fabricated by Ion-Beam Milling

Writing performance of a shielded planar head with an ion-beam-fabricated main pole was estimated. Magnetic field simulation based on an ion-beam-etched Fe-Co film profile revealed that the two- or three-step-tapered main pole structure, which is one of characteristic configurations of the ion-beam process, has high writing and fabricating potential compared with that of the silicon template process. Especially, the three-step-tapered main pole shows not only high field strength (15 kOe) and field gradient (500 Oe/nm) but also well- suppressed fringing field. The shielded planar head with the ion-beam-milling-processed main pole is one of the leading candidates for application as a writer in the era of Tbpsi recording.