Method and apparatus to provide a GMR lapping plate texturization using a photo-chemical process

Abstract

A system and method are described for manufacturing a lapping plate. In one example, the lapping plate is made by covering a Tin-Antimony plate with photoresist and exposing the resulting photoresist layer with UV light through a wire mesh mask. After development, the non-etch areas can serve as land areas for diamond charging. Such a method may lead to fewer artifacts on the lapping plate and smaller diamond particle dimensions resulting in better processing of read/write heads, especially GMR heads.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method of manufacturing a lapping plate comprising: 
 selectively etching a metal plate; and    imbedding diamond particles into said metal plate.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said etching step includes: 
 applying a photoresist layer to said metal plate; and  
 selectively removing photoresist from a surface of said metal plate.  
 
     
     
         3 . A method of manufacturing a lapping plate comprising: 
 applying a photoresist layer to a metal plate;    selectively exposing areas of said photoresist layer to electromagnetic radiation;    developing said photoresist layer;    etching areas of said metal disk; and    imbedding diamond particles into non-etched areas of said metal disk.    
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  wherein said selectively exposing operating includes: 
 providing a mask between an electromagnetic radiation source and said photoresist layer;  
 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein said mask is a wire mesh.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4  wherein said electromagnetic radiation is ultra-violet radiation.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 4  wherein said photoresist is a positive photoresist.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 4  wherein said photoresist is a negative photoresist.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 4  wherein said etching operation is a wet-etch operation.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 4  wherein said diamond particles have a diameter less than 50 nanometers.  
     
     
         11 . A method of fabricating a read/write head for a disk drive, comprising: 
 applying a photoresist layer to a metal plate;    selectively exposing areas of said photoresist layer to electromagnetic radiation;    developing said photoresist layer;    etching areas of said metal disk;    imbedding diamond particles into non-etched areas of said metal disk to create a lapping plate; and    lapping a read/write head with said lapping plate.    
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  wherein said selectively exposing operating includes: 
 providing a mask between an electromagnetic radiation source and said photoresist layer;  
 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  wherein said mask is a wire mesh.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12  wherein said electromagnetic radiation is ultra-violet radiation.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12  wherein said photoresist is a positive photoresist.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12  wherein said photoresist is a negative photoresist.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12  wherein said etching operation is a wet-etch operation.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12  wherein said diamond particles have a diameter less than 50 nanometers.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18  wherein said read/write head is a GMR read/write head.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18  wherein a pole tip recession for said GMR read/write head is between 2 and 3 nanometers.  
     
     
         21 . A lapping plate comprising: 
 a metal plate including a plurality of etched areas, said etched areas formed from an etching operation through a developed photoresist mask; and    diamond particles imbedded into non-etched areas of the metal plate.    
     
     
         22 . The lapping plate of  claim 21  wherein said photoresist is a positive photoresist.  
     
     
         23 . The lapping plate of  claim 21  wherein said photoresist is a negative photoresist.  
     
     
         24 . The lapping plate of  claim 21  wherein said metal plate is wet-etched.  
     
     
         25 . The lapping plate of  claim 21  wherein said diamond particles have a diameter less than 50 nanometers.