1. A method of manufacturing a magnetic head for perpendicular magnetic recording, the magnetic head comprising:
a medium facing surface that faces toward a recording medium;
a coil for generating a magnetic field corresponding to data to be written on the recording medium;
a pole layer including a track width defining portion having an end face located in the medium facing surface, the pole layer allowing a magnetic flux corresponding to the field generated by the coil to pass therethrough, and generating a write magnetic field for writing the data on the recording medium through the use of a perpendicular magnetic recording system; and
a substrate on which the pole layer and the coil are stacked, wherein;
the end face of the track width defining portion located in the medium facing surface has a first side close to the substrate; a second side located opposite to the first side; a third side connecting an end of the first side to an end of the second side; and a fourth side connecting the other end of the first side to the other end of the second side;
the second side defines a track width; and
the pole layer is made of a magnetic alloy including any of cobalt, iron and nickel, the method comprising the steps of:
forming an underlying layer in a region in which the track width defining portion is to be disposed, the underlying layer being made of a material whose etching rate of ion beam etching is higher than that of the magnetic alloy used to make the pole layer;
forming a magnetic layer including a portion to be etched that has two side surfaces and that will be formed into the track width defining portion by making the side surfaces sloped through etching, the magnetic layer being designed to be the pole layer by etching the side surfaces of the portion to be etched, wherein the magnetic layer is formed such that the portion to be etched is disposed on the underlying layer;
etching the side surfaces of the portion to be etched by ion beam etching so that the magnetic layer is formed into the pole layer and so that the end face of the track width defining portion located in the medium facing surface has a width that decreases as a distance from the first side decreases;
forming the coil; and
patterning the underlying layer by etching the underlying layer through the use of the magnetic layer as a mask, the step of patterning being performed after the step of forming the magnetic layer and before the step of etching the side surfaces of the portion to be etched,
wherein, after the step of etching the side surfaces of the portion to be etched, a maximum width of a portion of the underlying layer taken in the medium facing surface is smaller than a minimum width of the pole layer taken in the medium facing surface.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of forming the magnetic layer includes the steps of:
forming a layer that is designed to be the magnetic layer; and
patterning the layer by etching so that the layer is formed into the magnetic layer.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the magnetic layer is formed by plating.
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the material of the underlying layer contains at least once of Ta, Mo, W, Ti, Cr, Ni, Pd, Ru, TiW, TiN, NiCr, PtPd, and NiCu.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An apparatus for measuring a workpiece, comprising:
a probe housing;
a capacitance probe mounted to the probe housing, and comprising a probe tip with a sensor surface that emits an electric field;
a non-conductive spacer extending between a probe contact surface and a workpiece contact surface, wherein the probe contact surface covers the sensor surface, and the workpiece contact surface contacts the workpiece during the measuring;
a metering device that is configured in communication with the capacitance probe, and that provides a voltage signal indicative of a field strength of an electrostatic field between the sensor surface and the workpiece; and
a processing device that provides a radius signal based on the voltage signal.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the capacitance probe is utilized to measure a radius of the workpiece.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the non-conductive spacer comprises at least one of plastic, ceramic, polytetrafluoroethylene and 9-2-(phosphonomethoxy)ethyladenine.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the non-conductive spacer comprises a permittivity less than approximately two and one hundred.
5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensor surface comprises a surface thickness and a surface width that is greater than the surface thickness.
6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the probe tip comprises a rectangular geometry.
7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the probe housing comprises a handheld probe housing.
8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the probe housing comprises a base segment connected to a tip segment that moves relative to the base segment, and wherein the capacitance probe is mounted to the tip segment.
9. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a power source connected to the capacitance probe.
10. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a base station that houses the metering device and the processing device.
11. An apparatus for measuring a workpiece, comprising:
a probe housing;
a capacitance probe mounted to the probe housing, and comprising a probe tip with a sensor surface that emits an electric field; and
a non-conductive spacer extending between a probe contact surface and a workpiece contact surface, wherein the probe contact surface covers the sensor surface, and the workpiece contact surface contacts the workpiece during the measuring;
wherein the capacitance probe further comprises a sensor element, a guard that focuses the electric field emitted from the sensor surface, and a dielectric material arranged between the sensor element and the guard, wherein the sensor element comprises the sensor surface, and wherein the sensor element, the guard and the dielectric material extend to the probe tip.
12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the probe contact surface covers the probe tip.
13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the guard comprises a pair of guard plates, and the sensor element is arranged between the guard plates.
14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the capacitance probe further comprises a non-conductive shield that extends around respective sides of the sensor element, the guard and the dielectric material.