Thin film TiSixNy protective layer

Details Thin film TiSixNy protective layer Thin film TiSixNy protective layer

2002-04-08

2003-07-01

Resan, Stevan A. (Department: 1773)

Stock material or miscellaneous articles

Circular sheet or circular blank

Recording medium or carrier

C428S690000, C204S192150, C204S192160

Reexamination Certificate

active

06586070

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to materials useful as thin film protective layers and more particularly to thin film films comprising TiSi
x
N
y
and even more particularly to such films as used on thin film magnetic media.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A typical prior art head and disk system
10
is illustrated in FIG.
1
. In operation the magnetic transducer
20
is supported by the suspension
13
as it flies above the disk
16
. The magnetic transducer
20
, usually called a “head”, is composed of elements that perform the task of writing magnetic transitions (the write head
23
) and reading the magnetic transitions (the read head
12
). The electrical signals to and from the read and write heads
12
,
23
travel along conductive paths (leads)
14
which are attached to or embedded in the suspension
13
. The magnetic transducer
20
is positioned over points at varying radial distances from the center of the disk
16
to read and write circular tracks (not shown). The disk
16
is attached to a spindle
18
that is driven by a spindle motor
24
to rotate the disk
16
. The disk
16
comprises a substrate
26
on which a plurality of thin films
21
are deposited. The thin films
21
include ferromagnetic material in which the write head
23
records the magnetic transitions in which information is encoded. The thin film protective layer (not shown in
FIG. 1
) is typically the last or outermost layer.
The conventional disk
16
typically has a substrate
26
of AlMg/NiP or glass. The thin films
21
on the disk
16
typically include a chromium or chromium alloy underlayer that is deposited on the substrate
26
. The magnetic layer in the thin films
21
is based on various alloys of cobalt, nickel and iron. For example, a commonly used alloy is CoPtCr. However, additional elements such as tantalum and boron are often used in the magnetic alloy.
FIG. 2
illustrates one common internal structure of thin films
21
on disk
16
. The protective overcoat layer
37
is used to improve wearability and corrosion resistance. The materials and/or compositions which are optimized for one performance characteristic of an overcoat are rarely optimized for others. The most commonly used protective layer materials for commercial thin film disks have been carbon, hydrogenated carbon (CH
x
), nitrogenated carbon (CN
x
) and CN
x
H
y
. The overcoat on a thin film magnetic disk is subjected to an environment that is quite different from that of a thin film layer in a semiconductor device. The overcoat on a magnetic disk is an integral part of a mechanical system and is thereby subjected to physical impact by the head, contamination by contact with the atmosphere and electrostatic effects caused by intermittant rubbing with the head, i.e., tribocharging. In order to improve the performance of magnetic thin film media the protective overcoat
37
must be made as thin as possible to reduce the separation from the magnetic transducer
20
and the magnetic thin film
33
while maintaining the protective function.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,334 Sagoi, et al., describe the use of SiN
x
as an overcoat layer for a magnetic thin film disk. Sagoi asserts that silicon oxide, aluminum oxide, titanium nitride make brittle overcoats which are prone to excessive wear from contact with the head. U.S. Pat. No. 6,136,421 to Chen describes the use of silicon nitride oxide as part of a bilayer overcoat which has a layer of amorphous carbonaceous layer over it.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The applicants disclose a overcoat layer of TiSi
x
N
y
for use on a magnetic thin film disk. The overcoat of the invention has high hardness, provides corrosion protection and has low surface energy which reduces contaminant attraction. The TiSi
x
N
y
film is conductive and, therefore, reduces the deleterious effects of tribocharging.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4761334 (1988-08-01), Sagoi et al.
patent: 5403458 (1995-04-01), Hartig et al.

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