The present disclosure relates to kiss lapping sliders after patterning an air bearing surface pattern, followed by applying a protective overcoat to the air bearing surface. The present disclosure also involves related sliders.

A high density slider clamp fixture is disclosed for accurately positioning a large number of head sliders for metrology testing. The slider clamp fixture may include a single piece, monolithic structure comprising a large number of slider nests, aligned in rows and columns in the slider fixture. Each slider nest includes a reference datum surface machined to precisely align with all other reference datum surfaces in a row of the monolithic structure. Each slider nest further includes a flexure clamp for independent clamping of each slider in the row against the reference datum surfaces.

The present invention is directed to the fabrication of head sliders for use in hard disk drives, and in particular the provision and usage of electrical bond pads on the slider surface structure to accommodate needs of the fabrication process as well as slider operation within a disk drive.

A system and methods for manufacturing devices such as flexures using process coupons are described are described. The method including performing a test on at least one feature of a coupon, the coupon is included on an assembly sheet used in manufacturing flexures. The at least one feature is produced by a manufacturing processing step that is used to produce a portion of a flexure. And, the physical characteristics of the feature include at least one physical characteristic that is different than physical characteristics of the portion. The method also including determining the manufacturing processing step will produce an abnormal portion of a flexure based on the performed test. Further, the method includes adjusting the manufacturing processing step and manufacturing a portion of a flexure using the adjusted manufacturing processing step.

The present disclosure relates to kiss lapping sliders after patterning an air bearing surface pattern, followed by applying a protective overcoat to the air bearing surface. The present disclosure also involves related sliders.

The present invention is directed to the fabrication of head sliders for use in hard disk drives, and in particular the provision and usage of electrical bond pads on the slider surface structure to accommodate needs of the fabrication process as well as slider operation within a disk drive.

A recording head that includes a reader having a front end at a bearing surface of the recording head and a rear end behind the bearing surface. The reader has a non-rectangular shape with a front-end width that is less than an average width of the reader. A first bias element is positioned proximate to a first side of the reader, and a second bias element is positioned proximate to a second side of the reader. Each of the first and second bias elements has a bias level that is a function of a ratio of the front-end width to the average width of the reader.

A system and methods for manufacturing devices such as flexures using process coupons are described are described. The method including performing a test on at least one feature of a coupon, the coupon is included on an assembly sheet used in manufacturing flexures. The at least one feature is produced by a manufacturing processing step that is used to produce a portion of a flexure. And, the physical characteristics of the feature include at least one physical characteristic that is different than physical characteristics of the portion. The method also including determining the manufacturing processing step will produce an abnormal portion of a flexure based on the performed test. Further, the method includes adjusting the manufacturing processing step and manufacturing a portion of a flexure using the adjusted manufacturing processing step.

A non-local spin valve (NLSV) sensor includes a bearing surface and a detector located proximate to the bearing surface. The NLSV sensor also includes a channel layer located behind the detector relative to the bearing surface, and in a substantially same plane as the detector. The channel layer has a front end that is proximate to the detector and a rear end that is distal to the detector. The NLSV sensor further includes first and second spin injectors, with the first spin injector located proximate to the rear end of the channel layer and positioned above the channel layer, and the second spin injector located proximate the rear end of the channel layer and positioned below the channel layer.

A high density slider clamp fixture is disclosed for accurately positioning a large number of head sliders for metrology testing. The slider clamp fixture may include a single piece, monolithic structure comprising a large number of slider nests, aligned in rows and columns in the slider fixture. Each slider nest includes a reference datum surface machined to precisely align with all other reference datum surfaces in a row of the monolithic structure. Each slider nest further includes a flexure clamp for independent clamping of each slider in the row against the reference datum surfaces.