Quasi Static Testing Ultimate Solution for Cost Effective Quality Verification and ESD Analysis of GMR Heads Henry Patland Wade Ogle 2192 Bering Drive San Jose, CA 95131 hpatland@isiguys.com www.isiguys.com

Welcome to Complex World of GMR Head

Manufacturing GMR heads with good Yield, Reliability and Cost GMR is a new complex technology requiring new manufacturing and test methodology GMR technology provides huge advances in Arial Density GMR is the most ESD sensitive mass produced device in the world Is There an ultimate test solution for manufacturing GMR heads with good Yield, Reliability and Cost?

GMR Manufacturing Process WAFER (Semiconductor Process, Test) ROW/BAR (Wafer Slicing, Row Level Lapping, Test) SLIDER (Row Dicing, Slider Level Lapping, Test) HGA (Assy from Sliders, Suspension, FCBA’s, Test) HSA (Assy from HGA’s, Actuator, VC, FCBA’s, Preamp Chip, Test) HDA (Assy from HSA’s, Media, Enclosures, Drive PCB, Servo,Test) How many places in your manufacturing process can GMR elements get damaged?

Basics of Quasi-Static Testing The roots of QST are derived from actual drive operation As GMR passes over a disk it is introduced to a variety of magnetic field. In simplest terms the resistance of the GMR is dependent on the magnetic field applied to it. In ideal case the relationship of GMR resistance to applied field is linear, but we don’t live in ideal world. Close To Ideal Transfer Curve

QST Testing as a Concept Quasi Static Testing can characterize the GMR performance, with the following advantages over DET Testing: Independent of external influence (disk variation) Significantly more flexible, with the ability to subject the GMR to any variety of operating conditions. Can analyze pure GMR performance with higher resolution than DET Testing. Reduced Risk of Handling or Tester damaging heads QST Testing is inexpensive, fast, relatively simple, and requires significantly lower maintenance and operating costs compared to DET Testing.

QST Transfer Curve Resistance Amplitude Asymmetry Barkh Jump Hysteresis Bias Point Delta R/R Bias Angle Slope Max Slope Parametrics extracted from QST Transfer Curve

Common Anomalies which cause errors in a drive Baseline anomalies Single Bit Jumps (Kinks) Amplitude variation Asymmetry

Can QST screen out these Anomalies? Amplitude / Asymmetry Variation Baseline Shift / Popping Field Induced Instabilities (Kinks) Reader Induced Instabilities Writer Induced Instabilities ESD Soft/Hard Damage (Amplitude, Pin-Reversal, Asymmetry) DET/Drive Correlation

Amplitude/Asymmetry Variation Poor Amplitude High Asymmetry

Base Line Shift / Popping Barkhausen Jump Large Hysteresis

Field Induced Instabilities Field Instability at 40 Oe Kink / Max Slope

Reader Induced Instabilities Reader Instability

Writer Induced Instabilities (Popcorn)

ESD Soft / Hard Damage Amplitude and Asymmetry Degradation No Amplitude – Hard Damage Pin-Layer Reversal

Drive Anomaly Correlation Amplitude variation in Drive caused by High Hysteresis shown in Transfer Curve

QST to DET Correlation Test conditions QST-2002 Guzik 1001 + 1701 Sweep: 275 Oe Measured at 250 Oe Bias Current: 5 mA Guzik 1001 + 1701 Frequency: 5 MHz Filter: 60 MHz RPM: 5400

The Answer is YES, QST can screen out most common Anomalies! Drive Anomaly QST Function Amplitude/Asymmetry Variation Transfer Curve Amplitude/Asymmetry Baseline Shift / Popping Transfer Curve Barkhausen Jump and Hysteresis Field Induced Instabilities (Kinks) Transfer Curve Max Slope and Field Induced Noise Test Writer/Reader Induced Instabilities Writer/Reader Induced Noise Test ESD Damage (Amp, Pin-Reversal, Asymmetry) Transfer Curve Amp, Asymmetry and Slope DET/ Drive Correlation YES

Additional Functionality of QST Testers Static Tests of HSA components including Preamp Chip, Voice Coil, FCBA, Writer Elevated Temperature Testing PZT Suspension Testing ESD Failure Threshold Testing

ESD Damage to GMR heads is considered one of the worst problems in Manufacturing Today Due to sensitivity to ESD, GMR heads can be easily damaged or destroyed by the slightest ESD event caused by Humans or Machines in Manufacturing Unfortunately, this problem is here to stay and will only get worse in near future as the ESD Failure Voltage level is inversely proportional to Arial Density CDM (Charged Device Model) is rapidly becoming the standard for characterizing GMR head ESD Failure Thresholds

QST can characterize ESD damage by applying a controlled ESD events to GMR head HBM: 10% Resistance Change Sensor Damage HBM CDM: 100% Resistance Change Multiple distributed melting points CDM

What can be done about GMR head ESD Sensitivity ? Improved design of GMR head which is less sensitive to ESD Eliminate ESD events from Manufacturing Monitor GMR head performance after every significant process to isolate and eliminate ESD events in Manufacturing As Al Wallash – Maxtor would put it: “Don’t loose your head over ESD” Whatever you do, QST Testing can Help!

By Applying Varying Amplitude ESD Events to GMR Head, QST can easily determine heads Failure points Resistance Failure Meltdown Amp Failure Pin Reversal Asymmetry Failure

CDM Failure Threshold at 5V Direct-CDM Sweep CDM Failure Threshold at 5V Partial Damage

QST is the Ultimate Test Solution for GMR head manufacturing QST Testing Methodology can be applied from Wafer to HDA level testing QST Testing can screen out bad heads early in manufacturing process QST Testing can identify which processes in Manufacturing are ESDing your heads QST Testing is fast and inexpensive QST Testing can be done with None or Very Little Handling on many test levels QST surpasses DET in analyzing pure GMR performance

References [1] J.Himle, R.Cross, M.Greenwell, “Drive-Level Instabilities Correlated to Quasi-Static Field Testing”, MMM-Intermag 2001 [2] C. Moore, “A Comparison of Quasi-Static Characteristics and Failure Signatures of GMR Heads subjected to CDM and HBM ESD Events” [3] Integral Solutions Int’l, “Quasi 97” and “QST-2002” Tester

Acknowledgements Al Wallash – Quantum/Maxtor Mark Nichols – Quantum/Maxtor Jenny Himle - Maxtor