Ion beam deposition of alumina for recording head applications

In this work, aluminum oxide films were prepared by Ion Beam Deposition (IBD) in a dual-gun system. Films prepared from alumina target at high deposition beam parameters and low assist parameters resulted in lower compressive stress and better etch resistance than sputtered alumina films. Excellent thickness uniformity and topological step coverage were also achieved. Nano-crystalline alumina films with superior etch resistance were grown by reactive sputtering from an aluminum target at low deposition rate. Appropriate balance between the deposition beam and assist beam was important in order to get such high etch resistance. Discussions of both IBD and sputtering methods, the effect of beam parameters on the alumina properties, and structural analysis were presented in this paper.