ABSTRACT
Bar lapping is a key process in Slider Micro-Fabrication Process of Hard Disk Drive
(HDD) industry. The purpose this process is to remove a small amount of material so
that the transducer Sensor Height (SH) variation across the bar is minimized. One of
the main problems occurred during the lapping process is bar bowing, which damages
both ends of slider bar causing the difficulty to control SH. In this study, the commercial
ANSYS software is employed to evaluate the bar bowing profiles before and after the
design improvement. Before the lapping process, the slider bar needs to be mounted
on a bridge carrier with the wafer gripper, which functions as an adhesive between
these two parts. The bridge carrier with wafer gripper and bar is then heated up in an
oven in order to melt the adhesive for the bonding process. In this process, the bridge
carrier is expanded and consequently causes the bar bow problem. In order to solve
the problem, the stainless bar is inserted into the bridge carrier for the reinforcement.
The results from the finite element model show that the deflection of the bar is reduced
by 38%. The actual data of bar bow profile before the reinforcement is measured from
the field. The results are similar to the profiles simulated via FEM. As a result, the
conclusions from FEM could be applied as a guideline to the new bar lapping
development.