Laser processing of alumina or metals on or embedded therein

摘要

UV laser output (190) is employed to sever a conductive shunt (106) formed across conductive components, such as read pads, of a magnetic head (10) of a slider (14) without damaging underlayers sensitive to UV laser light. An exemplary conductive shunt (106) is preferably fabricated from gold other appropriate metal(s) and forms a closed circuit with the magnetic head sensor (20) to protect it from damage from electrostatic discharge during polishing and other magnetic head processing steps. The conductive shunt (106) may be on or embedded in an alumina layer(44), permitting shunting at different workpiece layers and permitting the shunting to be present through more subsequent process steps and removed after singulation or during final assembly.