Hdd pattern implant system

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for forming substrates having magnetically patterned surfaces is provided. A magnetic layer comprising one or more materials having magnetic properties is formed on a substrate. The magnetic layer is subjected to a patterning process in which selected portions of the surface of the magnetic layer are altered such that the altered portions have different magnetic properties from the non-altered portions without changing the topography of the substrate. A protective layer and a lubricant layer are deposited over the patterned magnetic layer. The patterning is accomplished through a number of processes that expose substrates to energy of varying forms. Apparatus and methods disclosed herein enable processing of two major surfaces of a substrate simultaneously, or sequentially by flipping. In some embodiments, magnetic properties of the substrate surface may be uniformly altered by plasma exposure and then selectively restored by exposure to patterned energy.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus for processing magnetic substrates, comprising:
 a processing chamber;   a substrate support comprising a plurality of substrate locations provided thereon;   means for flipping substrates to enable exposing at least two major surfaces of each substrate to a processing environment in the processing chamber;   means for modifying the magnetic properties of the at least two major surfaces of each substrate;   a stage adjacent to the processing chamber; and   a substrate loader coupled to the stage and the processing chamber, wherein:
 the substrate loader comprises a robot that rotates each substrate about an axis parallel to a diameter of the substrate, and 
 the substrate support comprises a substrate carrier having the plurality of substrate locations provided thereon. 
   
     
     
         2 . An apparatus for processing one or more substrates, comprising:
 a plurality of processing chambers, each chamber comprising a substrate support with a plurality of laterally displaced substrate holding sites, a plasma source facing the substrate support, and a gas source; and   a flipper comprising one or more extensions actuated to access substrates on the substrate support, contact an edge of a substrate, and rotate the substrate about an axis parallel to a diameter of the substrate.   
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein at least one of the processing chambers is a plasma immersion ion implantation chamber with an inductive plasma source. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , further comprising a stage adjacent to the processing chambers for holding one or more substrates. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the flipper is a substrate loader coupled with the processing chambers and the stage. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein each substrate support exposes a plurality of substrates to the process environment simultaneously. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , further comprising a substrate carrier with a plurality of laterally displaced substrate locations. 
     
     
         8 . An apparatus for processing magnetic substrates, comprising:
 a plurality of processing chambers, at least one of which has a substrate support with a plurality of laterally displaced substrate locations disposed therein;   a transfer chamber coupled to the processing chambers; and   a robot that rotates a substrate about an axis parallel to a diameter of the substrate.   
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein each processing chamber is selected from the group consisting of a plasma chamber, an ion implant chamber, a physical imprint chamber, a CVD chamber, a PVD chamber, a resist stripping chamber, a protective coating chamber, and a lubricant coating chamber. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein a first processing chamber is a plasma immersion ion implantation chamber, and a second processing chamber is a resist stripping chamber. 
     
     
         11 . A method of creating a pattern of magnetic domains on a magnetically susceptible surface of one or more substrates, comprising:
 applying a mask to at least a portion of the magnetically susceptible surface to form a masked portion and an unmasked portion of the surface;   modifying the magnetic characteristics of the unmasked portion of the magnetically susceptible surface by immersing the substrate in a plasma comprising ions having an average energy between about 0.2 keV and about 4.8 key; and   removing the mask.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the ions comprise one or more elements selected from the group consisting of helium, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, boron, fluorine, argon, silicon, platinum, aluminum, phosphorus. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the ions have average energy between about 2.0 keV and about 4.0 keV. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein two or more substrates are processed simultaneously. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein modifying the magnetic properties of the unmasked portion of the magnetically susceptible surface comprises substantially demagnetizing the unmasked portion. 
     
     
         16 . A method of forming a magnetic medium for a hard disk drive, comprising:
 forming a magnetic layer on at least two major surfaces of a substrate;   forming a patterned mask over the magnetic layer on the at least two major surfaces of the substrate to form a masked portion and an unmasked portion of the magnetic layer; and   modifying the magnetic properties of the unmasked portion of the at least two major surfaces of the substrate by immersing the substrate in a plasma.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein a plurality of substrates is processed simultaneously in one chamber. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein two major surfaces of each substrate are exposed to a processing environment sequentially. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising flipping each substrate. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the substrate is immersed in the plasma for a duration of about 60 seconds or less.