High moment materials are used in various layers in electronic devices. For example, magnetic recording head structures, such as write transducer poles and shields, may include conventional multilayers. The conventional layers in the multilayers may be formed by some combination of sputtering and/or plating. At least some of these layers may include high Bsat materials, such as high-Fe content alloys. Such materials often have a galvanic potential that is highly polarized in the negative direction and are thus subject to corrosion. These alloys may also be in contact with more noble materials. For example, a higher-Fe content Fe alloy having a more negative galvanic potential may be in contact with a lower-Fe content alloy having a less negative galvanic potential. Because of the galvanic coupling between these materials, the higher-Fe content alloy may be particularly susceptible to corrosion.
Various conventional mechanisms exist for reducing corrosion of such high moment layers in a device. For plating processes time limitations are typically set for loading and unloading/time before rinse of a substrate to limit exposure of the material to an environment in which the material(s) may corrode. However, corrosion may still occur. If the material is plated, conventional “hot loading” and “hot unloading” may be used. In conventional hot loading/unloading, a protective cathodic current passes through the deposition substrate as the substrate is loaded into/unloaded from the plating cell. However, this conventional method is only effective as long as the cathodic current is passing through the device. Further, this conventional method may be less effective during the unloading. Once removal of the substrate from the plating cell causes the circuit to break, protection due to the cathodic current is lost. Exposure to corrosion then intrinsically exists because the unprotected substrate remains in contact with acidic plating solution until rinse. The risk of corrosion is higher for plating operations where plating-to-rinse transfer times are greater. However, this risk can still be significant for lower transfer times achievable in automated plating tools. Consequently, materials in a device such as a magnetic recording transducer are subject to corrosion.
Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method for providing a transducer that may mitigate corrosion of high moment layers.