Session: 10-01 Tribology, Dynamics and Servo control of Nano-Micro systems

Paper Number: 110612

110612 - On-Track Overwrite Testing in Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording 

Heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) is the leading technology that delivers higher areal density compared to the current perpendicular magnetic recording. In HAMR, optical power from a laser diode mounted on the slider is coupled to the near-field transducer (NFT) to heat the media locally above the Curie temperature (~500C) to facilitate the writing process. The local heating process poses a lot of challenges in terms of heat management and contamination controls at the HAMR head-disk interface. In this paper, the “on-track overwrite” testing using HAMR head and media is performed using Guzik spin-stand, which is enclosed in a controllable environment. Different numbers of writing were performed on the same tracks on the media surface, simulating different stressful writing conditions at the HAMR head-disk interface. After the testing, optical surface analyzer (OSA) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) are used to investigate head and media surface changes under various stressful writing conditions. Media overcoat wear is observed after a certain number of stress writing and is caused due to the thermo-mechanical contacts between head smear and media surface. Media temperature and relative humidity are found to be important to control media overcoat wear in HAMR.

Presenting Author: Tan Trinh Western Digital

Presenting Author Biography: Tan Trinh is currently a R&D principal engineer at Western Digital.