Heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) transducer heads record data on a recording media using laser thermal assistance by converting laser light by the near field transducer to evanescent fields that are more compact and create a highly intense energy spot on the media for a write operation. The technology takes advantage of high-stability magnetic compounds that can store single bits in a small bit storage area on the magnetic storage medium without being limited by the same paramagnetic effect that limits other types of magnetic storage technology. HAMR systems apply heat to each bit storage area during a write operation to overcome the enhanced stability of the magnetic storage medium, thus allowing a magnetic write pole circuit to effect a change in magnetic polarity of the heated bit storage area without changing the polarity of nearby unheated bit storage areas. In some circumstances, a light source (such as a laser) is used to heat the bit location during a write operation. However, the presence of a waveguide for the light transfer and a near field optical transducer in the HAMR head involves complex manufacturing techniques and limits the design space available for the magnetic portion of the writer. Thus, any design changes to the write pole are generally limited in nature.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds