Split contact sensor for a heat-assisted magnetic recording slider

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10657991-B2
Application number	US-201916524512-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 29, 2019
Priority date	Sep 18, 2018
Publication date	May 19, 2020
Grant date	May 19, 2020

Abstract

ABS section situated at or near the ABS and spaced apart from the first ABS in a cross-track direction by a gap, and a distal section extending away from the ABS and connecting the first ABS section with the second ABS section.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus, comprising:
a slider comprising an air bearing surface (ABS), a leading edge, and a trailing edge opposing the leading edge;
a writer having a write pole situated at or near the ABS;
a near-field transducer (NFT) situated at or near the ABS and between the write pole and the leading edge of the slider,
an optical waveguide configured to couple light from a laser source to the NFT;
a contaminant buildup region at and near the NFT and the write pole; and
a contact sensor situated between the write pole and the trailing edge, at least a portion of the contact sensor situated at or near the ABS and comprising a gap sufficient in size to accommodate a width of the contaminant buildup region.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the portion of the contact sensor comprises a first ABS section and a second ABS section;
the gap is defined between the first and second ABS sections; and
a structural element of the slider is disposed in the gap.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the structural element comprises a magnetic structure of the writer.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the contact sensor comprises a distal section extending away from the ABS and connected to the portion of the contact sensor.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein:
a structural element of the slider is disposed in the gap; and
the distal section of the contact sensor wraps at least partially around the structural element.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein a dielectric material is disposed between at least the distal section of the contact sensor and the structural element.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the gap has a spacing ranging from about 2 μm to about 8 μm.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the contact sensor has a length defined along the ABS ranging from about 8 μm to about 20 μm.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the contact sensor is configured to sense head-medium contact, Broad Laser-induced Writer Protrusion (BLIWP), and Local Laser-induced Writer Protrusion (LLIWP).

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the portion of the contact sensor comprises a first ABS section and a second ABS section;
an angle is defined between the NFT and opposing ends of the first and second ABS sections; and
the angle ranges from about 15 degrees to about 30 degrees.

11. An apparatus, comprising:
a slider comprising an air bearing surface (ABS), a leading edge, and a trailing edge opposing the leading edge;
a writer having a write pole situated at or near the ABS;
a near-field transducer (NFT) situated at or near the ABS and between the write pole and the leading edge of the slider,
an optical waveguide configured to couple light from a laser source to the NFT;
a contaminant buildup region at and near the NFT and the write pole; and
a contact sensor situated between the write pole and the trailing edge, the contact sensor comprising a plurality of sensor sections situated at or near the ABS and a gap between the plurality of sensor sections, wherein the gap is sufficient in size such that the plurality of sensor sections are outside of the contaminant buildup region.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein:
the plurality of sensor sections comprises a first ABS section and a second ABS section;
the gap is defined between the first and second ABS sections; and
a structural element of the slider is disposed in the gap.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the structural element comprises a magnetic structure of the writer.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the contact sensor comprises a distal section extending away from the ABS and connected to the plurality of sensor sections.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein:
a structural element of the slider is disposed in the gap; and
the distal section of the contact sensor wraps at least partially around the structural element.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein a dielectric material is disposed between at least the distal section of the contact sensor and the structural element.

17. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the gap has a spacing ranging from about 2 μm to about 8 μm.

18. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the contact sensor has a length defined along the ABS ranging from about 8 μm to about 20 μm.

19. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the contact sensor is configured to sense head-medium contact, Broad Laser-induced Writer Protrusion (BLIWP), and Local Laser-induced Writer Protrusion (LLIWP).

20. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein:
the plurality of sensor sections comprises a first ABS section and a second ABS section;
an angle is defined between the NFT and opposing ends of the first and second ABS sections; and
the angle ranges from about 15 degrees to about 30 degrees.

Assignees

• Seagate Technology Llc

Inventors

• Hutchinson Erik Jon
• Macken Declan
• Anaya-Dufresne Manuel Charles

Classifications

• G11B5/4813

  Mounting or aligning of arm assemblies, e.g. actuator arm supported by bearings, multiple arm assemblies, arm stacks or multiple heads on single arm (G11B5/484 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G11B5/4866

  the arm comprising an optical waveguide, e.g. for thermally-assisted recording · CPC title

• G11B5/314

  where the layers are extra layers normally not provided in the transducing structure, e.g. optical layers (G11B5/3196 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G11B5/4826

  Mounting, aligning or attachment of the transducer head relative to the arm assembly, e.g. slider holding members, gimbals, adhesive (G11B5/484 takes precedence; details of head housings or structures G11B5/10, G11B5/127; adjustment relative to the record carrier G11B5/56) · CPC title

• G11B2005/0021

  Thermally assisted recording using an auxiliary energy source for heating the recording layer locally to assist the magnetization reversal · CPC title