This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-254348, filed Dec. 25, 2015, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Embodiments described herein relate generally to a magnetic recording head for use in a disk device and a disk device comprising the magnetic recording head.
As a disk device, for example, a magnetic disk device comprises a magnetic disk accommodated in a case, a spindle motor configured to support and rotate the magnetic disk and a magnetic head configured to read/write data from/to the magnetic disk. The magnetic head includes a recording head for writing and a read head for reading.
In recent years, the magnetic head for vertical magnetic recording has been proposed to increase the recording density and capacity of the magnetic disk device, or to achieve miniaturization of the device. In such a magnetic head, the recording head includes a main pole which produces a magnetic field perpendicular to the recording surface of the magnetic disk and a write-shield magnetic pole opposed to the main pole via a write gap. Further, to suppress the degradation of recorded data by the return magnetic field from the main pole, a recording head in which both widthwise sides of the main pole are provided with side shields has been proposed.
It is expected that the recording head with such side shields, which can suppress magnetic field leakage in the width direction from the main pole, will be able to prevent the increase in erase width. However, in some cases, the magnetic flux in the main pole, the recording layer of the magnetic disk and the side shield affects part of the magnetization in the side shield to be directed perpendicular to the recording layer. As a result, when recording is repeatedly carried out on the same tracks, the following drawback may occur. That is, the magnetic field produced from directly beneath the side shield, which has a width spanning several tens of tracks, sometimes undesirably erase or degrade data recorded in a wide region over these tracks.
Various embodiments will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. In general, according to one embodiment, a magnetic recording head comprises an air bearing surface; a main pole comprising a tip end portion exposed to the air bearing face and configured to produce a recording magnetic field; a write shield opposing the tip end portion of the main pole with a write gap; a pair of side shields disposed on both sides of the main pole a track-width direction, respectively; and a conductor provided between surfaces of each of the pair of side shields and the main pole over an entire track width of the side shields, to allow currents to flow in a plane direction of the air bearing surface.
What is disclosed in this specification is merely an example. Appropriate modifications which can be easily conceived by a person ordinarily skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the embodiments naturally fall within the scope of the present invention. To further clarify explanation, for example, the width, thickness or shape of each structure may be schematically shown in the drawings compared with the actual forms. Note that the drawings are merely examples and do not limit the interpretation of the present invention. In the specification and drawings, elements which are identical to those of the already-mentioned figures are denoted by the same reference numbers. Thus, the detailed explanation of such elements may be omitted.
On the base 10a, a magnetic disk 12 as a recording medium and a drive section are provided. The drive section comprises a spindle motor 13 configured to support and rotate the magnetic disk 12; a plurality, for example, two, of magnetic heads 33 configured to write or read data on/from the magnetic disk 12; a carriage assembly 14 configured to support the magnetic heads 33 to be movable with respect to the surface of the magnetic disk 12; and a voice coil motor (VCM) 16 configured to rotate and position the carriage assembly 14. Further, a ramp load mechanism 18 configured to hold the magnetic heads 33 in a position spaced apart from the magnetic disk 12 when the magnetic heads 33 move to the outermost circumference of the magnetic disk 12, a latch mechanism 20 configured to hold the carriage assembly 14 in a retreating position when an impact or the like acts on the HDD, and a board unit 17 on which electronic components including a conversion connector 37 and the like are mounted are provided on the base 10a.
A control circuit board 25 is screwed to the outer surface of the base 10a and opposite to the bottom wall of the base 10a. The control circuit board 25 is configured to control operation of the spindle motor 13, and to control operations of the VCM 16 and the magnetic heads 33 via the board unit 17.
As shown in
The carriage assembly 14 comprises a bearing unit 21 mounted on the bottom wall of the base 10a, a plurality of arms 27 extending from the bearing unit 21 and a plurality of suspensions 30 in the form of an elongated plates, extending from the arms 27. The magnetic head 33 is supported on an extending end of each suspension 30. The arm 27 and the suspension 30 constitute a suspension assembly, and the suspension assembly and the magnetic head 33 form a head suspension assembly.
As shown in
By passing a current to the voice coil of the VCM 16 while the magnetic disk 12 is rotating, the carriage assembly 14 is rotationally moved and the magnetic head 33 is moved and positioned on a desired track of the magnetic disk 12. At this point, the magnetic head 33 is moved between an inner circumferential edge and an outer circumferential edge of the magnetic disk radially with respect to the magnetic disk 12.
Next, the configuration of the magnetic disk 12 and the magnetic head 33 will be described in detail.
As shown in
The slider 42 comprises a rectangular air bearing surface (ABS) 43 opposite to the surface of the magnetic disk 12. The slider 42 is flied by an air flow C produced between the surface of the magnetic disk 12 and the ABS 43 by the rotation of the magnetic disk 12. The direction of the air flow C coincides with the direction of rotation B of the magnetic disk 12. The slider 42 is arranged in such a way that the longitudinal direction of the ABS 43 substantially coincides with the direction of the air flow C with respect to the surface of the magnetic disk 12.
The slider 42 comprises a leading end 42a located on the inflow side of the air flow C and a trailing end 42b located on the outflow side of the air flow C. On the ABS 43 of the slider 42, for example, a leading step, a trailing step, a side step and a negative-pressure cavity are formed (not shown).
As shown in
The read head comprises a magnetic film 55 exhibiting the magneto-resistive effect and shielding films 56 and 57 arranged on a trailing side and a leading side of the magnetic film 55 to sandwich the magnetic film 55 therebetween. The lower ends of the magnetic film 55 and the shielding films 56 and 57 are exposed to the ABS 43 of the slider 42.
The recording head 58 is provided on the side of the trailing end 42b of the slider 42 with respect to the read head 54.
As shown in
The recording coil 70 is wound around the junction 67, for example, between the main pole 60 and the write shield magnetic pole 62. The current fed to the recording coil 70 from a write amplifier (not shown) is controlled by the control circuit board (control unit) 25 of the HDD. When a signal is written to the magnetic disk 12, a predetermined current is fed from the write amplifier to the recording coil 70 to produce a magnetic field by directing magnetic flux to the main pole 60.
As shown in
The write shield magnetic pole 62 is approximately L-shaped and a tip portion 62a thereof is formed as an elongated rectangle. A tip end surface of the write shield magnetic pole 62 is exposed to the ABS 43 of the slider 42. The tip portion 62a of the write shield magnetic pole 62 comprises a leading side end face (magnetic pole end face) 62b opposite to the tip portion 60a of the main pole 60. The length of the leading side end face 62b is sufficiently greater than the width W1 of the tip portion 60a of the main pole 60 and the track width of the magnetic disk 12 and extends in the width direction TW of the track of the magnetic disk 12. The leading side edge face 62b extends substantially perpendicular to the ABS 43. On the ABS 43, the lower end edge of the leading side end face 62b is opposite and parallel to a trailing side end face of the main pole 60 with the write gap WG therebetween.
As shown in
The pair of side shields 74, formed of a material having high magnetic permeability, are formed integrally with the tip portion 62a of the write shield magnetic pole 62, and project toward the leading end side of the slider 42 from the leading side edge face 62b of the tip portion 62a. Each side shield 74 is formed to have such a width or thickness that it exceeds the leading side edge face 60c of the main pole 60 from the leading side edge face 62b of the write shield magnetic pole 62.
Each side shield 74 comprises a substantially rectangular lower surface (first surface) 76a, exposed to the ABS 43 and an upper surface (second surface) 76b apart from the ABS 43 in a height direction (direction away from the ABS) and opposing substantially parallel to the lower surface 76a. A main-pole-side end of the lower surface 76a is opposite to the main pole 60 with a gap therebetween.
As shown in
In this embodiment, a central portion of the conductor 80 is bent to the write shield magnetic pole 62 side and extends over the tip portion 60a of the main pole 60. Both longitudinal ends of the conductor 80 are electrically connected to the current source (power supply) 82 of the HDD through interconnects 83 and the trace member 35 described above. The conductor 80 is formed of, for example, a conductive material such as copper or aluminum and the thickness, the distance L and the current through the conductor 80 are set appropriately according to the intensity of the magnetic field due to the current, produced around the conductor 80 and the intensity of the magnetic field due to the current acting on the side shield 74.
As shown in
Note that the current may be supplied to the conductor 80 continuously at all times, or may be at the time of data recording operation in synchronism with the current supply to the recording coil 70. Moreover, the conductor 80 may not be completely parallel to the ABS 43, but may incline slightly with respect to the ABS 43.
In
As indicated by the solid characteristic line, the recording head according to this embodiment can suppress the fringe field even at a 2-μm position in the off-track direction while maintaining the magnetic field strength in the track center directly under the main pole 60 as compared to the recording head of the comparative example. If the fringe field in the off-track direction has a value greater than that of the nuclear magnetic field (Hn) of a recording layer of the recording medium, the magnetization of the recording layer deteriorates. For example, the graph indicates that when a recording medium with Hn=0.3 T was used, the recording head of the comparative example had a magnetic field intensity higher than Hn=0.3 T within a range of 2 μm in the track-width direction, and the recorded signal deteriorates within this 2-μm range. By contrast, with the recording head of this embodiment, the fringe field within a range of 0.5 to 2 μm is no more than Hn, and therefore the degradation of the recorded signal does not occur. Thus, it is understood that when, for example, an HDD having a recording track width of 50 (nm) is used, a signal deterioration for 40 tracks can be suppressed.
In
As can be understood from
According to the magnetic recording head and magnetic disk device of the embodiment configured as above, the conductor provided between the main pole and the surface of the side shields opposing thereto produces a magnetic field due to a current which directs the magnetization of the side shields in the in-plane direction of the recording layer (the ABS of the head) of the recording medium. Therefore, the fringe field leaking from the side shield to the recording layer is be reduced, thereby making it possible to suppress the production of the magnetic field which may erase or degrade the already recorded data. With this configuration, the erase or degradation of already recorded data can be suppressed in a wide neighboring track region over several tens of tracks on the magnetic disk while maintaining the quality of the on-track signals of the magnetic disk, thus making it possible to achieve long-term data storage. Thus, it is possible to provide such a magnetic recording head and magnetic disk device with improved reliability.
Next, a recording head of an HDD according to another embodiment will now be described. Note that in the description of the following embodiment, those portions that are the same as those of the first embodiment will be given the same reference numbers and their detailed explanation will be omitted. Only those portions that are different from the first embodiment will be mainly explained in detail.
According to the second embodiment, the conductor 80 comprises independent two conductors, namely, a first conductor 80a provided on one of the side shields 74 and a second conductor 80b provided on another of the side shields 74.
The first conductor 80a is provided to oppose an upper surface of the side shield 74 between the one of the side shields 74 and the main pole 60, and further to extend over the entire track width of the one of the side shields 74. More specifically, the first conductor 80a is disposed so that the one of the side shields 74 is interposed between the first conductor 80a itself and the ABS 43. Further, the first conductor 80a is placed substantially parallel to the upper surface of the one of the side shields 74 and the ABS 43, to be separated by only a distance L (for example, 100 nm) in the height direction (direction perpendicular to the ABS 43) from the upper surface of the side shield 74. Both longitudinal ends of the first conductor 80a are electrically connected to the current source 84 through interconnects 83a and the above-described trace member.
The second conductor 80b is provided to oppose the upper surface of the other side shield 74 between the other side shield 74 and the main pole 60, and further to extend over the entire track width of the other side shield 74. More specifically, the second conductor 80b is disposed so that the other side shield 74 is interposed between the second conductor 80b itself and the ABS 43. Further, the second conductor 80b is placed substantially parallel to the upper surface of the other side shield 74 and the ABS 43, to be separated by only a distance L (for example, 100 nm) in the height direction (direction perpendicular to the ABS 43) from the upper surface of the side shield 74. Both longitudinal ends of the second conductor 80b are electrically connected to the current source 84 through interconnects 83b and the above-described trace member.
If a direct or alternating current is supplied to the conductors 80a and 80b from the current source 84, the currents flow substantially parallel to the ABS 43 through the conductors 80a and 80b, to produce concentric therewith magnetic fields due to currents through the conductors 80a and 80b. The magnetic fields due to the currents act on the side shield 74 in the plane direction of the ABS 43. Thus, the direction of magnetization of each side shield 74 is set in an in-plane direction parallel to the ABS 43, namely, the in-plane direction substantially parallel to the recording layer of the magnetic disk 12, thereby making it possible to suppress the production of the fringe field leaking from the side shield 74 in a direction perpendicular to the ABS 43.
In addition, the currents may be supplied to the conductors 80a and 80b continuously at all times, or in synchronism with the current supply to the recording coil 70 only when recording data. Moreover, the conductors 80a and 80b may not necessarily be completely parallel but to the ABS 43, but may incline slightly with respect thereto.
In the second embodiment described above, an effect similar to that of the first embodiment can be obtained. That is, it is possible to provide such a magnetic recording head and magnetic disk device with improved reliability, in which the erase or degradation of already recorded data can be suppressed in a wide neighboring track region over several tens of tracks on a magnetic disk while maintaining the quality of the on-track signals of the magnetic disk, thus making it possible to achieve long-term data storage.
While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.
For example, the materials, shapes and sizes of elements constituting the head unit can be changed depending on the need. Further, in the magnetic disk device, the number of magnetic disks or magnetic recording heads may be increased as needed, and the size of the magnetic disk may be selected from various types.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2015-254348 | Dec 2015 | JP | national |