Verification of thermally induced nanometer actuation of the magnetic recording transducer to overcome mechanical and magnetic spacing challenges

As the head disk spacing continues to be reduced, every measurable effect greatly impacts the design of the head/disk interface (HDI) and the recording system. In this paper, we describe how the "write-induced" protrusion results in loss of both mechanical and magnetic spacing. We also show experimental data that shows the potential negative effects of such an event. Finally, we show that the magnetic spacing can potentially be controlled by thermal actuation by simulating the described conditions. This is achieved by applying power to the write coil while reading data, thus effectively lowering the read transducer towards the disk, thus lowering the magnetic spacing.